Full Transcript for NEW FLAGSHIP: Keller & Powell talk Crown Jewel status and lien-up, state of Women's Divisions in WWE, NXT Halloween Havoc preview, more

than just the money they're getting from the 69 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:13.900 Saudis for their WWE events. They also have that boxing 70 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:17.509 deal that they think can be very lucrative for them 71 00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:20.370 and so they're afraid to rock the boat there too 72 00:04:20.430 --> 00:04:23.970 i mean it doesn't justify anything it's just uh corporation 73 00:04:24.009 --> 00:04:27.730 being doing doing gross corporation things but uh yeah i 74 00:04:27.829 --> 00:04:29.730 i'm just shaking my head at the whole thing i 75 00:04:29.810 --> 00:04:32.470 i think with all the uh there's different events that 76 00:04:32.490 --> 00:04:34.689 have canceled there was a tennis and there's other events 77 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:37.509 and um it just seems like wrestling never wants to 78 00:04:37.529 --> 00:04:38.430 do the right thing. 79 00:04:39.930 --> 00:04:43.110 And they just easily could just say you know what 80 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:45.439 We don't want to put, it would be too damaging 81 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.639 to our business if something were to happen and we 82 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:52.250 knowingly put our talent and our wrestlers and production team 83 00:04:52.290 --> 00:04:56.230 and announcers and referees in jeopardy. We think the odds 84 00:04:56.269 --> 00:04:59.189 are low something will happen, but it's not insignificant. And, 85 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:04.230 you know, we'd like to, we would hope that you 86 00:05:04.250 --> 00:05:07.750 would understand and you go from there. The people who 87 00:05:07.829 --> 00:05:10.750 have something to lose in a large scale have more 88 00:05:10.790 --> 00:05:13.670 money than any human being could ever need. And their, 89 00:05:13.750 --> 00:05:16.689 their great grandkids already have their, you know, if they 90 00:05:16.709 --> 00:05:19.100 have 70 great grandkids, they already have, they're already going 91 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.370 to be trust fund kids anyway. So like, what do you, 92 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:23.040 what are you making decisions based on at this point? 93 00:05:23.259 --> 00:05:24.680 Like it's, it's. 94 00:05:24.779 --> 00:05:27.000 It's, it's always for the good of the shareholders way 95 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:29.379 that has nothing to do with their corporate greed and 96 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:32.360 their desire to make more money than, yeah, like you say, 97 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:35.300 their kids and grandkids will ever be able to spend. Yeah. 98 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:38.139 I mean, how many yachts do you need before you go? 99 00:05:38.180 --> 00:05:42.699 Let's prioritize the safety of, of the wrestlers, but, honestly, too, 100 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.899 the wrestlers could unite and say, no fucking way. You know, 101 00:05:46.930 --> 00:05:50.750 we're not doing this. And, you know, little samples I've had, 102 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:54.930 it's been, you know, I don't know yet. You know, they'll, 103 00:05:55.230 --> 00:05:57.189 it's up to them. You know, they're sort of, and 104 00:05:57.230 --> 00:05:58.509 I don't have a large enough sample size to say 105 00:05:58.550 --> 00:05:59.949 that there aren't, like, there could be a pocket of 106 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:02.449 six people who are plotting to refuse or a couple 107 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:04.079 of people who said, yeah, definitely, you know, don't want 108 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:06.480 to go, don't book me. But, you know, the little 109 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:08.720 bit of sampling I've had, it's been sort of like, yeah, 110 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:12.839 I mean, it's always a volatile region. And, I'm sure 111 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:17.410 they'll take every precaution to protect us. And frankly, they 112 00:06:17.470 --> 00:06:21.370 probably will, the Saudis and WWE, because the stakes for 113 00:06:21.449 --> 00:06:24.230 both are incredibly high. Can you imagine? I mean, I 114 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:26.529 don't like to even say the hypothetical, but if something 115 00:06:26.569 --> 00:06:28.569 were to happen where there were injuries, deaths, or even 116 00:06:28.589 --> 00:06:32.300 just an attempted bombing, it would just blow everything up. Like, 117 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:38.040 I shouldn't use that. It would be crushing to the... 118 00:06:39.730 --> 00:06:41.529 all the strides that Saudi Arabia is trying to make 119 00:06:41.550 --> 00:06:44.620 to become accepted and embraced and, and build an economy 120 00:06:44.649 --> 00:06:47.240 that isn't reliant upon oil. Now that, you know, EVs 121 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:49.040 and solar powers is, you know, sort of on an 122 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:52.639 inevitable course with starts and stops and setbacks, but to 123 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:56.110 overtake oil in so many ways where it'll, it'll diminish 124 00:06:56.120 --> 00:07:01.209 the value of what's has built Saudi Arabia's fortunes. You know, they, 125 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:04.029 they would blow, it would really, really, really screw up 126 00:07:04.129 --> 00:07:06.189 what they've been working years to try to do, which 127 00:07:06.250 --> 00:07:08.959 is gain, you know, seem like they're a mainstream acceptable 128 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.160 place for tourism and sports. 129 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:16.220 Yeah, I think obviously they're going to, well, I shouldn't 130 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.079 say obviously, but I would certainly hope that they're going 131 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:21.889 to do everything, I guess. And this didn't involve TKO 132 00:07:21.910 --> 00:07:24.009 at the time, but I still, I think it's a 133 00:07:24.050 --> 00:07:27.410 good time to look back and just remember what happened 134 00:07:28.389 --> 00:07:31.470 early in the pandemic. And I don't care what anyone's 135 00:07:31.509 --> 00:07:34.649 political feelings are on it. whether you think it was overblown, 136 00:07:34.670 --> 00:07:38.100 whether you think we didn't do

enough, whatever your leanings are. 137 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:43.620 They didn't know. And they couldn't skip one show. They 138 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:47.199 had to. I mean, wrestling was one of the only 139 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.360 things that didn't slow down. I mean, they had to 140 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:53.639 eliminate some show, but when it came to the TV product, oh, no, 141 00:07:54.019 --> 00:07:55.920 they had to keep going. I mean, think about that. 142 00:07:56.259 --> 00:08:02.959 They had no idea. There's people dropping dead in droves. And, oh, 143 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:05.800 Got to make money. We can't risk losing the Fox deal. 144 00:08:06.339 --> 00:08:06.839 Yep. 145 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:08.560 It's sick. Yep. 146 00:08:10.069 --> 00:08:16.629 So, that's that. We will, you know, see what happens. 147 00:08:18.170 --> 00:08:21.170 But it's, you know, it is right around the corner now. 148 00:08:21.889 --> 00:08:25.769 What do we have about, well, a little under, it's 149 00:08:25.810 --> 00:08:31.879 November 7th. So, yeah, I mean, less than two weeks away. And, 150 00:08:32.330 --> 00:08:34.200 A lot can happen between now and then, by the way, 151 00:08:34.210 --> 00:08:35.950 including an election. I don't know. I don't know that 152 00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:38.389 that would affect anything. But the midterms of the United States. 153 00:08:40.669 --> 00:08:41.909 I don't know. I don't know. We got into the 154 00:08:41.950 --> 00:08:47.710 Netanyahu voting and his reelection. So there's world events happening. 155 00:08:47.929 --> 00:08:51.009 And I think, you know, it's smart to to if 156 00:08:51.070 --> 00:08:53.220 you're if you're if you're leaning is we really, really 157 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:54.269 want to go. We don't want to lose the money. 158 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:55.960 We don't want to jeopardize our relationship with Saudi Arabia 159 00:08:55.980 --> 00:08:57.220 and WrestleMania is our next year. We don't want to 160 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:00.360 upset them. And we don't want to overreact if the 161 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.379 risk really is pretty low and there's precautions we can take. 162 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:03.940 Okay. 163 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:09.000 If they're doing all that, it makes sense to hedge 164 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:14.159 or wait. Because at least they're leaving by not saying, 165 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:16.850 we look forward so much to going to Riyadh. They're 166 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:19.250 not laying it on. No one has said the word 167 00:09:19.330 --> 00:09:22.210 Saudi Arabia or Riyadh. They're just, the graphics have included it. 168 00:09:22.289 --> 00:09:25.870 But that was baked in months ago. So they're not going, 169 00:09:25.929 --> 00:09:27.210 we're for sure going there. 170 00:09:27.570 --> 00:09:28.169 No matter what. 171 00:09:28.950 --> 00:09:30.470 And, you know, Ari. 172 00:09:31.090 --> 00:09:32.549 That's Dana. Dana White is doing that. 173 00:09:33.110 --> 00:09:33.409 Okay. 174 00:09:33.730 --> 00:09:37.610 Well, yes. But Ari Emanuel in the, was it Newsmax, 175 00:09:37.789 --> 00:09:40.990 the interviewer? He just said, you know, just the plans 176 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:42.789 are to go, you know, but he didn't go, oh, 177 00:09:42.809 --> 00:09:45.529 workers are going. You know, like, and so there's been 178 00:09:45.570 --> 00:09:51.710 at least a tone that doesn't feel oblivious from him, 179 00:09:52.769 --> 00:09:56.559 which is, We're planning to, you know, but we are understanding. 180 00:09:56.580 --> 00:09:58.830 And it could just be PR lip service and 100% gung-ho, 181 00:09:59.190 --> 00:10:02.120 but they're smart enough at least not to at not 182 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:05.039 dana but ari is smart enough to not just be 183 00:10:05.179 --> 00:10:06.200 kind of cocky about. 184 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:10.330 It right yeah and i mean i i don't know 185 00:10:10.389 --> 00:10:14.730 i just feel like i'm surprised the government is allowing 186 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:18.279 this to even happen. Not, you know, WWE specifically, but 187 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:20.539 I mean, they're putting out all these warnings, but they 188 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:22.740 won't just put their foot down and say no, which 189 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:28.159 is astonishing in some ways. But, you know, hopefully everything 190 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.210 goes smoothly, obviously. But yeah, it is very concerning. And 191 00:10:31.230 --> 00:10:34.710 you just wonder, what would it take for you guys 192 00:10:34.750 --> 00:10:37.570 to not go to Saudi Arabia? Like, I mean, with 193 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:40.330 all this going on, what would it be that would 194 00:10:40.350 --> 00:10:43.289 make you go, hey, wait, guys, yeah, we might be 195 00:10:43.350 --> 00:10:46.490 risking our deal, but we just can't do it. Yeah. 196 00:10:47.990 --> 00:10:53.230 Well, so in the end, what is your, I don't know, 197 00:10:53.769 --> 00:10:55.509 odds are so weird in situations like this because there's 198 00:10:55.529 --> 00:10:59.379 so many X factors. But are you sitting here just going, 199 00:10:59.409 --> 00:11:01.580 this is going to happen? 200 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:06.960 Yeah. Well, I mean, barring something else happening that really 201 00:11:07.019 --> 00:11:10.840 does force even the government's hand to say no. But yeah, 202 00:11:10.940 --> 00:11:12.340 everything points to it happening for sure. 203 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:17.220 Well, let's shift to the actual lineup in a minute here. 204 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:20.840 But first, let's just do a quick introduction and maybe, warning, 205 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:27.600 a little Minnesota Vikings talk and introduce ourselves here. 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I am joined, 255 00:14:06.909 --> 00:14:09.289 as I think most of you know, by Jason Powell 256 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:12.409 from ProWrestling.net. Some of the flashbacks on this Blue Logo 257 00:14:12.429 --> 00:14:14.600 show are 15 years ago flagships that Jason and I 258 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:16.980 were doing back in, can you do quick math, Jason? 259 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:18.080 What year was it 15 years ago? 260 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:21.879 15 years ago would have been, what are we, 2026 261 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:23.700 would have been 2011. 262 00:14:23.700 --> 00:14:24.559 Very good. See? 263 00:14:24.580 --> 00:14:29.399 I can do basic math. Once you get over like 99, 264 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:30.240 I'm screwed. 265 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:33.039 Yeah. Or if it was an odd number, like what 266 00:14:33.059 --> 00:14:33.500 was 17 years ago? 267 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:37.350 17 years ago would have been 2009 good. 268 00:14:37.450 --> 00:14:42.100 Good yep all right you're doing well um so uh 269 00:14:42.149 --> 00:14:44.480 yes um jason paul welcome to the coast. 270 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.899 Here here on the flagship good to be here i 271 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:49.000 i was uh not of the understanding that there would 272 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.200 be any math today good to be. 273 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:53.120 Here in fact that's what i thought you would say 274 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.179 when i asked you the first time what was because 275 00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:58.460 i know that's your line um and it's very fair 276 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:02.450 so

um yeah we got a lot to get to 277 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:05.389 we got Halloween Havoc coming up for NXT, Crown Jewel, 278 00:15:06.210 --> 00:15:11.580 Blood and Guts Dynamite, then Full Gear. What am I missing? 279 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:13.360 Halloween Havoc. 280 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:14.440 I did mention that. 281 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:18.820 Oh, okay. Then I think TNA's got a Destination X show, 282 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:21.509 which I still don't know if it's pay-per-view or just 283 00:15:21.610 --> 00:15:24.330 a TNA Plus show. I'm praying TNA Plus show because 284 00:15:24.629 --> 00:15:27.610 I don't need to see another TNA event this quickly. 285 00:15:28.970 --> 00:15:31.799 The weekly TV's more than enough. But, yeah, I mean, 286 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:34.080 it's a busy stretch here, for sure. Yeah. 287 00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:37.940 There's four matches announced, and we'll start with the Take 288 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:39.659 Team Title match they made official on Raw last night. 289 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:42.350 Braun Breaker and Austin Theory against Pent and Javon Evans. 290 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:46.070 Austin Theory, they didn't say anything, but he just had 291 00:15:46.090 --> 00:15:47.529 the flu this week, so it's no big deal that 292 00:15:47.549 --> 00:15:49.990 he wasn't there. They're not ousting him or going to 293 00:15:50.009 --> 00:15:55.570 have a bronze and re-take his place or anything. And so, yeah, 294 00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:59.600 Take Team Title match. Do you think Penta and Javon 295 00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:02.610 have a... Any chance or a good chance to win 296 00:16:02.629 --> 00:16:03.570 the tag titles here and why? 297 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:06.159 I think there's always a chance when it comes to 298 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:09.059 the tag team titles on a PLE just because they 299 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.799 don't really care about them, clearly. And I mean, I 300 00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:16.139 guess I'd lean Breaker in theory, but if they want 301 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.460 to kind of throw the Penta fans who have been 302 00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:23.379 so passionate right now, a bit of a bone, then 303 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:25.279 he can hold off on Money in the Bank for 304 00:16:25.330 --> 00:16:27.690 a while. I could see that. But yeah, I mean, 305 00:16:27.710 --> 00:16:35.120 I'm officially leaning Breaker in theory for now. Yeah. Um, I, 306 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.279 if he cashes in that money in the bank briefcase 307 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:39.659 for a rematch for these stupid tag team titles, I 308 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:40.700 will lose my mind. 309 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:44.679 Uh, yeah, I don't think he will, but. 310 00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:46.720 Yeah. 311 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:49.279 So, uh, yeah, I, I think this, I mean, it's just, 312 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:51.419 this is, I asked you first cause it didn't really 313 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:52.759 have a lot to say. Cause I, I do think 314 00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:54.299 this could go either way. I could see them thinking, 315 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:58.809 you know, Penta Javon are, um, you know, just like 316 00:16:58.830 --> 00:17:01.690 this dynamic pair and it'll, it'll, um, kind of allow 317 00:17:01.710 --> 00:17:04.190 them to delay. Penta doing a cash-in if he's carrying 318 00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:05.789 around another belt, if they don't want to make a 319 00:17:05.829 --> 00:17:08.930 move on that quickly. They, you know, very much like Javon. 320 00:17:08.950 --> 00:17:14.029 They very much are pleasantly surprised in ways that other 321 00:17:14.049 --> 00:17:16.769 people aren't, that Penta, in a certain role, and I'm 322 00:17:16.809 --> 00:17:18.309 not saying build him as a top three or four 323 00:17:18.349 --> 00:17:21.630 guy in your company, but there is a distinctness and 324 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:25.069 a charisma and a connection with the crowd that, you know, 325 00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:28.740 deserves a spotlight and a push, and he's getting it, 326 00:17:28.789 --> 00:17:31.349 and it's working. So maybe the tag division is right 327 00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:34.519 for them. Plus they might just not want Braun and 328 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:38.599 Austin Theory linked together or tied together if they want 329 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:39.980 to do different things with each of them. So I 330 00:17:40.019 --> 00:17:42.180 think storyline wise, I think they have more separate stories 331 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:44.119 to tell with them than, than tag team stories. 332 00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:45.180 Yeah. 333 00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:46.920 One of these, if they do keep the title on 334 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.940 the vision, I mean, they did kind of emphasize that 335 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.059 it can be any members. I wonder when, you know, 336 00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:54.900 when Logan Paul returns, if he just slides into breaker slot. 337 00:17:57.700 --> 00:18:01.660 Yes, you're right. So, and yeah, if, that's stupid they 338 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.640 shouldn't do that um but reword rules or something like 339 00:18:04.660 --> 00:18:08.059 that yeah yeah uh yeah just that shouldn't be a. 340 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:12.240 Thing um in their defense it was due to an 341 00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:15.460 injury i believe they they just had to come up 342 00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:17.569 with something i don't remember this but it might have 343 00:18:17.589 --> 00:18:20.029 been logan paul's injury but they yeah they they did 344 00:18:20.049 --> 00:18:22.089 need to do something and i think they just changed 345 00:18:22.130 --> 00:18:24.910 the titles and so it was not like they went 346 00:18:24.970 --> 00:18:27.710 out of their way to do this intentionally. 347 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:30.630 Yeah i think right i like If they keep the titles, 348 00:18:30.650 --> 00:18:32.150 Logan gets healthy. And they're like, oh, let's just have 349

00:18:32.210 --> 00:18:33.950 Logan and Austin Theory be the tag champs and split 350 00:18:33.970 --> 00:18:38.190 Braun off. And they do it just arbitrarily. That's not cool. 351 00:18:38.210 --> 00:18:39.809 Just do a title change and then change it. 352 00:18:39.869 --> 00:18:43.109 Yeah, I'm with you. Okay. 353 00:18:44.670 --> 00:18:47.220 Oh, just what do you think is going on with 354 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.519 Braun Breaker? What's your assessment of– and I ask because 355 00:18:52.660 --> 00:18:55.150 there's weeks where it seems like you can interpret it. 356 00:18:55.259 --> 00:18:57.460 If you had heard, oh, he's in the doghouse, you'd 357 00:18:57.480 --> 00:18:58.759 be like, well, that's why they're booking him this way. 358 00:18:59.430 --> 00:19:01.509 But if you heard, oh, they're really behind him, you go, oh, 359 00:19:01.589 --> 00:19:04.299 I see what they're doing. They're building up this intrigue 360 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:06.079 with Paul Heyman and that he kind of needs Heyman. 361 00:19:06.099 --> 00:19:10.059 And when Heyman finally fully is rejected by Oba, then 362 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:12.680 Heyman and Braun are going to reunite and they're going 363 00:19:12.700 --> 00:19:16.480 to reignite that as a feud. You can kind of 364 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:18.569 look at what's been up with Braun in different ways, 365 00:19:18.630 --> 00:19:22.789 but he hasn't just been consistently just plowing through anybody 366 00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:25.130 and everybody on a course to be the centerpiece act. 367 00:19:25.549 --> 00:19:28.710 There's more nuance to the way he's being presented in 368 00:19:28.809 --> 00:19:29.269 recent months. 369 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:34.180 Yeah i well it's strange to me that they gave 370 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:38.130 him that big build-up like he's on even level with 371 00:19:38.369 --> 00:19:40.630 uh with oba and it's a you know big showdown 372 00:19:40.670 --> 00:19:44.329 match between them and then it's over with and nothing 373 00:19:44.349 --> 00:19:47.170 i don't know if he's the one taking the blame 374 00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:51.279 for that match being kind of underwhelming um It's just, 375 00:19:51.339 --> 00:19:54.400 it is kind of odd that he's not being positioned 376 00:19:54.539 --> 00:19:57.119 all that well at the moment. But maybe it's just, 377 00:19:57.960 --> 00:19:59.579 he's the odd man out and they kind of have 378 00:19:59.619 --> 00:20:01.920 him in a holding pattern for now. It's just strange 379 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:05.539 that he's had these needlessly competitive matches with certain people 380 00:20:05.579 --> 00:20:07.960 that match with Javon Evans. And I love Javon, but 381 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:11.359 I still go back to him. really? Okay. Um, so yeah, 382 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:15.579 I think he's, I'm hoping it is just, uh, it's 383 00:20:15.619 --> 00:20:17.799 not the time it's going to be. We're, we're still 384 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.099

excited about him, but I don't know. It's very hard 385 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:20.440 to read. 386 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:28.140 Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, last man standing match. Um, Cody, 387 00:20:29.049 --> 00:20:32.970 I think has done well in a, he continues to 388 00:20:33.009 --> 00:20:36.690 do well in contexts that are not super favorable for him. Uh, 389 00:20:36.809 --> 00:20:40.180 but I think he handled his last, um, rebuttal to 390 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:43.640 randy pretty well and it's interesting like and then just 391 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:47.799 like there he's he's a kind of a quirky personality 392 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:51.099 obviously in certain ways but there's something that's sort of 393 00:20:51.619 --> 00:20:56.549 um endearing and enduring he like it he's able to 394 00:20:57.640 --> 00:20:59.829 get through a lot of muck and still kind of 395 00:20:59.950 --> 00:21:02.670 be who he is but also branch out a little 396 00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:05.190 bit and show a little bit of a kind of 397 00:21:05.210 --> 00:21:09.670 peskiness and i'm kind of fed up and um you know, 398 00:21:10.490 --> 00:21:13.630 like his rebuttals to Randy and then acknowledging kind of 399 00:21:13.670 --> 00:21:16.269 what's been going on with people's perception of him. And 400 00:21:16.309 --> 00:21:18.670 part of this is a little bit being colored by, um, uh, 401 00:21:19.309 --> 00:21:22.079 Jacob Heyman's interview with him and, and Charlotte and ice 402 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:26.000 cube son in their nepo baby, uh, um, interview round 403 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:28.180 table that came out, but like, you can just tell 404 00:21:28.220 --> 00:21:32.980 there's like, he's, he, he's very introspective. There's times where 405 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:35.880 it comes across as not self-aware, um, here and there 406 00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:39.009 in how he, how it manifests, but there's, You can 407 00:21:39.109 --> 00:21:42.849 tell he really puts a lot of thought and cares 408 00:21:42.869 --> 00:21:47.250 a lot about how ultimately he is seen and how 409 00:21:47.289 --> 00:21:49.630 crowds react to him is something that gets to him. 410 00:21:49.710 --> 00:21:51.390 He really wants to figure out what's going on and 411 00:21:51.410 --> 00:21:54.309 the storytelling and all that. But he's also making loads 412 00:21:54.329 --> 00:21:57.059 of money, getting to do side projects, signed a new deal. 413 00:21:57.150 --> 00:22:00.230 He said the new deal runs to his late 40s. 414 00:22:00.700 --> 00:22:03.440 It's a long-term deal. He's not going anywhere. And so 415 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.339 I find him interesting, but I do, when I watch 416 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:10.420 his promos, there are elements, whether they're whether it gets 417 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:12.329 worked out behind the scenes before he goes out or 418 00:22:12.349 --> 00:22:15.990 he kind of winks it a little bit, he's working 419 00:22:16.109 --> 00:22:18.750 through the issues with his character and the storylines on air. 420 00:22:19.470 --> 00:22:22.630 But I think he's handled the Randy Orton stuff pretty well. 421 00:22:22.690 --> 00:22:24.470 So I'm kind of talking to broad generalities. I can 422 00:22:24.509 --> 00:22:26.990 pull some specifics. What do you think, Jason, about how 423 00:22:27.109 --> 00:22:28.809 he's been doing in this feud, even if I'm not 424 00:22:29.029 --> 00:22:30.529 crazy about the feud at this point, ready for it 425 00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:30.829 to be done? 426 00:22:31.470 --> 00:22:34.349 Yeah, I think Cody's doing really well. Because it is 427 00:22:34.390 --> 00:22:36.829 so tough to work with Randy when they won't have 428 00:22:36.910 --> 00:22:39.390 Randy go out there and be just a definitive heel. 429 00:22:40.069 --> 00:22:42.349 You know, the guy that's still so likable as a 430 00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:45.609 heel and does all these ruthless things. And rather than 431 00:22:45.730 --> 00:22:47.609 fight it, they just kind of lean into it now. 432 00:22:47.710 --> 00:22:50.049 And that that can't make life easy for Cody. But 433 00:22:50.069 --> 00:22:53.900 I think he is pulling it off. I mean, he's 434 00:22:53.940 --> 00:23:00.349 talked about Cody fatigue and. I think this is actually, 435 00:23:00.369 --> 00:23:03.200 you know, the Randy issues aside, I kind of a, 436 00:23:03.299 --> 00:23:05.339 it's good to have him away from the title picture 437 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.779 for a while, because I do think it does help 438 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.279 hold off the Cody fatigue or, uh, just give people 439 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:14.519 a little bit of a break from him being the champion. Um, 440 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:17.269 I don't know when the right time to go back 441 00:23:17.309 --> 00:23:21.099 to him being the champion is, but, uh, Yeah, I mean, 442 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:23.720 the crowds still go crazy. When the guy comes out, 443 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:26.900 you might get some boos, but it's never developed to 444 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:30.400 the level that I feared it might. It may still 445 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:32.019 get there, but so far, so good. 446 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:38.859 So in this match, is this Cody? He's showing that he's... 447 00:23:39.059 --> 00:23:41.359 I mean, we can talk about whether a stomp to 448 00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:43.319 the head or a punt kick to the head is 449 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:45.599 as big of a deal as they're making it out 450 00:23:45.619 --> 00:23:47.589 to be in terms of a character issue, but the 451 00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:51.980 theme is Randy is... bringing something out in Cody that 452 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:55.559 Randy taunts him in a way where you think part 453 00:23:55.579 --> 00:23:57.940 of part of Randy would be proud if he did 454 00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:00.259 it but there's but most of Randy doesn't think he 455 00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:02.220 has it in him to do it and I think

456 00:24:02.259 --> 00:24:04.519 in the end Cody's gonna do it and Randy's gonna 457 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.539 be proud and he's gonna go back to being more 458 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:10.339 of a babyface fighting heels that's my best guess on 459 00:24:10.359 --> 00:24:12.279 the on the path but I'm not super confident in 460 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:14.420 that what do you think is the final chapter of 461 00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:17.589 this story and do you like any alternatives I. 462 00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:26.650 Yeah, that's really tricky. I hope it's not, oh, I 463 00:24:26.690 --> 00:24:28.380 did all this to pull this out of you because 464 00:24:28.390 --> 00:24:30.579 you're going to need it. Like, well, he was already 465 00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:33.500 the world champion. I think he's okay. I don't think 466 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:35.940 he needed this. If they're going to try to play 467 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:37.799 it up that way, it doesn't make a whole lot 468 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:43.299 of sense. Yeah, man, I would think that Cody ultimately 469 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:46.849 wins the feud because it's just, how do they get there? 470 00:24:46.930 --> 00:24:48.930 What does it mean for Randy? Where does Randy go 471 00:24:49.049 --> 00:24:51.549 after that? That I, that I'm not sure. And for 472 00:24:51.569 --> 00:24:54.069 that matter, I'm not sure for Cody. I mean, is 473 00:24:54.150 --> 00:24:55.630 it as simple as like, I'm going to do a 474 00:24:55.650 --> 00:24:57.099 hell in a cell blow off at some point. 475 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:01.819 I mean, I'd kind of like this to be the 476 00:25:01.859 --> 00:25:03.480 last man standing match to be the blow off at 477 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:03.920 this point. 478 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:06.559 Yeah, it won't be, I'd be surprised. Those are usually 479 00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:11.309 the kind of gimmicky where they don't have to be, 480 00:25:11.410 --> 00:25:13.160 but a lot of times it is like, it's a, 481 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:15.759 They come up with some clever way of the heel 482 00:25:15.779 --> 00:25:18.000 being the last one standing just to extend the feud. 483 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:21.619 That's true. Yeah, this is a match where they can 484 00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:25.779 do that. In fairness to WWE, sometimes they do a 485 00:25:25.819 --> 00:25:29.200 feud and stretch it out because they need their top 486 00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:31.150 stars to be on TV, and they're just trying to 487 00:25:31.170 --> 00:25:33.470 fill some time until they get to the next thing 488 00:25:33.490 --> 00:25:35.609 that they want to do, and they are with us 489 00:25:35.849 --> 00:25:37.309 on thinking, yeah, we know we're kind of pushing it. 490 00:25:38.289 --> 00:25:40.970 Not everything they do is their first choice or the 491 00:25:40.990 --> 00:25:44.400 perfect situation. And so stretching this out, even if they 492 00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:46.079 do it longer, could be because they just need a 493 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:48.740 bridge to give both those guys something to do before 494 00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:51.309 it makes more sense to move to the next thing 495 00:25:51.349 --> 00:25:53.750 for both of them. And so I just, you know, 496 00:25:53.970 --> 00:25:55.769 I mean, I think it's always, we're keeping in mind, 497 00:25:55.789 --> 00:25:58.230 they're not always doing their a plan. Sometimes they're, they're conceding. 498 00:25:58.250 --> 00:26:00.190 We're doing our B or C plan just because it's 499 00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:04.180 really the only way to keep them on TV. And 500 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:05.819 I mean, yeah, last man standing is a good match 501 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:08.420 for them at this point. Cause you know, Randy's limited 502 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:11.450 Cody's got some ailments and, Um, you know, not at 503 00:26:11.470 --> 00:26:13.079 a hundred percent. And so they can just kind of, 504 00:26:13.170 --> 00:26:16.009 you know, do the walk and brawl thing and, you know, 505 00:26:16.130 --> 00:26:18.630 fans will see it as a novelty and they won't, 506 00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:20.630 you know, they're, they're not the match at this stage, 507 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:23.549 you know, unfortunately that I want to see have a, uh, in, uh, 508 00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:25.700 in the ropes, don't leave the ring and show off 509 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:27.640 what they can do at this stage. Um, you know, 510 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:28.440 15 minute battle. 511 00:26:29.779 --> 00:26:29.900 Yeah. 512 00:26:29.940 --> 00:26:30.059 Yeah. 513 00:26:33.029 --> 00:26:33.690 Hey, everyone. 514 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:37.240 Longtime PWTorch columnist Sean Radican here to let you know 515 00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:42.240 I've revamped and renewed the Radican Worldwide Podcast for 2026. 516 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.819 a weekly VIP exclusive. Every week, I break down four 517 00:26:45.859 --> 00:26:48.779 or five of the biggest trending topics in pro wrestling. 518 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:52.259 I also present my analysis, providing insight that helps you 519 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:55.059 understand the story better or see it another way than 520 00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:58.140 maybe is the controversial take out there. Then I bring 521 00:26:58.220 --> 00:27:00.640 on a special guest for the second half of the podcast. 522 00:27:00.849 --> 00:27:03.430 Sometimes it's a wrestler or someone else who works in 523 00:27:03.450 --> 00:27:06.130 the business. Other times it's a guest analyst who brings 524 00:27:06.150 --> 00:27:09.410 their specialized point of view on a particular key topic 525 00:27:09.450 --> 00:27:12.500 in the news. Recent guests have included Bronson Reed from 526 00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:15.619 WWE and PCO. One of my areas of specialty is 527 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:18.119 the Japan wrestling scene, so I often cover a big 528 00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:22.430 topic from Japan with PW Torch's own Alan

Farrell, Kelly Wells, 529 00:27:22.670 --> 00:27:25.549 and Chris Lansdell. I don't just cover the news. I 530 00:27:25.569 --> 00:27:27.569 don't just riff on the news or give a standard 531 00:27:27.609 --> 00:27:30.490 hot take. I'll bring my decades of studying this industry 532 00:27:30.529 --> 00:27:34.200 and talking one-on-one with dozens of wrestling promoters to each 533 00:27:34.259 --> 00:27:37.500 week's show so you understand not just what's happening, but 534 00:27:37.539 --> 00:27:40.500 the context of why. Get ahead of the news. Get 535 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:45.599 ahead of the pack with Ratican Worldwide only at PWTorch VIP. 536 00:27:48.450 --> 00:27:50.150 Maybe it's going to come up, Wade, but where is 537 00:27:50.210 --> 00:27:50.609 it with Femi? 538 00:27:52.549 --> 00:27:56.029 That could be what I was talking about. Like, they 539 00:27:56.710 --> 00:28:00.910 don't want to do anything with him that isn't presenting 540 00:28:00.970 --> 00:28:05.099 him as a really big deal. But, so therefore, they're 541 00:28:05.140 --> 00:28:08.619 leaving him off TV until they get past the next, 542 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:12.650 you know, like maybe past Crown Jewel. Um, but I don't, 543 00:28:12.690 --> 00:28:14.450 I don't have inside information on that, but I also 544 00:28:14.470 --> 00:28:17.009 think this is, uh, what I talked about earlier this year, 545 00:28:17.049 --> 00:28:20.809 the Obafemi problem, like he's so dominant. They just don't 546 00:28:20.890 --> 00:28:24.049 have people who are credible opponents for him that they 547 00:28:24.089 --> 00:28:28.549 want to sacrifice to him before they really get fully 548 00:28:28.589 --> 00:28:31.190 behind him. So that could be what we're seeing is 549 00:28:31.230 --> 00:28:33.619 the Obafemi problem manifesting where With a lot of guys, 550 00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:35.400 you can just put Braun Breaker in with Austin Theory 551 00:28:35.420 --> 00:28:37.119 to take the matches. Have him do a singles match 552 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:39.839 with Javon. But how do you just put anybody against 553 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.839 Oba without, you know, it's in a way it's a 554 00:28:42.859 --> 00:28:45.059 different version of the Goldberg problem. Well, he's undefeated and 555 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:46.900 people like him because he plows through opponents. Well, you know, 556 00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:48.259 at some point he's got to cut promos and have 557 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:52.240 longer matches or this is going to get old. Oba's 558 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.940 immensely more talented than Goldberg. I don't think that's a 559 00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:00.990 controversial statement. But yeah. So what do you think? What 560 00:29:01.029 --> 00:29:02.089 comes to mind when you ask me that question? 561 00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:06.640 When I think of Oba, sadly, I'm like, did they 562 00:29:06.680 --> 00:29:09.019 send him off to make one of those stupid mini-movies 563 00:29:09.220 --> 00:29:12.769 that they're all excited about now? I have no idea. 564 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:16.670 It's just a guess. It's strange that the last two 565 00:29:16.730 --> 00:29:19.730 weeks he hasn't been there and they're not really talking 566 00:29:19.789 --> 00:29:21.710 about it. He just kind of disappeared from the show. 567 00:29:22.970 --> 00:29:25.289 You'd think last night, especially with some of the competition 568 00:29:25.329 --> 00:29:28.829 they had, they would have wanted him there for some 569 00:29:28.890 --> 00:29:31.750 star power. It ended up being a show that or 570 00:29:31.849 --> 00:29:34.940 Monday show that ended up being better than it looked 571 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:36.779 on paper because it was going to be a number 572 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:39.609 one contenders match and then fill in the rest. And 573 00:29:39.650 --> 00:29:42.250 of course, uh, Stephanie, your care couldn't go. And so 574 00:29:42.289 --> 00:29:44.910 we got two title matches instead of, uh, the none 575 00:29:44.970 --> 00:29:50.019 that were advertised, which I'm baffled by. Don't you advertise 576 00:29:50.299 --> 00:29:53.670 one of them? Uh, instead of like, Oh yeah. Tune 577 00:29:53.710 --> 00:29:57.900 in to see the medical update on Stephanie. I, well, 578 00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:01.240 if this was an era where they lived and died 579 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:04.099 by weekly TV ratings ebb and flow, I mean, they 580 00:30:04.119 --> 00:30:07.039 would have, but they've got their, you know, yours guaranteed 581 00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:07.779 money with Netflix. 582 00:30:07.819 --> 00:30:09.420 The numbers don't, you track them all the time. The 583 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.480 numbers don't move that much. And so I just don't 584 00:30:12.609 --> 00:30:14.509 think they care that much. And I think they cared 585 00:30:14.549 --> 00:30:17.190 more about this one. The, the, the care thing was, 586 00:30:17.829 --> 00:30:19.390 I don't know how last second it was, but it, 587 00:30:19.410 --> 00:30:21.390 they didn't have a lot of time for us. Like, well, 588 00:30:21.589 --> 00:30:22.829 we want to tell that story on the air. 589 00:30:23.630 --> 00:30:26.750 Um, and then once you wait to advertise someone until 590 00:30:26.789 --> 00:30:27.890 they're medically cleared. 591 00:30:28.869 --> 00:30:31.609 It could have been something that came up where there 592 00:30:31.630 --> 00:30:33.750 was a setback, you know? Yeah. 593 00:30:33.789 --> 00:30:33.950 Yeah. 594 00:30:34.269 --> 00:30:36.710 I might, the impression I got is they were, they 595 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:39.380 were pretty damn confident. And then something happened where they, 596 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:43.019 now they had to re recalibrate, rebook. And with Sammy, 597 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:46.460 I think that just, why would you advertise him in 598 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:49.220 a raw match? You need to tell the story on 599 00:30:49.269 --> 00:30:51.849

the air and sure. They could have told it last 600 00:30:51.890 --> 00:30:54.309 week and advertise it for a week, but the story 601 00:30:54.349 --> 00:30:56.430 they were interested in telling is Sammy's big mouth, got 602 00:30:56.450 --> 00:31:00.190 him in trouble. And yeah, I mean, I, I get it. 603 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:01.960 I'm not, the point you make is a good one, 604 00:31:01.980 --> 00:31:04.160 but I also, I'm not super hung up on it 605 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:07.740 in this era of you're getting the same amount of 606 00:31:07.779 --> 00:31:11.579 money every week and it's Netflix and there's going to 607 00:31:11.619 --> 00:31:14.240 be weeks where just this stuff happens. And there is 608 00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:16.380 that party that like, as a kid, you remember where like, 609 00:31:16.420 --> 00:31:18.660 there'd be a bonus match or something unexpectedly better than 610 00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:21.240 what was advertised happened. And it kind of keeps you 611 00:31:21.269 --> 00:31:23.069 tuning in on weeks where the lineup doesn't look good. 612 00:31:23.089 --> 00:31:25.170 Cause you're like, well, they're not advertising anything, but you 613 00:31:25.190 --> 00:31:27.299 never know what can happen. And I do think WWE 614 00:31:27.339 --> 00:31:29.400 looks at that as having some merit, just sprinkling those 615 00:31:29.460 --> 00:31:30.000 in now and then. 616 00:31:30.779 --> 00:31:32.500 Yeah, and if it was just one of the title 617 00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:35.240 matches with an average, I had no problem. But both 618 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:37.180 of them, and you really didn't have anything all that 619 00:31:37.220 --> 00:31:39.829 compelling on a night when you're going against the World Series, 620 00:31:39.849 --> 00:31:43.609 a Monday night football game that featured two teams from 621 00:31:43.690 --> 00:31:47.190 big markets, not the most appealing game this year. And 622 00:31:47.230 --> 00:31:51.829 then there's, I think, WNBA finals and the usual NBA, NHL. 623 00:31:51.930 --> 00:31:54.390 It was a very loaded night. And it just kind 624 00:31:54.410 --> 00:31:56.789 of felt like they... threw in the towel until you 625 00:31:56.829 --> 00:31:59.190 turned on the show. Like, Oh no, they're actually doing 626 00:31:59.210 --> 00:31:59.809 some things here. 627 00:31:59.829 --> 00:32:01.710 Yeah. 628 00:32:02.109 --> 00:32:06.269 It's I would say for now they're probably fine, but 629 00:32:06.990 --> 00:32:09.630 they did lose a pretty valuable ally. It looks like 630 00:32:09.809 --> 00:32:12.950 in the Netflix shakeup, the woman who brought them to 631 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:15.960 Netflix was a big issue. She was a, I don't 632 00:32:16.140 --> 00:32:17.460 remember her name off the top of my head, but 633 00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:21.759 she was a big part of the driving force behind 634 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:25.490 them doing more live programming. And with her out, I mean, 635 00:32:25.529 --> 00:32:28.069

who knows? They still have some time. It was a 636 00:32:28.089 --> 00:32:31.190 10-year deal, but there is that five-year opt-out that Netflix has. 637 00:32:31.230 --> 00:32:33.809 And I think we're, what, a couple years in. So 638 00:32:34.450 --> 00:32:35.869 right now, I don't think they're going to have to 639 00:32:35.890 --> 00:32:37.589 worry too much, but I do think that they're going 640 00:32:37.609 --> 00:32:39.250 to start to really amp things up as we get 641 00:32:39.269 --> 00:32:42.019 a little closer to that date. Yeah. 642 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:43.819 I mean, I don't think that would be looks around 643 00:32:43.859 --> 00:32:45.799 and says we can make more money elsewhere. 644 00:32:45.819 --> 00:32:46.920 No. 645 00:32:48.099 --> 00:32:49.920 I don't think they look around and think that, but 646 00:32:50.900 --> 00:32:56.819 they also... The world, the streaming world, the economy, AI, 647 00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:00.400 who knows? Like Instagram's going to long form video now 648 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:03.599 and competing with YouTube. And I think there is sort of, 649 00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:05.279 and I've kind of had this attitude too, like I 650 00:33:05.299 --> 00:33:07.319 think there's a lot of people who there's hand wringing 651 00:33:07.460 --> 00:33:08.980 over what's going to happen two and a half years 652 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:13.339 from now. And I'm like, that's like trying to debate. 653 00:33:14.230 --> 00:33:17.319 on what the high and low temperature or rain likelihood 654 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:21.500 is on July 14th, 2029. Like, why are you, there's 655 00:33:21.619 --> 00:33:26.079 not enough reliable data to draw any conclusion. There's just 656 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:29.640 too many variables. So stop it and just relax and 657 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:33.220 live in the moment. And, you know, like, so the 658 00:33:33.559 --> 00:33:39.430 opt-out is, are we only two years into Netflix? It 659 00:33:39.450 --> 00:33:40.230 feels like it's been three. 660 00:33:41.289 --> 00:33:42.269 I will look it up here. I don't. 661 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:45.740 I think we're going on, I think they've only had 662 00:33:45.769 --> 00:33:47.250 a one anniversary show so far. 663 00:33:47.349 --> 00:33:50.029 January 6th, 2025. Yeah, that's right. 664 00:33:50.609 --> 00:33:54.690 With the debut. Yeah. My flash answer would have been, 665 00:33:55.150 --> 00:33:59.289 this will be the third anniversary. So it's only been two. 666 00:33:59.309 --> 00:34:00.029 So that's weird. 667 00:34:00.289 --> 00:34:02.339 Yeah. I would have guessed longer too. I just happened 668 00:34:02.380 --> 00:34:04.680 to see that recently that I think it was. Yeah, 669 00:34:04.700 --> 00:34:05.400 that's right. Yep. 670 00:34:05.859 --> 00:34:10.159 So having that clarified, the opt-out for Netflix isn't until 671 00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:10.639 January 2030. 672 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:10.760 Right. 673 00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:16.480 I'm

kind of thinking, Jason, let's not talk about this until, like, 674 00:34:17.500 --> 00:34:18.019 two years from now? 675 00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:19.159 Oh, I'm just throwing it out there as something to 676 00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:20.860 keep an eye on down the road. Yeah, I'm with you. 677 00:34:20.889 --> 00:34:22.769 It's not like panic time or anything like that. 678 00:34:22.829 --> 00:34:26.630 Yeah. But losing an ally, having the numbers be, I 679 00:34:26.650 --> 00:34:28.789 talked about this on Awake Killer Hotline earlier this week, mediocre. 680 00:34:28.989 --> 00:34:30.969 I mean, this viewership number, there's no way to frame 681 00:34:31.690 --> 00:34:34.309 raw viewership as something Netflix is thrilled with or WWE 682 00:34:34.349 --> 00:34:36.710 is thrilled with. I think WWE should be kind of humiliated, 683 00:34:36.730 --> 00:34:39.079 to be honest, with. the numbers are doing, but Netflix 684 00:34:39.099 --> 00:34:41.219 should go, well, we're not the platform that's serving WB well, 685 00:34:41.260 --> 00:34:43.360 if we're only doing these numbers too. I think they 686 00:34:43.380 --> 00:34:45.940 were kind of like with the Fox Smackdown deal, but 687 00:34:45.980 --> 00:34:49.030 maybe even worse. I think they were expecting, you know, 688 00:34:49.719 --> 00:34:52.110 significantly better numbers. Do you agree with that framing of it? 689 00:34:52.809 --> 00:34:55.130 I think so. Yeah. I mean, it seems like wherever 690 00:34:55.150 --> 00:34:58.710 they go, they somehow have convinced people that, or these 691 00:34:58.750 --> 00:35:00.909 people have convinced themselves that the numbers are going to 692 00:35:00.929 --> 00:35:02.250 be way bigger than they end up being. 693 00:35:03.349 --> 00:35:06.070 And that like two and a half million total viewers number, 694 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:09.000 My understanding is it's someone watches for 10 minutes, they 695 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:10.800 count as a viewer. Someone watches for two hours, 20 minutes, 696 00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:13.010 they count as a viewer. That's not how Nielsen works. 697 00:35:13.070 --> 00:35:14.949 So these numbers actually would not be that high if 698 00:35:14.969 --> 00:35:16.530 they were ranked by the way Nielsen does them. They 699 00:35:16.550 --> 00:35:20.070 would be lower. And that's international, not U.S. So these 700 00:35:20.110 --> 00:35:23.510 are not good numbers. But yeah, I mean, but we're 701 00:35:23.530 --> 00:35:25.409 a ways off. They got years to make money. And 702 00:35:25.550 --> 00:35:28.150 I genuinely don't think that they're... Now, when we say 703 00:35:28.329 --> 00:35:30.550 January 2030, let's be clear, that means the last year 704 00:35:30.590 --> 00:35:34.210 is basically 2029. And we're about to turn the calendar 705 00:35:34.230 --> 00:35:36.389 in a couple months into 2027. So it does feel 706 00:35:36.409 --> 00:35:40.059 closer when you frame it that way. But there is 707 00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:41.599 more than three years left on the deal, just to 708 00:35:41.619 --> 00:35:45.179 be precise, generally. 709 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:47.599 You know, what's strange about the numbers, too, is that 710 00:35:47.639 --> 00:35:51.980 they occasionally will add, I think Japan was fairly recent. 711 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:56.820 It doesn't really seem to affect the worldwide numbers. They 712 00:35:56.840 --> 00:35:59.309 just kind of keep chugging along at the same break. 713 00:35:59.409 --> 00:36:01.190 I don't know what that says about their international game. 714 00:36:02.019 --> 00:36:05.940 And the shakeup is because they are struggling. YouTube, not 715 00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:09.579 YouTube TV, like the cable alternative, but just YouTube on 716 00:36:09.619 --> 00:36:12.840 TV has really grown. And it has in my household. 717 00:36:12.940 --> 00:36:16.539 I mean, we watch, we got our YouTube TV app. Now, again, 718 00:36:16.739 --> 00:36:20.809 the YouTube app that we watch YouTube videos on is 719 00:36:21.349 --> 00:36:24.909 at the top next to, you know, our direct TV streaming. And, 720 00:36:26.130 --> 00:36:31.289 you know, I guess the top HBO Max and Netflix, it's, 721 00:36:31.769 --> 00:36:34.210 It's right up there now. And five years ago, it 722 00:36:34.230 --> 00:36:36.309 was not the case. My son was watching YouTube a 723 00:36:36.309 --> 00:36:38.429 lot more, you know, eight years ago than I was. 724 00:36:38.489 --> 00:36:40.349 But now it's just like, oh, there's just so much 725 00:36:40.389 --> 00:36:43.699 content there. And so Netflix is struggling because of that. 726 00:36:44.460 --> 00:36:47.280 And Instagram's now trying to get into the YouTube, trying 727 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:49.400 to capture some of that YouTube long form video business now. 728 00:36:50.199 --> 00:36:53.360 And so things are changing for Netflix. They were the 729 00:36:53.420 --> 00:36:57.469 blockbuster video of streaming a couple of years ago. And 730 00:36:57.530 --> 00:36:59.710 now they're starting to, if they were a blockbuster, it'd 731 00:36:59.730 --> 00:37:03.510 be closing some stores. And they've really screwed up for 732 00:37:03.530 --> 00:37:07.769 a lot of reasons. Mediocre original content and everyone pulling 733 00:37:07.789 --> 00:37:11.030 their libraries from Netflix to start their own streaming channels 734 00:37:11.250 --> 00:37:13.690 and then getting into live sports and kind of confusing 735 00:37:13.710 --> 00:37:15.679 the brand, trying to be something for everybody. And, oh, 736 00:37:15.690 --> 00:37:18.190 we've got podcasts, we've got games. And it's like, we 737 00:37:18.210 --> 00:37:20.320 just want to tune in and have a grid that 738 00:37:20.360 --> 00:37:21.800 makes sense with some shows that you're not going to 739 00:37:21.820 --> 00:37:24.320 cancel because, you know, we liked them, but there wasn't 740 00:37:24.340 --> 00:37:27.139 quite enough viewership. It's a lot of things they've

done 741 00:37:27.219 --> 00:37:30.800 wrong that they're paying a price for. So it's less, it's, 742 00:37:31.210 --> 00:37:34.550 For WWE, they're a great partner. They're getting a lot 743 00:37:34.570 --> 00:37:39.559 of money. It's international distribution. And I'm not saying they'd 744 00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:41.679 rather be anywhere else, but it's not what it looked 745 00:37:41.699 --> 00:37:42.860 like it was going to be three years ago. 746 00:37:43.579 --> 00:37:47.190 Yeah, yeah. I'm just baffled by some of the moves 747 00:37:47.210 --> 00:37:50.269 they've made. Like the original programming, it has gone downhill. 748 00:37:50.289 --> 00:37:55.579 I mean, there's still... they've added more reality stuff that like, uh, 749 00:37:55.619 --> 00:37:57.260 me and the gal are going to kick out of whatever, 750 00:37:57.280 --> 00:38:00.940 but like the prestige television series are just not there. 751 00:38:00.980 --> 00:38:03.920 Like they once were, I don't know if they, if 752 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:07.590 it was, uh, Bela Bajara, uh, Bajaria, sorry. Um, I 753 00:38:07.610 --> 00:38:10.250 think it's how you pronounce her name. She took over 754 00:38:10.389 --> 00:38:12.070 and I don't know if it was, that was kind 755 00:38:12.110 --> 00:38:14.750 of the switch when she did that they started missing 756 00:38:14.829 --> 00:38:16.650 out on things like that. And that's why she's no 757 00:38:16.670 --> 00:38:19.820 longer with them. Um, but, or if it's just, I mean, 758 00:38:20.429 --> 00:38:23.389 paramounts in the game hbo max you have all these 759 00:38:23.429 --> 00:38:26.889 different and obviously amazon all these different streamers fighting for 760 00:38:26.929 --> 00:38:31.050 content now and. 761 00:38:29.570 --> 00:38:31.289 They've got some stuff i mean that's not. 762 00:38:31.150 --> 00:38:34.230 Bad yeah yeah yeah and by apple tv i mean 763 00:38:34.269 --> 00:38:37.670 there's so many so yeah there's a lot more competition 764 00:38:37.710 --> 00:38:41.710 than there once was and um and any of that 765 00:38:41.769 --> 00:38:43.409 i mean can somebody step up and do a good 766 00:38:43.429 --> 00:38:46.489 job advertising the things you're actually excited about instead of 767 00:38:46.510 --> 00:38:48.409 just throwing it out there and hoping for the best. 768 00:38:48.849 --> 00:38:52.010 I know and and Yeah. And with Netflix, they kind 769 00:38:52.030 --> 00:38:54.239 of took the approach that I'm critical of wrestling companies 770 00:38:54.260 --> 00:38:55.880 where they go, well, we just try to do a 771 00:38:55.880 --> 00:38:58.719 little bit of everything. We give us a little something 772 00:38:58.739 --> 00:39:02.480 for everybody. It's like, well, that's not an identity. You know, 773 00:39:02.500 --> 00:39:04.699 that was like TNA's problem for years or one of their, 774 00:39:04.739 --> 00:39:06.889 not their only problem, but one of their problems is, oh, 775 00:39:07.110 --> 00:39:08.650 we're going to do a traditional old school tag match. 776 00:39:08.670 --> 00:39:10.250 We're going to have an X division high spots match. 777 00:39:10.269 --> 00:39:12.710 We're going to do a bloody and gory brawl. We're 778 00:39:12.730 --> 00:39:14.590 going to do a Jeff Jarrett Memphis special with a 779 00:39:14.610 --> 00:39:17.489 bunch of run-ins and distractions and chaos. And then we're 780 00:39:17.510 --> 00:39:20.940 going to have a traditional world title match. Um, like 781 00:39:20.980 --> 00:39:22.380 they were a little bit of something for everybody. Oh, 782 00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:23.949 and we're going to be funny, but we're also going 783 00:39:23.969 --> 00:39:25.309 to be serious. We're going to be old school, but 784 00:39:25.329 --> 00:39:27.320 we're also going to be cutting edge and forward leaning. 785 00:39:27.679 --> 00:39:29.780 And they're all, and we're going to do mini movies. 786 00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:31.940 And it's sort of like, you know, heck, I'm describing 787 00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:35.380 TNA today to a degree. You know, at some point 788 00:39:35.500 --> 00:39:37.579 you want to have an identity and a reason for 789 00:39:37.619 --> 00:39:40.019 doing things and not, to me, I want to do 790 00:39:40.039 --> 00:39:42.170 a little something for everybody means I have no core 791 00:39:42.190 --> 00:39:44.070 philosophy that I believe in. And I'm scared to not 792 00:39:44.110 --> 00:39:46.510 do a little bit of everything so that I, you know, 793 00:39:46.809 --> 00:39:49.659 I don't get blamed for leaving something out. And that's 794 00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:51.860 kind of what Netflix turned into. It's just a little 795 00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:54.610 bit something for everybody. Hey, we got some live sports. Hey, 796 00:39:54.619 --> 00:39:56.690 have you played our Netflix video games on your phone? No, 797 00:39:56.750 --> 00:39:59.730 and I don't want to. Have you looked at our 798 00:39:59.750 --> 00:40:02.449 classic movies? No, HBO Max has better classic movies, and 799 00:40:02.469 --> 00:40:04.510 there's things on demand for free on the free movie 800 00:40:04.530 --> 00:40:09.429 channels I can watch. And then the idea of just 801 00:40:09.530 --> 00:40:13.289 not having those prestige series that ended up, it's certainly 802 00:40:13.329 --> 00:40:16.389 not enough. And they ended up where Apple TV is 803 00:40:17.110 --> 00:40:20.679 the It's kind of the new HBO, and it's not quantity. 804 00:40:21.500 --> 00:40:25.820 It's quality. And we're going to commit. They're not perfect 805 00:40:25.860 --> 00:40:28.099 because they've canceled some series that people are upset about. 806 00:40:29.019 --> 00:40:31.719 But I think Apple TV is taking a slow, steady approach, 807 00:40:32.039 --> 00:40:34.739 just creating a solid identity where Netflix is kind of 808 00:40:34.820 --> 00:40:36.929 flailing in every direction, trying to take over everything. 809 00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:40.610 Someday I will give

Apple TV an actual shot. I've 810 00:40:40.670 --> 00:40:43.090 never actually watched Apple TV, believe it or not. 811 00:40:43.989 --> 00:40:44.190 Wow. 812 00:40:44.329 --> 00:40:44.489 Yeah. 813 00:40:44.510 --> 00:40:46.349 And I know there's some great stuff. So yeah, whenever 814 00:40:46.409 --> 00:40:48.230 I make that switch, I'm sure it's going to be 815 00:40:48.250 --> 00:40:49.300 a really fun time. 816 00:40:49.889 --> 00:40:52.199 Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Severance morning show. I mean, there's 817 00:40:52.219 --> 00:40:55.019 been some good stuff and, and they keep their library 818 00:40:55.039 --> 00:40:57.760 available as far as I know. And you could, you could, 819 00:40:57.940 --> 00:40:59.539 if you didn't have a reason to have other streaming services, 820 00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:02.000 I know sports and wrestling changes that into reality TV, 821 00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:03.780 you know, just, you know, junk TV that we all 822 00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:05.679 just watch for fun that we have when we're in 823 00:41:05.699 --> 00:41:08.860 the mood. If you just want to dive into prestige series, 824 00:41:09.199 --> 00:41:10.659 you could stay busy for three years. 825 00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:12.019 Yeah. 826 00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:13.840 You know, there's a lot in the backlog there. 827 00:41:15.739 --> 00:41:18.590 On Tuesday nights, the conversation doesn't stop when NXT ends. 828 00:41:18.739 --> 00:41:21.349 It's just getting started. I'm Nate Lindberg, and alongside my 829 00:41:21.369 --> 00:41:24.949 co-host Kelly Wells, we bring you PWT Talks NXT. We 830 00:41:24.989 --> 00:41:27.610 go live on the PWTorch YouTube channel about 15 minutes 831 00:41:27.699 --> 00:41:30.320 after the show to break down matches, storylines, and surprises. 832 00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:32.579 And we take your questions and comments from the live chat. 833 00:41:32.780 --> 00:41:34.219 Miss us live, but you still want to be part 834 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:37.400 of the show? Send your thoughts to PWTorchNXT at gmail.com 835 00:41:37.500 --> 00:41:40.030 and catch the replay on YouTube or on the PWTorch 836 00:41:40.070 --> 00:41:43.289 Daily Cast feed. Just search PWTorch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 837 00:41:43.409 --> 00:41:45.449 or wherever you listen. And of course, you can always 838 00:41:45.469 --> 00:41:47.829 stream the latest shows at PWTorch.com. 839 00:41:50.030 --> 00:41:54.670 All right. Winding back to Crown Jewel, we've got the 840 00:41:55.250 --> 00:41:58.829 Liv Morgan versus either Chelsea Green or Nikki Bella. That's 841 00:41:58.869 --> 00:42:00.949 how they're promoting it because we've got the title match 842 00:42:00.969 --> 00:42:04.920 coming up. um friday with uh chelsea and nikki but 843 00:42:04.980 --> 00:42:09.559 it'll probably be live against chelsea uh because that's what 844 00:42:09.579 --> 00:42:12.539 they've been building around uh but you know i don't 845 00:42:12.579 --> 00:42:15.210 rule out anything with

well first of all it's in 846 00:42:15.250 --> 00:42:17.090 chronicle so somebody goes i don't really want to go 847 00:42:17.110 --> 00:42:19.789 you know no problem you know that could play into 848 00:42:19.849 --> 00:42:23.170 it um i know w loves how like how much 849 00:42:23.230 --> 00:42:26.320 the bellas have social media like um you know reach 850 00:42:26.360 --> 00:42:28.260 social media and they know how to you know get 851 00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:31.289 viral videos and topics out there and stuff. And so 852 00:42:31.309 --> 00:42:34.230 they might be leaning towards, well, let's, let's give Nikki 853 00:42:34.250 --> 00:42:36.630 another run. Cause that'll give us, you know, X number 854 00:42:36.670 --> 00:42:38.969 of hits on this and views on the social media thing. 855 00:42:38.989 --> 00:42:42.050 I mean, I, so I I'm throwing out reasons to 856 00:42:42.070 --> 00:42:43.610 think otherwise, but for the most part, I think it's 857 00:42:43.789 --> 00:42:45.300 more likely they just go with the match. They've been 858 00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:47.559 more heavily promoting and building up, although they could also 859 00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:49.559 save that for later and, and, and punt on it 860 00:42:49.579 --> 00:42:52.159 for now. So what do you think of, of this? 861 00:42:52.199 --> 00:42:54.429 I know we're kind of in the realm of, the 862 00:42:54.469 --> 00:42:57.190 annoying part where you wonder with even the champion be champion, 863 00:42:57.210 --> 00:42:58.469 if it weren't for the fact that they're trying to 864 00:42:58.510 --> 00:43:00.570 protect somebody else, they care more about who would have 865 00:43:00.610 --> 00:43:03.440 the belt from having to wrestle, wrestle somebody else in 866 00:43:03.480 --> 00:43:06.199 a throwaway show like crown jewel, because we're at that 867 00:43:06.260 --> 00:43:08.480 stage where you could, you know, imagine that might be 868 00:43:08.500 --> 00:43:10.300 a reason they avoid one of the matches that otherwise 869 00:43:10.679 --> 00:43:11.699 they would think is a bigger deal. 870 00:43:12.340 --> 00:43:14.559 Yeah. I will throw out one other scenario too. Do 871 00:43:14.579 --> 00:43:17.519 the Saudis really like Nikki more than Chelsea for some reason? 872 00:43:17.579 --> 00:43:19.659 Are there some important people that would like to see 873 00:43:19.699 --> 00:43:23.250 her at facing with Morgan? Otherwise I think it is Chelsea. Um, 874 00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:28.639 This year, I mean, I think Lib probably goes over 875 00:43:28.719 --> 00:43:31.420 unless there's, you know, Chelsea gets some help or flukes 876 00:43:31.519 --> 00:43:33.900 into it. It's just kind of the way that Chelsea's booked. 877 00:43:35.059 --> 00:43:37.670 But this year has actually worked to our advantage in 878 00:43:37.710 --> 00:43:42.670 some ways when it comes to the whole Saudi stupid 879 00:43:42.769 --> 00:43:45.650 champion versus champion thing. Because, yeah, I don't know that 880 00:43:45.670 --> 00:43:49.239 we'd have Sami Zayn or Chelsea Green, which are– get 881 00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:51.760 some crowd pleasers in a way. I know Sammy's a 882 00:43:51.800 --> 00:43:53.860 heel now, but it's still very fun to see him 883 00:43:53.900 --> 00:43:55.880 in this role. And who knows if we would have 884 00:43:55.900 --> 00:43:58.239 got a run with Chelsea green anytime soon, had it 885 00:43:58.309 --> 00:44:01.789 not been for this show. So yeah, I, I still 886 00:44:01.829 --> 00:44:04.690 don't think it enough to justify doing these stupid champion 887 00:44:04.730 --> 00:44:07.409 versus champion matches every year, but at least, you know, 888 00:44:07.429 --> 00:44:08.989 we got a couple of fun title reigns out of it. 889 00:44:10.360 --> 00:44:13.980 Then a Roman reigns, Sammy Zane or trick Williams for 890 00:44:14.500 --> 00:44:16.900 the they're, they're not going to give away Roman against 891 00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:18.699 trick with all the build. 892 00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:21.280 To, only if sammy's opted out i would think. 893 00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:24.159 Yeah that's the that's the x factor here um well 894 00:44:24.179 --> 00:44:29.019 let's just focus mostly on roman and sammy um you 895 00:44:29.039 --> 00:44:31.260 do wonder if part of like these little quick little 896 00:44:31.300 --> 00:44:34.800 title changes are like or not title title matches besides 897 00:44:34.840 --> 00:44:38.519 filming tv time is if there is something about you 898 00:44:38.539 --> 00:44:40.519 know this wrestler might not be comfortable we want to 899 00:44:40.679 --> 00:44:41.980 at the last thing to be able to call an 900 00:44:42.039 --> 00:44:44.159 audible and go with somebody else and i haven't heard 901 00:44:44.179 --> 00:44:48.429 that as far as um Anybody involved in these two situations. 902 00:44:48.610 --> 00:44:55.610 But nevertheless, Roman against Sami. If that happens, does Roman 903 00:44:55.690 --> 00:45:02.360 win clean? And Sami gripes because something happened two minutes 904 00:45:02.389 --> 00:45:04.139 earlier that worked against him and that's how they get 905 00:45:04.199 --> 00:45:07.530 out of it? Obviously, Sammy's not beating Roman clean, that 906 00:45:07.670 --> 00:45:09.769 I'm confident in. I don't think they're going to do 907 00:45:09.789 --> 00:45:12.170 a double countout or a DQ finish in that match. So, 908 00:45:12.869 --> 00:45:14.630 one way or another, Sammy has to lose and then 909 00:45:14.650 --> 00:45:17.179 have a gripe afterwards. I think, is there another option 910 00:45:17.219 --> 00:45:18.820 that isn't double-digit percentage? 911 00:45:18.860 --> 00:45:22.099 Just the 9-4-6, coughing Roman the match. That's it. I mean, 912 00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:25.699 if it's clean, for sure, Roman goes over. Yeah. 913 00:45:26.219 --> 00:45:27.449 Boy, even.... 914 00:45:28.980 --> 00:45:31.360 I mean, it... As fun as it would be to 915 00:45:31.380 --> 00:45:32.960 have Sammy gloating

about beating Roman clean. 916 00:45:33.449 --> 00:45:35.710 Yeah, I mean, like, yeah, as fun as it is 917 00:45:35.750 --> 00:45:38.510 and as much as it makes sense, it still feels 918 00:45:38.550 --> 00:45:41.869 like they just protect Roman even more than that. Like, 919 00:45:41.909 --> 00:45:44.989 to me, I think their default mode is we're going 920 00:45:45.010 --> 00:45:46.630 to have Roman go over Sammy clean, but there'll be 921 00:45:46.670 --> 00:45:49.269 something two minutes before the finish that Sammy, like, complains 922 00:45:49.309 --> 00:45:51.690 about that if it weren't for that, they could have won. 923 00:45:52.909 --> 00:45:54.829 They're against him and for Roman because it kind of 924 00:45:54.849 --> 00:45:56.880 laid the groundwork the way he talked last night on Raw. 925 00:45:57.409 --> 00:46:01.900 And then Roman, and then after that, perhaps the 9-for-6 926 00:46:02.119 --> 00:46:06.320 attack him. I also think, given the context of the 927 00:46:06.360 --> 00:46:08.840 moment in Saudi Arabia, I just don't think they're going 928 00:46:08.860 --> 00:46:10.760 to fly extra people out there for an angle. 929 00:46:11.239 --> 00:46:11.840 Sure, yeah. 930 00:46:11.960 --> 00:46:14.599 I think it would be more stripped down. And I 931 00:46:14.639 --> 00:46:18.079 think it's a legitimate reason to think, even if they 932 00:46:18.159 --> 00:46:21.460 wanted to do that, they probably would put it off. 933 00:46:23.900 --> 00:46:25.659 Makes sense. Yeah, yeah. 934 00:46:26.820 --> 00:46:27.199 All right. 935 00:46:28.760 --> 00:46:30.739 Yeah, so are they going to add to this? 936 00:46:32.219 --> 00:46:33.820 I would think one more match. 937 00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:37.300 It's not like a big gimmick match that'll eat up 938 00:46:37.300 --> 00:46:39.079 40 minutes, you know, like an hour. I mean, Roman 939 00:46:39.139 --> 00:46:40.820 Reigns entrance will eat up 40 minutes, but they're not 940 00:46:40.860 --> 00:46:42.659 like a gimmick match that'll pad it beyond that. 941 00:46:43.599 --> 00:46:46.590 No, you know, if they are going to bring in 942 00:46:46.800 --> 00:46:49.269 over for this show, I mean, you can pick somebody 943 00:46:49.289 --> 00:46:52.010 for him to destroy fairly quickly if they want to 944 00:46:52.030 --> 00:46:55.409 do that. But otherwise, you know, things really jumping out 945 00:46:55.590 --> 00:46:59.070 is it needs to be on this show, but maybe I'm, 946 00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:01.900 getting something? Anything stand out to you? 947 00:47:01.960 --> 00:47:05.559 No, nothing's jumping out to me either. By the way, 948 00:47:05.900 --> 00:47:07.510 we talked about Raw a little bit last night. Three 949 00:47:07.550 --> 00:47:12.409 out of five matches featured women. Women's matches, which is 950 00:47:13.090 --> 00:47:15.809 newsworthy in and of itself, or would have been years ago. Now, 951 00:47:16.449 --> 00:47:19.949 it gets mentioned, but it's not a huge, huge deal. 952 00:47:20.340 --> 00:47:24.480 But it was a stripped down episode, talent-wise. No Oba, 953 00:47:24.539 --> 00:47:28.840 no Roman, no 9 for 6 other than a vignette. And, 954 00:47:28.920 --> 00:47:30.500 but they felt it was a good show. You know, 955 00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:32.880 I mean, it was an enjoyable two plus two plus 956 00:47:32.900 --> 00:47:35.340 hour show and yeah, two, the two top two of 957 00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:39.210 the top singles titles on the line, a slightly too 958 00:47:39.230 --> 00:47:41.989 long Sammy Zane talking segment, but still really good. Um, 959 00:47:42.210 --> 00:47:45.269 good action with Sammy and Javon and, and then the, uh, 960 00:47:45.630 --> 00:47:47.230 the tag match served its purpose. Well, I mean, that's 961 00:47:47.250 --> 00:47:49.909 just a good, you know, mid card match, but to 962 00:47:49.949 --> 00:47:53.699 have three women's matches out of five and eating up 963 00:47:54.360 --> 00:47:56.719 a lot of the time on raw. And I think 964 00:47:56.820 --> 00:48:00.989 doing so successfully, uh, was good. How did you, did 965 00:48:01.030 --> 00:48:03.360 it strike you? I mean, does it even matter? Should 966 00:48:03.389 --> 00:48:05.219 we be talking about the percentage of men's and women's 967 00:48:05.260 --> 00:48:06.800 matches or are they all just kind of one big 968 00:48:06.840 --> 00:48:08.280 roster and there's going to be an ebb and flow 969 00:48:08.360 --> 00:48:12.199 and it's just not really even newsworthy anymore if there's 970 00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:13.559 that much women's wrestling on a raw? 971 00:48:14.400 --> 00:48:16.400 You know, when they released the line at this time, 972 00:48:16.460 --> 00:48:18.480 it actually did stand out to me like, oh, okay, 973 00:48:18.500 --> 00:48:20.280 there's a couple of women's matches that look like they're 974 00:48:20.300 --> 00:48:22.829 going to be the featured matches on this show. They've 975 00:48:22.869 --> 00:48:25.630 done this in the past where people have said like, oh, yeah, 976 00:48:25.829 --> 00:48:27.949 I didn't even notice and I think that's a good thing. 977 00:48:28.679 --> 00:48:32.059 it does show that just how far the women's division 978 00:48:32.099 --> 00:48:36.119 has come and how far women's wrestling has come. So it's, 979 00:48:36.340 --> 00:48:39.059 I don't know. I, I'm not going to spend a 980 00:48:39.099 --> 00:48:41.420 lot of time on it, but I also, I'm not 981 00:48:41.440 --> 00:48:45.349 going to be that person that I'm a big believer in. 982 00:48:45.690 --> 00:48:47.989 We don't need a women's hell in a cell or 983 00:48:48.130 --> 00:48:50.909 blood and guts match this year because you didn't. And 984 00:48:50.949 --> 00:48:53.570 it had been the women had the big build and 985 00:48:53.590 --> 00:48:55.050 that was really good. I'd say, well, we don't need 986 00:48:55.070 --> 00:48:57.190 a men's blood and guts or war games match this year. 987 00:48:57.530 --> 00:48:59.510 So it's

nothing like that. But, yeah, I'm just not 988 00:48:59.570 --> 00:49:02.250 on that other side going, you must do everything equal. 989 00:49:02.690 --> 00:49:07.420 I'm not. It just it's an entertainment. And obviously, you 990 00:49:07.460 --> 00:49:10.880 want to make sure you're fair to both sexes. But 991 00:49:12.260 --> 00:49:15.219 at the same time, you don't need to balance everything 992 00:49:15.300 --> 00:49:18.539 out just because, people online are, because they want something 993 00:49:18.579 --> 00:49:19.179 to bitch about. 994 00:49:20.219 --> 00:49:27.139 Yeah, yep. Is Bayley moving up the card with her 995 00:49:27.199 --> 00:49:30.960 win over Lyra, sort of winning that feud, and the 996 00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:34.429 way that she's being presented, does she end up in 997 00:49:34.510 --> 00:49:37.809 a women's war games, maybe in a world title situation again? 998 00:49:37.829 --> 00:49:42.619 Has she been around long enough outside of the top 999 00:49:42.659 --> 00:49:44.519 tier where you would think she'd now visit it again? 1000 00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:51.550 Um, Bailey's cold and, and has been for a while. 1001 00:49:52.670 --> 00:49:54.989 I don't know what they paid her. If they, if 1002 00:49:55.010 --> 00:49:58.130 they have reached a new deal, that would have, I mean, 1003 00:49:58.150 --> 00:49:59.710 it's easy for me to say because, you know, I 1004 00:49:59.730 --> 00:50:01.570 don't know the impact she had on the locker room 1005 00:50:01.590 --> 00:50:03.719 and all of that, but I, if it was a 1006 00:50:03.780 --> 00:50:06.400 substantial pay raise she wanted, I think I would let 1007 00:50:06.420 --> 00:50:09.460 her go to Tony and AW, um, because she, Yeah, 1008 00:50:09.480 --> 00:50:12.099 she's going to mean something there. They're going to get 1009 00:50:12.159 --> 00:50:14.360 more out of her there than you're going to on 1010 00:50:14.380 --> 00:50:19.059 the WWE side. I just don't... It's been a while. 1011 00:50:19.199 --> 00:50:21.239 I mean, when's the last time you felt like Bayley 1012 00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:23.300 was really over in a major way? 1013 00:50:25.980 --> 00:50:26.940 Pre-pandemic? 1014 00:50:28.139 --> 00:50:29.539 Yeah, I mean, maybe during. 1015 00:50:29.280 --> 00:50:31.400 The pandemic, because some. 1016 00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:33.119 Of the ding-dong stuff they were doing was fun, but. 1017 00:50:33.409 --> 00:50:33.639 Yeah. 1018 00:50:34.239 --> 00:50:39.940 Yeah, it's... I don't know. I respect her work and everything, 1019 00:50:39.980 --> 00:50:41.789 but I just got to call it as I see it. 1020 00:50:42.199 --> 00:50:46.099 I'm not seeing her all that. She gets nice reactions, 1021 00:50:46.199 --> 00:50:49.159 but it's just she doesn't feel like a player. And 1022 00:50:49.219 --> 00:50:50.619 if they can come up with something to get her 1023 00:50:50.659 --> 00:50:53.199 back in that mix, great. But it's kind of seeing 1024 00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:54.139 and believing at this point. 1025 00:50:54.960 --> 00:50:58.719 And I ask because I don't think she's... I'm not like, 1026 00:50:58.860 --> 00:51:01.500 what are you saying she's cold? But there's something about 1027 00:51:02.239 --> 00:51:07.659 her being kind of the veteran, like the... long running 1028 00:51:07.719 --> 00:51:12.139 veteran presence of that, that era of growth. And she's 1029 00:51:12.199 --> 00:51:15.260 just kind of steady. And I agree. She's trying to 1030 00:51:15.500 --> 00:51:18.550 find herself, but I wonder what, if she would thrive 1031 00:51:19.369 --> 00:51:23.389 being given a higher spot in something to kind of, 1032 00:51:23.389 --> 00:51:25.289 you know, sink her teeth into, to use a cliche 1033 00:51:26.269 --> 00:51:28.210 with somebody harp. And I don't even have a specific 1034 00:51:28.969 --> 00:51:31.150 idea of what that would be, but I I'm kind 1035 00:51:31.170 --> 00:51:33.510 of intrigued to see if, if she has it in 1036 00:51:33.570 --> 00:51:37.449 her to step up and not be putting somebody, over 1037 00:51:37.690 --> 00:51:41.389 or being in a mid-card feud uh but if she 1038 00:51:41.449 --> 00:51:44.489 would rise to that occasion because of her stature and 1039 00:51:44.510 --> 00:51:46.789 her tenure it wasn't a huge talk moment but just 1040 00:51:46.829 --> 00:51:48.820 kind of a throwaway comment the thing i'm most interested 1041 00:51:48.860 --> 00:51:51.099 in though is becky lynch right now because last night 1042 00:51:51.159 --> 00:51:52.340 on raw and this was one of the talking points 1043 00:51:52.360 --> 00:51:54.460 i wanted to extract from raw last night uh to 1044 00:51:54.500 --> 00:51:57.159 talk to you about is the ring introduction she didn't 1045 00:51:57.179 --> 00:52:01.039 get much of a reaction um her during the match 1046 00:52:01.300 --> 00:52:03.260 there was one point where she was pumping her fist 1047 00:52:03.659 --> 00:52:05.219 and and playing to the crowd before they went to 1048 00:52:05.239 --> 00:52:07.340 the first commercial break trying to get a reaction trying 1049 00:52:07.360 --> 00:52:11.260 to wake the crowd up. Liv, during ring introductions, got 1050 00:52:12.239 --> 00:52:15.320 similar cheers to Becky, and she's the heel. I think 1051 00:52:15.420 --> 00:52:19.099 by the end, fans are into the storyline of the match, 1052 00:52:19.119 --> 00:52:20.510 and it went a long time, and it was a 1053 00:52:20.510 --> 00:52:24.369 good match with a not unexpected finish when they're throwing 1054 00:52:24.389 --> 00:52:25.730 a match together at the last second where they didn't 1055 00:52:25.750 --> 00:52:28.349 really have a long-term plan for an outcome. But I 1056 00:52:28.369 --> 00:52:32.030 look at that, and I'm like, is she broken? And 1057 00:52:32.230 --> 00:52:35.369 is it in part because there's this muddled presentation of 1058 00:52:35.409 --> 00:52:37.900 her upon her return where she's suddenly the same person, 1059 00:52:37.940 --> 00:52:40.679

but a baby face because of a slight tweak. And 1060 00:52:40.739 --> 00:52:43.260 then she, they put her against the care and live 1061 00:52:43.280 --> 00:52:45.219 at the same time. And so nobody really gets to 1062 00:52:45.679 --> 00:52:49.420 have an investment in, in rooting for her to either 1063 00:52:49.460 --> 00:52:51.559 win or lose, but you're just sort of watching her 1064 00:52:52.760 --> 00:52:56.719 throw out some of the derivative key lines that she 1065 00:52:56.780 --> 00:52:58.590 does in her promos. But that's about it. 1066 00:53:00.239 --> 00:53:02.699 It was so lazy just to bring her back. And 1067 00:53:02.739 --> 00:53:05.820 she's the man again. Everything you just saw doesn't matter. 1068 00:53:05.840 --> 00:53:08.000 She's the man. And she's a baby face. You should 1069 00:53:08.039 --> 00:53:11.449 like her. Build to that. Make us want to see 1070 00:53:11.489 --> 00:53:14.809 her become the man again. Get people on board with 1071 00:53:14.849 --> 00:53:16.789 it rather than just, well, we know this. We'll get 1072 00:53:16.829 --> 00:53:18.530 a reaction. So let's just put her out there in this. 1073 00:53:18.610 --> 00:53:21.349 And I don't remember the circumstances why they felt the 1074 00:53:21.389 --> 00:53:25.059 need to do it. But it, yeah, very lazy. And 1075 00:53:25.079 --> 00:53:31.199 I do think it's hurt her. That they're just, again, 1076 00:53:31.239 --> 00:53:32.840 they gave you what she would, I think a lot 1077 00:53:32.860 --> 00:53:38.320 of people wanted. And And also, you're going back to something. 1078 00:53:38.420 --> 00:53:40.679 Roman Reigns has been able to pull it off pretty 1079 00:53:40.860 --> 00:53:43.219 well with the bloodline so far. I mean, there's a 1080 00:53:43.239 --> 00:53:46.320 lot of people that grumble about them repeating the bloodline, 1081 00:53:46.340 --> 00:53:48.500 and I've been part of that, but they are over. 1082 00:53:49.380 --> 00:53:51.619 But it can be tough when you try to take 1083 00:53:51.679 --> 00:53:54.280 something that was red hot and then, okay, I had 1084 00:53:54.320 --> 00:53:55.679 the heel run, I'm going to try to go back 1085 00:53:55.699 --> 00:54:00.079 to that. It's not going to have the same impact 1086 00:54:00.460 --> 00:54:02.699 uh in most cases and i think she's kind of 1087 00:54:02.780 --> 00:54:06.059 running into that uh right now um you know who 1088 00:54:06.159 --> 00:54:10.219 is she uh because she's back as as the man 1089 00:54:10.280 --> 00:54:14.199 baby face becky but she's also feuding with stephanie because 1090 00:54:14.239 --> 00:54:16.380 they just you know can't stay out of their own 1091 00:54:16.440 --> 00:54:20.090 way and do baby faces versus heels so that's been 1092 00:54:20.110 --> 00:54:23.130 i think that's kind of hurt her a little bit too. 1093 00:54:24.190 --> 00:54:28.429 So is there do you just say all right she's 1094 00:54:28.570 --> 00:54:31.320 still really good she's got i mean she's top top

1095 00:54:31.389 --> 00:54:34.159 tier in so many categories and it's the booking of 1096 00:54:34.179 --> 00:54:36.380 her character and maybe some of it's her fault for 1097 00:54:36.420 --> 00:54:39.719 wanting to hedge on this or or lean is something 1098 00:54:39.739 --> 00:54:42.380 that goes against the the how the fans perceive her 1099 00:54:42.400 --> 00:54:43.599 but if you throw all that out and just go 1100 00:54:43.619 --> 00:54:46.840 what's the best way to turn her into what she 1101 00:54:46.900 --> 00:54:48.920 once was for a stretch of time she was like 1102 00:54:49.719 --> 00:54:51.929 the top star tied as a top star in that 1103 00:54:51.969 --> 00:54:54.969 company like yeah like there was that that like jeff 1104 00:54:54.989 --> 00:54:56.730 hardy had that moment it was more fleeting where it 1105 00:54:56.750 --> 00:54:59.739 was like Whoa, I think he's the most popular guy many, 1106 00:55:00.179 --> 00:55:02.880 many years ago. But is there a way to kind 1107 00:55:02.900 --> 00:55:05.940 of just go, okay, mistakes were made. Let's not dwell 1108 00:55:05.980 --> 00:55:09.199 on them. Let's not, like, I have sunk cost fallacy. 1109 00:55:09.219 --> 00:55:11.559 We've got to, you know, own it. What do you 1110 00:55:11.579 --> 00:55:15.340 do if you just say, all right, let's just build 1111 00:55:15.440 --> 00:55:19.519 this division as much around Becky as anybody and prioritize 1112 00:55:19.800 --> 00:55:22.980 what is the best way to present her so fans 1113 00:55:23.039 --> 00:55:26.309 care either root for or against her. and are emotionally 1114 00:55:26.349 --> 00:55:28.530 invested in her journey, what path do you take? 1115 00:55:28.550 --> 00:55:32.219 I think I move on from the man, actually. It 1116 00:55:32.300 --> 00:55:36.039 might be a risk, but it just, again, been there 1117 00:55:36.059 --> 00:55:39.739 and done that. And they already made it feel like 1118 00:55:39.800 --> 00:55:42.239 it wasn't genuine. The first time, she just kind of 1119 00:55:42.300 --> 00:55:44.940 evolved into that. It felt like a natural progression for 1120 00:55:44.980 --> 00:55:47.420 the character. Or this time, she just showed up as 1121 00:55:47.460 --> 00:55:50.219 the man again. And it's hard to buy into that. 1122 00:55:50.320 --> 00:55:53.099 So I might strip that down and let her be 1123 00:55:53.159 --> 00:55:56.760 more real. She's always been good at that. working in 1124 00:55:56.820 --> 00:55:58.900 some real life things, knowing where the line is and 1125 00:55:58.920 --> 00:56:03.199 all that. Not that we're doing shoot stuff here, but 1126 00:56:03.239 --> 00:56:05.860 just make the character a little more authentic to who 1127 00:56:05.909 --> 00:56:07.309 she is at this stage in her life. 1128 00:56:09.210 --> 00:56:12.829 Yeah, I like that. I mean, I don't think Bailey 1129 00:56:13.030 --> 00:56:16.570 and Becky need to be at all different characters. I 1130 00:56:16.590 --> 00:56:21.170 think you put them each on each brand. And obviously, 1131 00:56:21.670 --> 00:56:23.869 I invest more and care more about Becky than Bailey 1132 00:56:24.309 --> 00:56:27.389 at this point. Um, but I think you can do 1133 00:56:27.409 --> 00:56:31.650 some similar things with both of them as lead baby 1134 00:56:31.710 --> 00:56:39.320 face veteran gatekeeper legacy stars on each brand and frame 1135 00:56:39.340 --> 00:56:42.219 them that way. Cause I think they can still deliver 1136 00:56:42.239 --> 00:56:45.619 in the ring and on promos enough to make that work. 1137 00:56:45.860 --> 00:56:48.929 And I think it's good for stabilizing and growing the 1138 00:56:48.969 --> 00:56:50.849 influx of newer names too, to have people like that 1139 00:56:50.889 --> 00:56:54.820 around them. You know that last segment you're just listening 1140 00:56:54.860 --> 00:56:57.059 to and the next one that you're waiting to listen to? 1141 00:56:57.239 --> 00:56:59.840 Those can be one second apart with a VIP membership. 1142 00:56:59.900 --> 00:57:03.789 You can unlock our commercial-free versions of our shows. PWTorch.com 1143 00:57:03.849 --> 00:57:07.610 slash GoVIP tells you how to do it. That's PWTorch.com 1144 00:57:07.929 --> 00:57:12.329 slash GoVIP. Options exist within the Apple Podcast app using 1145 00:57:12.349 --> 00:57:14.550 your Apple account, through Patreon, which, by the way, you 1146 00:57:14.570 --> 00:57:17.159 can sync up with Spotify, or just about any iOS 1147 00:57:17.300 --> 00:57:20.170 or Android app with a full VIP membership. You can 1148 00:57:20.250 --> 00:57:23.469 customize the feed for individual shows and clusters of shows 1149 00:57:23.610 --> 00:57:27.869 and themes. Go to pwtorch.com slash govip for full details 1150 00:57:27.949 --> 00:57:31.889 on all the options to listen commercial-free. And with upper-tier options, 1151 00:57:32.230 --> 00:57:35.730 unlock our VIP-exclusive podcasts that run throughout the week every week. 1152 00:57:38.449 --> 00:57:42.750 Yeah. The veterans presence is good. We don't know what 1153 00:57:42.789 --> 00:57:44.989 Becky's schedule is. You know, Bailey seems to be more 1154 00:57:45.030 --> 00:57:49.380 full-time than Becky. It kind of disappears for stretches here 1155 00:57:49.409 --> 00:57:52.530 and there. So I don't know if I completely build 1156 00:57:52.570 --> 00:57:56.570 around Becky, but she would be a priority. 1157 00:57:57.070 --> 00:58:00.489 I just think her being a top four at any 1158 00:58:00.510 --> 00:58:03.949 given time as you try to figure out everybody else. Obviously, 1159 00:58:04.449 --> 00:58:09.750 Rhea's out. Naomi will be back. And that will shake 1160 00:58:09.769 --> 00:58:13.570 things up a little bit. But who among the newer group, 1161 00:58:14.010 --> 00:58:17.880 some of whom we saw in Money in the Bank, 1162 00:58:17.909 --> 00:58:18.449 who are. 1163 00:58:20.659 --> 00:58:28.099 They've been investing in Lola Weiss and Soruka and Lash Legend,

especially, 1164 00:58:28.179 --> 00:58:31.760 and going back a little bit to Lyra. Who is 1165 00:58:32.139 --> 00:58:37.300 jumping out to you as, okay, this is... She's gaining traction, 1166 00:58:37.840 --> 00:58:41.179 and let's make sure people know that we believe in her, 1167 00:58:41.320 --> 00:58:43.619 and we believe that she will actually earn that push 1168 00:58:43.639 --> 00:58:46.460 and not seem overpushed. With Soul, it's been kind of shaky. 1169 00:58:46.780 --> 00:58:52.300 So who's... Who on the roster now is OK, if 1170 00:58:52.340 --> 00:58:54.039 you're going to create a top four on Ron, a 1171 00:58:54.079 --> 00:58:55.679 top four on SmackDown and you want to have one 1172 00:58:55.699 --> 00:58:58.199 or two newer names, at least in each of them, 1173 00:58:58.320 --> 00:59:03.469 along with Becky, Bailey, Naomi, Rhea and perhaps Bianca at 1174 00:59:03.489 --> 00:59:06.909 some point. And you've got Jade. So maybe that's three 1175 00:59:07.030 --> 00:59:09.989 on each brand of legacy stars, two or three or. 1176 00:59:10.199 --> 00:59:12.300 or that you build around. Who are the one or 1177 00:59:12.360 --> 00:59:15.829 two others that you think are rising above the pack 1178 00:59:15.849 --> 00:59:17.849 that you should include in that group to mix with them? 1179 00:59:19.329 --> 00:59:21.969 I would include, she's not going to be somebody that 1180 00:59:22.010 --> 00:59:25.980 they're going to be super giddy over because she's not 1181 00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:28.420 going to be a huge baby face success and sell 1182 00:59:28.480 --> 00:59:30.480 a lot of merch. But I do think Jaycee Jane 1183 00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:34.300 is really good at what she does and that faction works. 1184 00:59:34.320 --> 00:59:36.780 So I would definitely do things with them. I mean, 1185 00:59:36.800 --> 00:59:39.019 Stephanie McHare kind of feels like she's already in that mix. 1186 00:59:39.039 --> 00:59:42.300 So I'm not going to say her. In fact, she's 1187 00:59:42.440 --> 00:59:45.679 cooled off yet. You might want to hold her. But 1188 00:59:45.699 --> 00:59:47.949 to be fair, I mean, she has, she'd been, in 1189 00:59:47.969 --> 00:59:49.969 and out with injury. So it's hard to say where 1190 00:59:50.670 --> 00:59:52.010 she would, if she's still going to be able to 1191 00:59:52.190 --> 00:59:57.769 recapture the magic that was there. Otherwise maybe it is Lola. 1192 01:00:00.179 --> 01:00:04.739 She's I, okay. I'll just say, I mean, enough with 1193 01:00:04.780 --> 01:00:08.019 the ass shaking as much as she does. It's, it's fine. 1194 01:00:08.139 --> 01:00:11.119 It's part of her little entrance thing, whatever, but I 1195 01:00:11.139 --> 01:00:13.849 just don't need her to looking into the camera and 1196 01:00:13.869 --> 01:00:15.489 doing it when you're in the middle of a match 1197 01:00:15.530 --> 01:00:18.800 and that I just stop. So I would pull back 1198 01:00:18.889 --> 01:00:23.559 on that personally. And otherwise, I mean, I'm looking at 1199 01:00:23.579 --> 01:00:26.420 the roster now. Lyra needs to get out of that gimmick. 1200 01:00:27.460 --> 01:00:29.599 I give her credit for going all in with it 1201 01:00:29.619 --> 01:00:32.619 and all that, but it just, it's not working. And 1202 01:00:32.940 --> 01:00:36.320 I don't know that she's going to find major success 1203 01:00:36.400 --> 01:00:40.500 going baby face again, because there's just something that's missing 1204 01:00:41.440 --> 01:00:45.119 with her personality. It's just not connecting with the audience yet. 1205 01:00:46.699 --> 01:00:48.320 But I would go back to the drawing board with 1206 01:00:48.360 --> 01:00:52.300 her rather than still trying to do this. Roxanne Perez, 1207 01:00:52.320 --> 01:00:55.059 I think people were ready to see her win the 1208 01:00:55.599 --> 01:00:59.239 Money in the Bank ladder match. Yeah, I mean, those 1209 01:00:59.300 --> 01:01:01.219 are just some of the names. I don't really have 1210 01:01:02.349 --> 01:01:06.690 a firm this person must be in the big four. Yeah, 1211 01:01:06.730 --> 01:01:10.010 there's just nobody that really. stands out to me that way. 1212 01:01:10.110 --> 01:01:11.880 I mean, you can, you can put Charlotte Flair back 1213 01:01:11.909 --> 01:01:14.219 in that mix. It's probably time, you know, she's just 1214 01:01:14.260 --> 01:01:16.539 been doing cutesy stuff for a long time now. And 1215 01:01:16.559 --> 01:01:17.760 so maybe it is time to get her back. 1216 01:01:18.920 --> 01:01:21.619 And, and if you look at the lay of the land, 1217 01:01:21.739 --> 01:01:25.860 I mean, when you have Liv Morgan and even Raquel Rodriguez, 1218 01:01:25.880 --> 01:01:28.619 I mean, she's the IC champ and she, at some point, 1219 01:01:29.250 --> 01:01:30.789 she's not going to be in judgment day, kind of 1220 01:01:30.809 --> 01:01:31.730 like with Roxanne. 1221 01:01:32.650 --> 01:01:35.519 Um, She's defended the title once and she won it 1222 01:01:35.579 --> 01:01:38.840 three months ago. It's on television. It's just ridiculous. 1223 01:01:38.980 --> 01:01:42.559 That is ridiculous. And then Chelsea Green. I mean, I 1224 01:01:43.159 --> 01:01:47.530 think you'd get a different answer from fans in terms 1225 01:01:47.590 --> 01:01:50.889 of their depth chart of who they think people should 1226 01:01:50.909 --> 01:01:52.409 invest in. And so there is a. 1227 01:01:54.269 --> 01:01:54.769 Parody. 1228 01:01:56.889 --> 01:02:01.210 It's an ensemble in a way. And it's fun to watch. 1229 01:02:01.429 --> 01:02:04.610 You know, that Like, I think Meechan and B-Fab are 1230 01:02:04.650 --> 01:02:08.820 fine as supporting players in a faction. And Chelsea, I 1231 01:02:08.820 --> 01:02:10.940 think people would have said, and controversial or not, that, 1232 01:02:10.960 --> 01:02:13.440 you know, she's best as, you know, kind of comedy relief. 1233 01:02:13.559 --> 01:02:17.780 And now they're trying to go with her being at

1234 01:02:17.800 --> 01:02:20.449 a higher level due to, you know, injuries and happenstance 1235 01:02:20.780 --> 01:02:24.250 and see how it works. And the fans are into her. Obviously, 1236 01:02:24.630 --> 01:02:28.809 Liv Morgan, they've always believed in her. Even, I think 1237 01:02:28.849 --> 01:02:31.000 there's a little like kind of meta stuff with, with Becky, 1238 01:02:31.260 --> 01:02:32.539 you know, I always thought that you'd be somebody who 1239 01:02:32.559 --> 01:02:34.179 would give more than you would take. And you had 1240 01:02:34.199 --> 01:02:36.070 this bright future and, you know, the obviously management just 1241 01:02:36.179 --> 01:02:40.030 felt and her peers felt there is something here. We 1242 01:02:40.050 --> 01:02:41.389 got to figure it out. And they just tried and 1243 01:02:41.409 --> 01:02:44.250 tried and tried. Um, and Alexa bliss is in the mix. 1244 01:02:44.309 --> 01:02:48.769 I mean, there is depth in terms of the ultra veterans, like, 1245 01:02:48.909 --> 01:02:52.590 like Becky and Bailey and Charlotte, and then kind of 1246 01:02:52.610 --> 01:02:55.719 the next year, people who've been around a while, like Bianca, 1247 01:02:56.110 --> 01:03:01.989 Naomi also, um, and then the, I guess Jade is 1248 01:03:02.030 --> 01:03:05.590 sort of entered into just sort of her own category. Um, 1249 01:03:05.699 --> 01:03:07.760 cause she's not super new, but she's not, you know, 1250 01:03:07.780 --> 01:03:09.360 she's not just a recent call up, but she doesn't 1251 01:03:09.380 --> 01:03:12.139 have the tenure of, of the four or five others 1252 01:03:12.199 --> 01:03:14.719 at the top who I just mentioned, but then a 1253 01:03:14.820 --> 01:03:17.320 decent mix of people who are getting some time because 1254 01:03:17.340 --> 01:03:19.800 of how many people have been out, uh, to try 1255 01:03:19.820 --> 01:03:22.639 to gain traction. And I wish we had a more 1256 01:03:23.039 --> 01:03:26.699 definitive answer of who is a JC Jane. Is it 1257 01:03:26.739 --> 01:03:30.340 so Ruka? Um, is it last legend? Like you wish 1258 01:03:30.559 --> 01:03:34.449 just one other person, Lyra, um, Stephanie of a care, Julia, 1259 01:03:35.090 --> 01:03:38.289 one of the, one of them had also jumped out. Um, 1260 01:03:38.829 --> 01:03:41.750 and it, they, they haven't yet, but I give WWE 1261 01:03:43.090 --> 01:03:46.170 credit for giving time. You know, they've given minutes to 1262 01:03:46.650 --> 01:03:49.590 so many of them, including against some top tier talent, like, 1263 01:03:49.610 --> 01:03:51.570 you know, sky where they're going to look good against her. 1264 01:03:51.690 --> 01:03:53.530 So I don't know. I mean, the more I talk 1265 01:03:53.570 --> 01:03:56.840 about it, I think what people are searching for is, um, 1266 01:03:57.650 --> 01:03:59.929 they just want everyone healthy and get a sense of 1267 01:04:00.460 --> 01:04:03.480 hierarchy as opposed to this parody of everyone just kind 1268 01:04:03.500 --> 01:04:06.179 of trading wins. And there's some unlikely people with a 1269 01:04:06.199 --> 01:04:09.679 belt like Chelsea and Liv who were, Liv is fine, 1270 01:04:09.739 --> 01:04:10.949 but you know, I don't, I still don't think of 1271 01:04:10.989 --> 01:04:15.409 her as like the long-term centerpiece heel who leads the division. 1272 01:04:15.429 --> 01:04:18.250 Although I think she's doing fine. I think when she 1273 01:04:18.329 --> 01:04:20.070 has the belt, you're kind of looking elsewhere still. 1274 01:04:20.909 --> 01:04:25.300 And as I say with her, give it up with the, 1275 01:04:25.320 --> 01:04:27.619 you're not a pest heel. You want to be more 1276 01:04:27.659 --> 01:04:31.119 than a pest heel, so quit acting like one. Blake 1277 01:04:31.139 --> 01:04:33.360 Monroe is somebody that people are probably going, what about her? 1278 01:04:33.380 --> 01:04:39.489 We need to see Blake get it done in the 1279 01:04:39.510 --> 01:04:43.929 ring in traditional matches. Because she's a lot like Britt Baker. 1280 01:04:44.710 --> 01:04:47.530 And that people remember her in AEW having these big, 1281 01:04:47.570 --> 01:04:50.949 these really memorable, you know, hot matches, but they were brawls. 1282 01:04:51.030 --> 01:04:53.550 If you look at what they actually were, it's more 1283 01:04:53.570 --> 01:04:58.530 of the regular in-ring stuff that, that held Britt back. 1284 01:04:59.170 --> 01:05:02.190 And I think Blake is a little bit better in 1285 01:05:02.210 --> 01:05:04.360 that regard. I would say better in that regard, but 1286 01:05:04.389 --> 01:05:08.320 she's still not quite there. And, you know, can she 1287 01:05:08.360 --> 01:05:11.710 get there? That's something that, a very good personality and 1288 01:05:11.750 --> 01:05:14.119 all of that as far as their on-air character is concerned. 1289 01:05:14.139 --> 01:05:17.239 But I do think there's still some unanswered questions about her. 1290 01:05:17.260 --> 01:05:21.199 I mean, if they can get Bianca back or Asuka back, 1291 01:05:21.239 --> 01:05:24.989 that's going to help the division too. Yeah. I mean, 1292 01:05:25.269 --> 01:05:28.110 they definitely, and then there's, I mean, NXT is still 1293 01:05:28.670 --> 01:05:31.590 fairly loaded when it comes to female talent. They've called 1294 01:05:31.650 --> 01:05:33.909 up some, but I mean, they're in a much better 1295 01:05:33.949 --> 01:05:37.239 place with the women down there than they are the men. Absolutely. 1296 01:05:37.260 --> 01:05:39.699 And that's kind of where I was at NXT. I'll 1297 01:05:39.719 --> 01:05:44.800 close out this women's, WWE women's division conversation by saying, 1298 01:05:45.320 --> 01:05:51.059 I think if you had a draft and you grab 1299 01:05:51.519 --> 01:05:53.940 just any two people, or frankly, any four people, or whatever, 1300 01:05:54.179 --> 01:05:57.030 and said, draft the women that you want on your 1301 01:05:57.179 --> 01:06:00.409 nationally

televised weekly TV series, there would be so little 1302 01:06:00.449 --> 01:06:03.869 consensus of who, if you drop the 20, I don't 1303 01:06:03.889 --> 01:06:06.329 know how many women we mentioned, somewhere between, in the 1304 01:06:06.329 --> 01:06:09.099 14 to 18 range of number of, of women that 1305 01:06:09.139 --> 01:06:13.519 we've talked about here. I think, um, I, I just, 1306 01:06:13.739 --> 01:06:16.940 I think like the top four, if you had a 1307 01:06:16.980 --> 01:06:18.400 four way draft or the top eight, if you had 1308 01:06:18.420 --> 01:06:21.360 a two way draft would be so different with any 1309 01:06:21.900 --> 01:06:25.050 pair of people who followed ODB or, or, or analysts 1310 01:06:25.090 --> 01:06:28.039 or whatever journalists, like, I just, I don't think there's a, a, 1311 01:06:28.489 --> 01:06:30.150 and I don't, I don't know that I would, you 1312 01:06:30.170 --> 01:06:33.809 could do a random draw and, I think most of 1313 01:06:33.829 --> 01:06:35.710 the random draws, I would think it was created by 1314 01:06:35.730 --> 01:06:37.309 a reasonable person who has a certain point of view 1315 01:06:37.349 --> 01:06:40.340 and sees things in some of the women. Like it there, 1316 01:06:40.440 --> 01:06:43.139 that's the level of kind of parody between the established people, 1317 01:06:43.179 --> 01:06:45.280 but I'm, you know, as Becky and Bailey, we've been there, 1318 01:06:45.320 --> 01:06:48.440 done that. You know, you can have that viewer. No, no, 1319 01:06:48.480 --> 01:06:50.760 they've been in the back. They've been kind of off 1320 01:06:50.800 --> 01:06:52.760 and on. Let's, let's give them one more run. They're 1321 01:06:52.780 --> 01:06:56.929 important to now, now help solidify the next group, but 1322 01:06:57.170 --> 01:06:58.989 they need to be top. They need to be pushed 1323 01:06:59.130 --> 01:07:00.849 near the top for them to have the effect of 1324 01:07:00.889 --> 01:07:03.610 past the torch. You can make, that argument, I just, 1325 01:07:03.710 --> 01:07:06.849 I think there'd be a complete lack of consensus on who, 1326 01:07:07.230 --> 01:07:09.510 who would land, uh, in what order, if you had 1327 01:07:09.530 --> 01:07:12.570 a two person draft draft in the top 20 women, uh, 1328 01:07:12.570 --> 01:07:13.289 do you agree with that, Jason? 1329 01:07:13.309 --> 01:07:15.369 I do. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. 1330 01:07:15.570 --> 01:07:16.659 Which would not be the case with the men. 1331 01:07:18.119 --> 01:07:19.760 No. Like, you know, with the top. What if it 1332 01:07:19.780 --> 01:07:22.099 was Candy Carver still doing listed on their roster? 1333 01:07:22.179 --> 01:07:27.119 Anyway. You would have a real, there would be some 1334 01:07:27.159 --> 01:07:30.239 lists that would really surprise you. If you saw, I 1335 01:07:30.260 --> 01:07:33.449 think most men's drafts, you would have a, a, very 1336 01:07:33.570 --> 01:07:35.840 similar overlap on the top six to 10 men who 1337 01:07:35.860 --> 01:07:36.409 would be drafted. 1338 01:07:37.820 --> 01:07:38.199 Agreed. 1339 01:07:38.420 --> 01:07:39.219 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 1340 01:07:39.599 --> 01:07:42.360 So anyway, it's, it's, it's exciting, but at some point 1341 01:07:42.400 --> 01:07:43.780 you kind of want to see a checkout. 1342 01:07:44.019 --> 01:07:48.019 And you want to see somebody really pull ahead of 1343 01:07:48.059 --> 01:07:50.320 everybody else. And that's not quite happening yet. 1344 01:07:50.739 --> 01:07:53.340 That's, that's, that's what inspires the conversation last week's raw 1345 01:07:53.440 --> 01:07:56.059 or last night's rod did the same thing. Like who's 1346 01:07:56.139 --> 01:07:59.940 pulling ahead here and where are some of these, you know, 1347 01:07:59.980 --> 01:08:01.699 Becky and Bailey were big parts of last night's show. 1348 01:08:01.739 --> 01:08:07.969 Where are, Where are they going? You know, what did 1349 01:08:08.010 --> 01:08:10.889 we learn last night, if anything, about them? And, you know, 1350 01:08:10.969 --> 01:08:13.710 Sky is just, she's, you know, a great hand, but 1351 01:08:13.750 --> 01:08:15.760 I don't think they're going to push her as the 1352 01:08:15.800 --> 01:08:21.579 centerpiece babyface. But she's just a great top utility person 1353 01:08:21.600 --> 01:08:26.659 to have around who fans adore. So anyway, all right. 1354 01:08:26.680 --> 01:08:28.439 And by the way, keep an eye on Kendall Gray, folks, 1355 01:08:28.510 --> 01:08:30.989 because when they get her on the main roster, look out, 1356 01:08:31.069 --> 01:08:31.630 she's very good. 1357 01:08:31.930 --> 01:08:33.250 You're stepping all over my transition. 1358 01:08:33.489 --> 01:08:34.010 Oh, I'm sorry. 1359 01:08:35.390 --> 01:08:37.350 No, it's great minds think alike is what I just said. 1360 01:08:37.789 --> 01:08:40.800 So let's shift to NXT because you've talked a couple 1361 01:08:40.810 --> 01:08:43.260 times and now one more time about the NXT version 1362 01:08:43.439 --> 01:08:47.720 of this. And that muddies it even more if we 1363 01:08:47.859 --> 01:08:52.810 introduce the NXT side of things. So you mentioned that 1364 01:08:52.890 --> 01:08:56.500 you think there's some good that there's some good depth 1365 01:08:57.180 --> 01:09:00.260 on the on the NXT side of things waiting in 1366 01:09:00.279 --> 01:09:02.159 the wings. Elaborate on that more. 1367 01:09:03.100 --> 01:09:07.039 Yeah, I really like their champion, Kehlani Jordan. She's still 1368 01:09:07.300 --> 01:09:09.229 a bit of a work in progress. She could easily 1369 01:09:09.270 --> 01:09:11.729 be on the main roster. I just think that they 1370 01:09:11.770 --> 01:09:14.050 need somebody to kind of be that anchor in the ring. 1371 01:09:14.130 --> 01:09:18.229 She's there. Can she the promos are still just kind 1372 01:09:18.270 --> 01:09:23.220 of one monotone um if she can improve that i 1373 01:09:23.279 --> 01:09:26.350 think sky's the limit

she's very good and then um 1374 01:09:26.989 --> 01:09:30.369 it definitely again it's uh kendall gray is uh new 1375 01:09:30.409 --> 01:09:32.869 to this and you would not know it from watching 1376 01:09:32.909 --> 01:09:36.699 her she's fantastic uh in the ring she's already come 1377 01:09:36.720 --> 01:09:38.920 a long way as far as her mic work is 1378 01:09:38.960 --> 01:09:42.210 concerned um i mean they do stupid things with her, 1379 01:09:42.270 --> 01:09:45.630 like showing us her therapy sessions on NXT for God 1380 01:09:45.649 --> 01:09:49.189 knows what reason. But yeah, they just quit doing nonsense 1381 01:09:49.229 --> 01:09:51.229 like that. And when she gets the main roster, if 1382 01:09:51.250 --> 01:09:54.189 they give her the right push, I think she's the 1383 01:09:54.229 --> 01:09:57.909 most likely NXT candidate to have a real breakout run, 1384 01:09:57.970 --> 01:10:01.770 to end up in that upper mix. And yeah, I mean, 1385 01:10:02.189 --> 01:10:05.109 it's been a bit depleted with some of the people 1386 01:10:05.149 --> 01:10:07.640 they've called up and others they've let go. But I 1387 01:10:07.689 --> 01:10:12.699 do like Ren Sinclair. Thea Hale's young. She's been around 1388 01:10:12.739 --> 01:10:14.760 for a while, but she's still young. She just got 1389 01:10:14.800 --> 01:10:20.140 started so early. And I do think that Zarya has 1390 01:10:20.159 --> 01:10:24.729 just been pushed awkwardly in NXT. They just won't go 1391 01:10:25.010 --> 01:10:27.670 all in on her being a monster type. It's very weird. 1392 01:10:27.970 --> 01:10:31.569 Like right now, she is, for anyone not watching the show, 1393 01:10:31.789 --> 01:10:35.069 she looks like a monster. She is the NXT Women's 1394 01:10:35.109 --> 01:10:39.479 North American Champion. And she's been a heel. But now 1395 01:10:39.520 --> 01:10:42.659 she has another heel, Izzy Dam, tormenting her by showing 1396 01:10:43.039 --> 01:10:47.180 video footage of her doing a high school theater production 1397 01:10:47.840 --> 01:10:51.500 of the whatever the new Wizard of Oz thing. I'm 1398 01:10:51.520 --> 01:10:55.619 struggling to think of the newer version of it. It's like, 1399 01:10:55.800 --> 01:10:59.600 what the hell is this? I mean, NXT is so 1400 01:10:59.640 --> 01:11:04.590 bizarre sometimes. Nikita Lyons had something. Yeah, there's there's a. 1401 01:11:05.640 --> 01:11:08.819 I don't see Lizzy Rain being like a major player, 1402 01:11:08.920 --> 01:11:12.529 but a fun kind of thing that could, I think, 1403 01:11:12.569 --> 01:11:15.989 burn hot for a little bit. And just the heavy 1404 01:11:16.029 --> 01:11:18.149 metal act, I'm kind of over it myself. And that's 1405 01:11:18.170 --> 01:11:22.750 for somebody who likes that kind of music. And, you know, 1406 01:11:22.789 --> 01:11:25.340 Carmen Petrovic, if they can get it right with Izzy Dame, 1407 01:11:25.659 --> 01:11:27.939 there's something there. She has a good look. She's good 1408 01:11:27.960 --> 01:11:30.720 in the ring. She can talk, but they still... have 1409 01:11:30.760 --> 01:11:34.000 her coming out to the damn culling entrance. I mean, 1410 01:11:34.100 --> 01:11:37.079 the damn thing's been over, and I don't know what 1411 01:11:37.119 --> 01:11:39.899 it is they're doing. And she's the one who's tormenting 1412 01:11:40.239 --> 01:11:43.890 Zarya over being in Wicked. That was the one. Being 1413 01:11:43.930 --> 01:11:47.289 in the high school theater production of Wicked. I don't 1414 01:11:47.310 --> 01:11:50.210 know why Zarya would be embarrassed by this, but she is. 1415 01:11:51.189 --> 01:11:54.100 Sometimes people think they got a zinger, and it's not. 1416 01:11:54.640 --> 01:11:57.560 Yeah. And Kelly Armstrong, if we could just get a 1417 01:11:57.600 --> 01:12:00.140 little bit of character development, maybe learn something about her 1418 01:12:00.180 --> 01:12:01.840 before they just throw her out there and have all 1419 01:12:01.859 --> 01:12:02.819 these matches, that would help. 1420 01:12:04.199 --> 01:12:06.319 So let's talk about this in the context of the 1421 01:12:06.439 --> 01:12:12.350 two women's matches on NXT Halloween Havoc this Saturday night. 1422 01:12:13.029 --> 01:12:17.489 Kalani Jordan defending the main singles title against Wren Sinclair. 1423 01:12:17.810 --> 01:12:21.250 Give a little context to people. I think it's a 1424 01:12:21.270 --> 01:12:22.930 light weekend for wrestling events otherwise, right? 1425 01:12:23.369 --> 01:12:26.130 Yeah, because it's Halloween and no one would be stupid 1426 01:12:26.189 --> 01:12:29.899 enough to run a show on Halloween night if they 1427 01:12:29.939 --> 01:12:32.800 didn't have to. Why is this happening? 1428 01:12:33.819 --> 01:12:37.510 It's because it's surprising that it's happening not opposite of 1429 01:12:37.550 --> 01:12:38.989 an AEW event other than Collision. 1430 01:12:39.430 --> 01:12:42.329 Yeah. I mean, seriously, I, I, I'm just baffled though. 1431 01:12:42.390 --> 01:12:45.510 Like I can't imagine the CW has that many things 1432 01:12:45.550 --> 01:12:47.550 going on. They don't have your pick of the weekends 1433 01:12:47.590 --> 01:12:50.640 and you'd let's run on Halloween night when everybody's out 1434 01:12:50.680 --> 01:12:55.840 trick-or-treating or partying or with their kids trick-or-treating. What the hell? Yeah. Yeah. 1435 01:12:56.899 --> 01:13:00.859 So the event's happening. Some people who don't care about Halloween, uh, 1436 01:13:00.939 --> 01:13:03.640 and there's plenty, Jason, um, we don't go into a 1437 01:13:03.819 --> 01:13:11.159 fit of rage over, uh, yes, yes. Um, They, uh, uh, 1438 01:13:11.340 --> 01:13:13.199 my son's throwing a big party for his friends. So 1439 01:13:13.239 --> 01:13:15.560 I might just be, you know, upstairs wanting to kind 1440 01:13:15.600 --> 01:13:18.340 of oversee things, but just keep an eye on, on, uh, 1441 01:13:18.869 --> 01:13:20.270 on Halloween

havoc in the background. 1442 01:13:20.329 --> 01:13:20.930 Well, sure. 1443 01:13:21.229 --> 01:13:24.689 Make sure nothing to, uh, no one shows up who 1444 01:13:24.710 --> 01:13:27.409 shouldn't be showing up or with things they shouldn't be 1445 01:13:27.430 --> 01:13:27.689 showing up. 1446 01:13:27.770 --> 01:13:29.010 How would you know they're going to be under a mask? 1447 01:13:30.020 --> 01:13:31.340 I know that's a scary part. 1448 01:13:31.880 --> 01:13:34.100 It might just show up. Yes. 1449 01:13:34.420 --> 01:13:34.600 Yes. 1450 01:13:34.659 --> 01:13:36.060 I think you'd be able to tell it's me. 1451 01:13:36.079 --> 01:13:36.600 That'd be cool. 1452 01:13:36.720 --> 01:13:36.800 Yeah. 1453 01:13:36.819 --> 01:13:36.939 Yeah. 1454 01:13:38.149 --> 01:13:38.470 I don't know. 1455 01:13:38.609 --> 01:13:43.970 He's got full-grown friends of all, like, you could show 1456 01:13:44.010 --> 01:13:45.850 up in an outfit and I just think it was 1457 01:13:45.890 --> 01:13:50.140 one of his friends from theater. That'd be hilarious. 1458 01:13:52.180 --> 01:13:55.659 Need an extra dose of positivity in your wrestling podcasts? Well, 1459 01:13:55.720 --> 01:13:58.619 come join me, Alan Forel, over in the Pro Wrestling 1460 01:13:58.640 --> 01:14:02.579 Paradise at PWTorch VIP as we bask on the bright 1461 01:14:02.659 --> 01:14:05.260 side of wrestling and focus on some of the great 1462 01:14:05.319 --> 01:14:10.109 matches and shows from around the world. be it the US, Japan, Europe, 1463 01:14:10.270 --> 01:14:13.449 or Mexico. There's always a place for wrestling's past in 1464 01:14:13.470 --> 01:14:16.609 the Paradise too, and we've done fun historical shows such 1465 01:14:16.649 --> 01:14:20.060 as the We Love Liger series, celebrating the glorious career 1466 01:14:20.340 --> 01:14:23.619 of Jushin Thunder Liger, and our I Was There When shows, 1467 01:14:23.680 --> 01:14:25.600 where our guests will join me to talk about a 1468 01:14:25.680 --> 01:14:29.399 classic bout that they were in attendance for. We love variety, 1469 01:14:29.680 --> 01:14:31.659 and you can expect lots of it at the Pro 1470 01:14:31.680 --> 01:14:36.659 Wrestling Paradise. Detailed PWTorch VIP subscription information and a list 1471 01:14:36.699 --> 01:14:42.460 of all the VIP benefits is available at pwtorchvipinfo.com. And yes, 1472 01:14:42.840 --> 01:14:46.689 all VIP podcasts are compatible with popular podcast apps on 1473 01:14:46.850 --> 01:14:50.310 iPhone and Android devices. Or you can stream them directly 1474 01:14:50.350 --> 01:14:54.270 from our ad-free VIP mobile site. See you in the paradise. 1475 01:14:54.289 --> 01:15:00.720 All right. So, Kalani Jordan, Rens and Claire, give a 1476 01:15:00.720 --> 01:15:04.340 little context of What's at stake and what to expect 1477 01:15:04.380 --> 01:15:04.659 from this? 1478 01:15:05.140 --> 01:15:08.840 Yeah, so Kehlani is the champion, the heel champion. Ren 1479 01:15:08.880 --> 01:15:13.489 Sinclair has been kind of the little buddy of Kendall Gray, 1480 01:15:13.529 --> 01:15:15.670 but Kendall Gray has been out with some sort of 1481 01:15:15.689 --> 01:15:19.689 an injury and they did those horrible sports therapy session things. 1482 01:15:19.890 --> 01:15:22.989 I have no idea why. Ren developed a bit of 1483 01:15:23.069 --> 01:15:26.569 an attitude and got suspended. They brought her back. They 1484 01:15:26.600 --> 01:15:29.859 had a battle royal. She dressed as Lady Shani. And 1485 01:15:30.539 --> 01:15:33.079 unmasked after winning the match. And the idea was that 1486 01:15:33.100 --> 01:15:35.399 she had to do that because she was suspended. And actually, 1487 01:15:35.420 --> 01:15:37.470 a lot of people have complained about that. I thought 1488 01:15:37.489 --> 01:15:39.670 it was actually pretty clever, the way they pulled that off. 1489 01:15:40.569 --> 01:15:44.210 Ren is good. She's always been very good and solid 1490 01:15:44.229 --> 01:15:47.760 in the ring. And I think they'll have a nice match. Ren, 1491 01:15:48.739 --> 01:15:51.420 to me, is at her best when she comes off 1492 01:15:51.500 --> 01:15:54.710 as the underdog and the girl next door type. And 1493 01:15:55.050 --> 01:15:58.050 after she won that battle royals, there was a little 1494 01:15:58.069 --> 01:16:01.810 bit too much slagger there, for my taste, from what 1495 01:16:01.899 --> 01:16:03.500 I think, you know, what I think of the character 1496 01:16:03.520 --> 01:16:06.460 to be. So that I worry about a little bit. 1497 01:16:07.210 --> 01:16:11.109 There's some speculation that Kendall Gray could cost Ren the 1498 01:16:11.149 --> 01:16:13.520 match and turn heel on her. And if they do that, 1499 01:16:13.560 --> 01:16:16.960 they're absolute morons. I mean, if you want, I guess 1500 01:16:17.020 --> 01:16:19.079 a case can be made. It's developmental and she could 1501 01:16:19.119 --> 01:16:21.079 get a run as a heel just to experience that too, 1502 01:16:21.140 --> 01:16:24.439 I suppose. But I think if anyone's going to turn, 1503 01:16:24.460 --> 01:16:27.010 it's probably going to be Ren. So I would think 1504 01:16:27.020 --> 01:16:29.930 that Kehlani retains here, but it should be a very 1505 01:16:29.949 --> 01:16:30.270 good match. 1506 01:16:31.119 --> 01:16:33.199 Yeah, I mean, part of why they turned Trick is 1507 01:16:33.319 --> 01:16:35.100 they just wanted him to have experience in that role 1508 01:16:35.119 --> 01:16:38.829 to gain appreciation for his future heel opponents. And so, 1509 01:16:38.949 --> 01:16:40.010 you know, a lot of things that are done in 1510 01:16:40.090 --> 01:16:42.029 NXT that feel like, why would they do that? Well, 1511 01:16:42.050 --> 01:16:46.109 they're not a territory that's surviving based on ticket sales 1512 01:16:46.329 --> 01:16:48.369 and long-term character arcs with wrestlers who are going to 1513 01:16:48.390 --> 01:16:51.869 be there for eight years. They are

deliberately and obviously 1514 01:16:51.909 --> 01:16:53.789 doing things that are not best for storylines or best 1515 01:16:53.810 --> 01:16:56.090 for the characters or best for the show or best 1516 01:16:56.109 --> 01:16:59.470 for the fans, but part of the developmental process to 1517 01:16:59.510 --> 01:17:01.979 give them some experience. And I get that. 1518 01:17:02.739 --> 01:17:03.420 Sometimes. 1519 01:17:04.119 --> 01:17:06.689 I'm not the one to give excuses. 1520 01:17:06.789 --> 01:17:08.289 I have no idea what the hell is going on 1521 01:17:08.310 --> 01:17:12.229 and they're involved in the process. 1522 01:17:12.369 --> 01:17:15.140 If I sounded like I am going to give a 1523 01:17:15.220 --> 01:17:18.239 blanket defense of all the decisions they make, I'm certainly not. 1524 01:17:18.340 --> 01:17:22.100 I'm just saying because there's plenty of nonsense there. But 1525 01:17:22.399 --> 01:17:24.840 for somebody who... You go, why did they do that? 1526 01:17:24.960 --> 01:17:26.420 And you go, because they have so much potential and 1527 01:17:26.439 --> 01:17:29.020 that's the wrong role for them. It really, you know, 1528 01:17:29.100 --> 01:17:30.920 it could be part of, yeah, this is our last 1529 01:17:30.979 --> 01:17:34.100 chance to let them have this role before, yeah, we 1530 01:17:34.119 --> 01:17:36.479 switch them back and call them up, that kind of thing. So, 1531 01:17:38.319 --> 01:17:43.880 all right. So then, Zarya and Izzy Dame. Talk about that. 1532 01:17:44.640 --> 01:17:47.579 Yeah, this is the one again where just Zarya should 1533 01:17:47.600 --> 01:17:49.500 be kind of a badass heel. I know she's not 1534 01:17:49.659 --> 01:17:51.840 monster size, and I think they might get kind of 1535 01:17:51.859 --> 01:17:54.689 caught up on that. But if you didn't want her, 1536 01:17:54.850 --> 01:17:56.329 if you don't want to portray her as a monster, 1537 01:17:56.390 --> 01:17:59.449 then maybe you shouldn't have given her like this Godzilla 1538 01:17:59.510 --> 01:18:04.369 monster entrance video that set the wrong tone. And she 1539 01:18:04.390 --> 01:18:07.199 still uses it. But yeah, and Izzy Dame is tormenting 1540 01:18:07.239 --> 01:18:09.920 her about her high school play history. The whole thing 1541 01:18:09.939 --> 01:18:14.810 is just stupid. And to make matters even worse. So 1542 01:18:14.819 --> 01:18:17.590 we had Zarya tell her she's not going to give 1543 01:18:17.750 --> 01:18:21.850 in to Izzy and to her games and give her 1544 01:18:21.890 --> 01:18:24.970 the title shot she wants because Zarya is the NXT 1545 01:18:25.029 --> 01:18:28.909 Women's North American Champion. And then literally two sentences later, 1546 01:18:28.989 --> 01:18:30.750 she said she was going to give Izzy Dame a 1547 01:18:30.789 --> 01:18:35.699 title shot. And it gets worse. Izzy Dame... Had no 1548 01:18:35.800 --> 01:18:38.920 interest in that little title. But the match is happening. 1549 01:18:39.000 --> 01:18:42.380 It's a non-title match, Wade. So, yeah, you've demeaned your 1550 01:18:42.460 --> 01:18:46.289 secondary championship. Your champion looks like a moron and the 1551 01:18:46.329 --> 01:18:48.510 challenger looks like an awful. 1552 01:18:48.529 --> 01:18:52.119 But the match should be good. Yeah, yeah. As far 1553 01:18:52.140 --> 01:18:55.050 as the rest of the show goes, Grayson Waller defending 1554 01:18:55.090 --> 01:18:57.289 the NXT title. He is the top champion NXT for 1555 01:18:57.310 --> 01:19:01.210 the uninitiated against Tony D'Angelo. Talk about how you think 1556 01:19:01.229 --> 01:19:04.329 Grayson is doing in this role, embracing this role. 1557 01:19:06.319 --> 01:19:08.319 I think I have a soft spot for Grayson. I 1558 01:19:08.359 --> 01:19:10.640 don't know that it's really working as far as, I 1559 01:19:12.560 --> 01:19:15.890 don't sense like people are just clamoring to see this 1560 01:19:15.949 --> 01:19:18.470 guy lose the title, but I think he does cut 1561 01:19:18.510 --> 01:19:22.609 some good promos. It can be random a little at times, 1562 01:19:22.649 --> 01:19:24.789 but I think he is a good talker. I like 1563 01:19:24.829 --> 01:19:27.529 seeing him get an actual chance because when he was 1564 01:19:27.569 --> 01:19:29.729 on the main roster, it just became a joke. He 1565 01:19:29.770 --> 01:19:32.520 was the third guy with New Day and there was 1566 01:19:32.720 --> 01:19:35.949 nothing happening there. So it's nice to see him actually 1567 01:19:36.250 --> 01:19:39.210 go down there and not just be jobbed out, but 1568 01:19:39.270 --> 01:19:42.470 actually kind of look at this as a chance to 1569 01:19:42.569 --> 01:19:45.109 reboot his career. And I think he's doing a good job. 1570 01:19:47.390 --> 01:19:52.060 I don't know if he's like NXT champion material. I mean, 1571 01:19:52.189 --> 01:19:55.000 he is that right now. I don't know that he's 1572 01:19:55.039 --> 01:19:55.939 the guy you want. 1573 01:19:56.000 --> 01:19:56.720 I got news for you, Jason. 1574 01:19:57.560 --> 01:19:59.460 Yeah, I just don't know that he's the guy you 1575 01:19:59.520 --> 01:20:01.760 want in that position long term. But I also don't 1576 01:20:01.800 --> 01:20:04.220 think that the guy, the challenging of Tony D'Angelo is 1577 01:20:04.260 --> 01:20:09.319 the answer either. Tony, I mean, Waller nailed it. He 1578 01:20:10.079 --> 01:20:13.079 came to lose all of his personality. I think he 1579 01:20:13.100 --> 01:20:16.979 said he left it in his fedora because he was 1580 01:20:17.050 --> 01:20:20.270 the mob boss character, which was very cartoonish or whatever. 1581 01:20:20.590 --> 01:20:24.289 But he played it really well. And then they decided 1582 01:20:24.310 --> 01:20:26.789 to go in a different direction. And it was time. 1583 01:20:27.350 --> 01:20:30.649 But they brought him back as, like, the punisher, essentially. 1584 01:20:31.489 --> 01:20:35.100 So he's kind of

this badass, a man of few words, 1585 01:20:35.119 --> 01:20:39.680 that it just really didn't catch on. And he's talking 1586 01:20:39.699 --> 01:20:41.539 a little bit more now. But, yeah, it's just kind 1587 01:20:41.560 --> 01:20:44.859 of there's still something missing. And he's very talented as 1588 01:20:44.899 --> 01:20:46.840 far as the in-ring goes. And I know he's respected 1589 01:20:46.859 --> 01:20:49.619 in that locker room. So I hope he can find something. 1590 01:20:49.640 --> 01:20:52.210 But I don't think he's there yet. I don't see it. 1591 01:20:54.979 --> 01:20:56.960 Just– I'm going to make a comparison here with, with 1592 01:20:57.100 --> 01:20:59.989 Grayson Waller and you, I, you can say it's crazy 1593 01:21:00.050 --> 01:21:02.829 or I kind of see what you're saying, but Frankie 1594 01:21:02.869 --> 01:21:03.949 Kazarian in TNA. 1595 01:21:06.930 --> 01:21:08.710 Maybe. Yeah, I can see some of that. 1596 01:21:10.829 --> 01:21:12.420 So I want to get your gut ration up, but 1597 01:21:12.439 --> 01:21:15.079 a little bit, a little bit of detail on why 1598 01:21:15.220 --> 01:21:19.659 is a guy who's second tier in almost every way, 1599 01:21:20.560 --> 01:21:25.010 but collectively you can kind of get away with, in 1600 01:21:25.050 --> 01:21:27.670 a being a big fish in a small pond and 1601 01:21:27.789 --> 01:21:31.770 having him be kind of the, the, the center of 1602 01:21:32.130 --> 01:21:36.109 a lot of other activity. And there's just, there's something 1603 01:21:36.170 --> 01:21:39.649 about like, there's sort of a, Oh God, what's the, 1604 01:21:39.930 --> 01:21:42.960 I'm thinking of words that aren't quite right for it, 1605 01:21:43.029 --> 01:21:47.270 but there's sort of an energy and a pizzazz. I'm 1606 01:21:47.289 --> 01:21:49.770 going to say a word that isn't perfect. When, when they, 1607 01:21:49.909 --> 01:21:51.390 when they just kind of shows up and they're sort 1608 01:21:51.409 --> 01:21:52.720 of a motive, Hey, I get to be the star 1609 01:21:52.729 --> 01:21:54.819 of the show. And I'm a big fish in a 1610 01:21:54.840 --> 01:21:57.479 small pond vibe that can kind of add some energy 1611 01:21:58.239 --> 01:22:00.619 to it while other people kind of, you know, revolve 1612 01:22:00.640 --> 01:22:03.689 around him. So, and, and, you know, and then, you know, 1613 01:22:03.779 --> 01:22:04.359 decent to the ring. 1614 01:22:05.819 --> 01:22:09.310 Yeah. And with Waller, Frankie can go out there now 1615 01:22:09.529 --> 01:22:11.369 for the longest time. He was not a good promo 1616 01:22:11.430 --> 01:22:13.989 and something clicked here later in his career. He's actually 1617 01:22:14.010 --> 01:22:17.869 a lot of fun in TNA. He has that ability 1618 01:22:17.890 --> 01:22:20.069 to go out there and be a good, does he heal? 1619 01:22:20.699 --> 01:22:24.479 grayson all like for him to really click and his 1620 01:22:24.520 --> 01:22:26.279 promos really get over it feels like he always has 1621 01:22:26.300 --> 01:22:29.199 to you know go insider with things and that's what's 1622 01:22:29.239 --> 01:22:31.359 getting the react even though he's a very good talker 1623 01:22:31.390 --> 01:22:34.270 um but yeah i mean i i do like him 1624 01:22:34.949 --> 01:22:40.689 and i don't know if he's again like singles champion 1625 01:22:40.890 --> 01:22:44.529 non if he was secondary i think just fine um 1626 01:22:44.829 --> 01:22:46.649 but this you know big match for both of them 1627 01:22:47.060 --> 01:22:50.340 i think uh it might be a struggle to kind 1628 01:22:50.380 --> 01:22:53.779 of get that crowd invested, but if they can, let's 1629 01:22:53.800 --> 01:22:56.760 see what happens. I, I, there's not too many options. 1630 01:22:57.039 --> 01:22:59.199 I would hope that Waller's just kind of a, the 1631 01:22:59.220 --> 01:23:02.239 guy that they're, they're just putting in that role now 1632 01:23:02.319 --> 01:23:04.810 so that when it's time, uh, Cruz Montana beats him. 1633 01:23:06.750 --> 01:23:12.810 All right. Then, uh, Naraku, Naraku versus Shiloh Hill singles match. 1634 01:23:12.829 --> 01:23:15.289 Sorry for screwing that up. Uh, Jason, talk about that. 1635 01:23:16.270 --> 01:23:23.180 Yeah, this, uh, Okay, so the former evil, he uses 1636 01:23:23.260 --> 01:23:26.819 the mist now, the Japanese mist, and it's not enough 1637 01:23:26.859 --> 01:23:28.800 that he just sprays the mist. Oh, no, he has 1638 01:23:28.819 --> 01:23:29.479 different colors. 1639 01:23:30.899 --> 01:23:34.930 Did he learn from Kabuki or the Great Buddha? Who 1640 01:23:34.949 --> 01:23:35.569 did he learn it from? 1641 01:23:36.109 --> 01:23:36.909 I'm not sure. 1642 01:23:37.210 --> 01:23:37.909 Was it Shotzi? 1643 01:23:39.210 --> 01:23:43.500 Could be, yeah. But he, all these different colors do 1644 01:23:43.560 --> 01:23:46.479 different things. And he's broken that down for us. And 1645 01:23:46.520 --> 01:23:51.000 we learned that in part because Shiloh Hill's character apparently 1646 01:23:51.039 --> 01:23:53.779 did some chemistry work to figure out what makes up 1647 01:23:53.840 --> 01:23:59.380 these substances. But there's one that he hasn't experienced yet. Like, 1648 01:23:59.600 --> 01:24:03.329 oh my God. Shiloh Hill is a really good prospect. 1649 01:24:03.970 --> 01:24:05.970 And there's going to be some people that defend what 1650 01:24:06.010 --> 01:24:07.750 they do with him because they get a kick out 1651 01:24:07.789 --> 01:24:12.470 of it. It's quirky crap. This guy is, there's a 1652 01:24:12.569 --> 01:24:15.869 lot to like, again, he can talk. He's got good size. 1653 01:24:15.949 --> 01:24:20.149 He can wrestle. And when they just let him be serious, 1654 01:24:21.020 --> 01:24:24.460 there's definitely something there, but they've just fallen in love 1655 01:24:24.500 --> 01:24:28.020 with him being quirky. And it's like sports entertainment at 1656 01:24:28.060 --> 01:24:30.920 its worst for

me. I cringe. And I hate to 1657 01:24:30.939 --> 01:24:32.960 feel that way because again, I think there's a lot 1658 01:24:32.979 --> 01:24:37.130 to like about him, but man, is he just, they 1659 01:24:37.250 --> 01:24:39.850 just drive me insane with the things they do with him. 1660 01:24:39.890 --> 01:24:42.399 It'll be like, Hey, there's a chance here. It looks 1661 01:24:42.420 --> 01:24:44.760 like they're going to tone down the quirkiness in the 1662 01:24:44.800 --> 01:24:47.439 next week. They'll come back with something that's just like, Oh, 1663 01:24:47.819 --> 01:24:49.439 I just want to throw my remote through the TV. 1664 01:24:50.680 --> 01:24:54.180 With this, this is a window into the larger NXT 1665 01:24:54.199 --> 01:24:57.439 thing where I was, you know, you talk throughout the show, 1666 01:24:57.479 --> 01:24:59.229 you've been mentioning, I know they do this and they 1667 01:24:59.239 --> 01:25:01.050 do that. And I, and I defend them a little 1668 01:25:01.069 --> 01:25:02.430 bit like, yeah, well, don't give them too much credit 1669 01:25:02.869 --> 01:25:07.029 from a philosophical presentation, big picture. And I, we could 1670 01:25:07.050 --> 01:25:10.130 do a long segment of this, but, do you think 1671 01:25:10.289 --> 01:25:12.750 that okay they have a different philosophy than i have 1672 01:25:12.829 --> 01:25:15.970 but they execute something that is clearly thought out i 1673 01:25:16.010 --> 01:25:18.850 disagree roll my eyes but it's a good execution of 1674 01:25:18.869 --> 01:25:21.029 something i disagree with or are they just all over 1675 01:25:21.050 --> 01:25:23.449 the place and kind of lost when it comes to 1676 01:25:23.649 --> 01:25:25.670 because having sean michaels at the front of something you 1677 01:25:25.689 --> 01:25:28.430 would as you know the the head of it you 1678 01:25:28.449 --> 01:25:31.949 would think and some traditionalists behind the scenes too it 1679 01:25:32.010 --> 01:25:35.760 is kind of perplexing times the type of stories they 1680 01:25:35.779 --> 01:25:38.560 tell and sometimes just the way they tell their stories 1681 01:25:38.600 --> 01:25:41.180 and also with the presentation of the characters and you 1682 01:25:41.220 --> 01:25:44.449 can't blame oh we're just trying to serve vince mcmahon's proclivities. 1683 01:25:44.069 --> 01:25:50.470 Anymore right sean i think is um a bit more 1684 01:25:50.510 --> 01:25:52.569 of a sports entertainment guy than any of us ever 1685 01:25:52.609 --> 01:25:56.939 realized and i don't know that he's the most motivated 1686 01:25:57.000 --> 01:25:58.699 at this point he's been there for a while and 1687 01:25:58.720 --> 01:26:00.619 you know you hear things now and again but um 1688 01:26:02.270 --> 01:26:05.350 there are times when, yes, there it's, it's not always 1689 01:26:05.409 --> 01:26:09.100 my cup of tea, but it's executed well. But these 1690 01:26:09.180 --> 01:26:11.720 days more, more recently, it does feel like they're a 1691 01:26:11.720 --> 01:26:15.579 bit lost. There's still some good things going on here 1692 01:26:15.619 --> 01:26:18.260 and there, but they just go a little too quirky. 1693 01:26:18.279 --> 01:26:21.840 They've got a really nice group called the vanity project 1694 01:26:22.510 --> 01:26:25.310 with they were the tag team champions. And I think 1695 01:26:25.670 --> 01:26:27.510 one of them still holds a Jackson Drake still holds 1696 01:26:27.550 --> 01:26:30.829 a North American title. And to me, I get kind 1697 01:26:30.869 --> 01:26:35.670 of a, like a young, before we saw them together, horsemen. 1698 01:26:36.130 --> 01:26:38.130 If you were going to do a prequel of the horsemen, 1699 01:26:38.170 --> 01:26:40.630 you could use these three guys or something. That's how 1700 01:26:40.890 --> 01:26:44.850 I would present them, is more serious. NXT turns them 1701 01:26:44.909 --> 01:26:48.710 into dopey frat boys. And, like, where's the heat in this? 1702 01:26:49.289 --> 01:26:52.329 You did this with Spirit Squad, basically, and they're not 1703 01:26:52.369 --> 01:26:55.550 wearing the cheerleader outfits, but there's just too many things 1704 01:26:55.609 --> 01:27:00.050 like that where it's irritating to watch because there are 1705 01:27:00.149 --> 01:27:03.050 different things they could be doing. And again, I talk 1706 01:27:03.069 --> 01:27:08.409 to people and there's some frustration within NXT itself over 1707 01:27:08.479 --> 01:27:11.899 the way things are done and the direction they choose 1708 01:27:11.939 --> 01:27:15.340 to take. They do go so sports entertainment heavy at 1709 01:27:15.399 --> 01:27:19.739 a time when there's really no need to. And then 1710 01:27:19.859 --> 01:27:24.140 there's also people that are, of all things, it sounds 1711 01:27:24.159 --> 01:27:28.579 like people are actually encouraged to not lean into a 1712 01:27:28.640 --> 01:27:32.460 wrestler's true personality. Like what? Aren't you the company? Oh, 1713 01:27:32.520 --> 01:27:36.250 it's a real personality times 10. Yep. Apparently not anymore. 1714 01:27:36.390 --> 01:27:38.010 Not in NXT. Yeah. 1715 01:27:39.369 --> 01:27:43.590 All right. What did I, uh, leave off? Oh, uh, 1716 01:27:43.689 --> 01:27:44.989 Zillow got two and Charlie Dempsey. 1717 01:27:45.010 --> 01:27:45.170 Yeah. 1718 01:27:45.189 --> 01:27:47.020 Spin the wheel, make a deal. 1719 01:27:47.939 --> 01:27:50.720 Yeah. Can we get rid of that? I say that, 1720 01:27:50.760 --> 01:27:53.619 but the fans pop every time they announce that stupid thing. 1721 01:27:53.680 --> 01:27:57.439 And it's like, whatever, just, is it really that exciting 1722 01:27:57.479 --> 01:27:59.890 to find out what, shitty gimmick match they're gonna do 1723 01:27:59.909 --> 01:28:02.439 um well you gotta wait till the show to find 1724 01:28:02.520 --> 01:28:05.640 out zilla is fun there's a lot of personality there 1725 01:28:06.100 --> 01:28:08.420 and i think he's better

than i anticipated him being 1726 01:28:08.439 --> 01:28:11.819 in the ring um not perfect but um you know 1727 01:28:11.880 --> 01:28:14.119 there were one of those guys where you're on the 1728 01:28:14.159 --> 01:28:17.000 indie scene and if the wrong person that spends way 1729 01:28:17.020 --> 01:28:19.729 too much time online doesn't like you Well, they can 1730 01:28:19.789 --> 01:28:22.739 find plenty of flaws in your matches and choose to 1731 01:28:22.779 --> 01:28:25.340 spotlight those. And I think that kind of happened with him. 1732 01:28:26.000 --> 01:28:28.520 And but there's there's, again, a lot to like about him. 1733 01:28:28.760 --> 01:28:31.020 Charlie Dempsey, it's nice to see him finally getting a push. 1734 01:28:32.369 --> 01:28:35.109 I think they kind of know it was a William 1735 01:28:35.170 --> 01:28:37.170 Regal thing, but it just kind of it always felt 1736 01:28:37.210 --> 01:28:40.430 like they were holding back on him because. of who 1737 01:28:40.449 --> 01:28:43.680 his dad was rather than taking the age old approach 1738 01:28:43.720 --> 01:28:45.600 of over pushing him because of who his dad is. 1739 01:28:46.819 --> 01:28:48.979 And now he's finally getting a little something, but I 1740 01:28:49.720 --> 01:28:53.380 am not a fan of the birthright faction. And you know, 1741 01:28:53.399 --> 01:28:55.479 if he's going to be the leader of it, cool, 1742 01:28:55.890 --> 01:28:58.930 he should be, but there's just, there's not a lot 1743 01:28:58.970 --> 01:29:03.350 of chemistry there within the faction. The match itself, you know, 1744 01:29:03.449 --> 01:29:06.750 should be all right. um, kind of a contrast in 1745 01:29:06.789 --> 01:29:10.489 styles with Dempsey being more of a classic wrestler and, uh, 1746 01:29:10.569 --> 01:29:13.970 Zillow being, uh, more of a, I don't know, who's 1747 01:29:14.010 --> 01:29:16.310 so like, if you will, uh, with, uh, some of the, 1748 01:29:16.350 --> 01:29:19.359 the offense that he does and things, but yeah, it's 1749 01:29:19.380 --> 01:29:22.140 just a, it's a match on the card. Yeah. 1750 01:29:22.359 --> 01:29:22.539 Yeah. 1751 01:29:24.060 --> 01:29:26.260 Uh, so overall recommend this as a, what does it 1752 01:29:26.279 --> 01:29:29.640 look like on paper? Uh, good, good show, decent show, 1753 01:29:30.140 --> 01:29:34.390 totally skippable, not just basically a Tuesday, Tuesday dynamite or a, 1754 01:29:35.020 --> 01:29:35.439 NXT show? 1755 01:29:36.359 --> 01:29:38.539 It does feel skippable. You know, I, I just look 1756 01:29:38.560 --> 01:29:42.039 at those two title matches and it, uh, you know, 1757 01:29:42.100 --> 01:29:44.539 we were kind of getting a recycled Tony D'Angelo trying 1758 01:29:44.560 --> 01:29:46.779 to get the title back. And then rinse and Claire, 1759 01:29:47.199 --> 01:29:48.779 they might be telling a story with her, but it 1760 01:29:48.819 --> 01:29:51.949 doesn't feel like she's the strongest contender. So I don't know.

1761 01:29:52.029 --> 01:29:54.510 Maybe somebody looked at the calendar and thought, wow, why 1762 01:29:54.550 --> 01:29:56.550 would we do this? And let's not give away everything 1763 01:29:56.590 --> 01:29:57.710 on a show. Nobody's going to watch. 1764 01:29:58.310 --> 01:30:02.130 Jason plug your website and your membership. 1765 01:30:03.029 --> 01:30:07.010 Absolutely. ProWrestling.net is the website. It's updated with news throughout 1766 01:30:07.069 --> 01:30:11.350 the day, hit lists and opinion pieces and live reviews 1767 01:30:11.449 --> 01:30:14.500 of the major television shows, pay-per-views and PLEs, of course. 1768 01:30:15.159 --> 01:30:16.800 And if you want to take it to the next level, 1769 01:30:16.899 --> 01:30:19.270 we do have a membership site. Once you sign up, 1770 01:30:19.579 --> 01:30:23.380 everything goes ad-free, the website itself and all of our podcasts. 1771 01:30:23.430 --> 01:30:26.409 And we do have a number of exclusive podcasts available 1772 01:30:26.569 --> 01:30:30.170 for our members and And that includes the flagship, the. 1773 01:30:30.319 --> 01:30:33.140 NET Weekly Audio Show. I co-host that with Jake Barnett, 1774 01:30:33.199 --> 01:30:35.359 usually Thursday or Friday, and we discuss all the news 1775 01:30:35.380 --> 01:30:37.439 of the week. If I'm not doing a boom on 1776 01:30:37.479 --> 01:30:39.579 a Monday, I'm doing the Q & A audio show 1777 01:30:39.899 --> 01:30:42.300 and answering the member questions and having some fun on 1778 01:30:42.340 --> 01:30:47.180 the back end with the non-wrestling questions. And also, all 1779 01:30:47.199 --> 01:30:50.460 the major television shows and papers, again, reviewed in audio form. 1780 01:30:50.720 --> 01:30:52.520 And I did mention the boom. That is my free 1781 01:30:52.739 --> 01:30:54.699 weekly podcast. I'll get to that in a second. But 1782 01:30:54.729 --> 01:31:01.039 if you're interested in membership, Again, everything goes ad-free. Visit PWMembership.net. 1783 01:31:01.119 --> 01:31:05.390 That's PWMembership.net. And there's also the Patreon option as well. 1784 01:31:05.489 --> 01:31:08.770 So if you're more into the podcast than anything or 1785 01:31:08.789 --> 01:31:11.250 you want to hear them on Spotify, that's the place 1786 01:31:11.289 --> 01:31:15.840 to go for that. And it's Patreon.com slash ProWrestling.net. In 1787 01:31:15.859 --> 01:31:19.079 that case, you've got to spell out the. net part, D-O-T-N-E-T. 1788 01:31:19.619 --> 01:31:22.520 And the boom. Just do a search for Pro Wrestling 1789 01:31:22.560 --> 01:31:24.960 Boom wherever you get your podcasts. It should pop right up. 1790 01:31:25.020 --> 01:31:28.770 Please subscribe. Free weekly podcast for you folks. And you 1791 01:31:28.789 --> 01:31:30.909 can always hit me up on social media at Pro 1792 01:31:30.970 --> 01:31:31.670 Wrestling Net. 1793 01:31:34.090 --> 01:31:36.869 Before pushing play on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Shows, 1794 01:31:36.909 --> 01:31:40.689 check out PWTorch.com and our TV review section and skim 1795 01:31:40.729 --> 01:31:42.770 through a full rundown of the TV show. If you 1796 01:31:42.810 --> 01:31:44.710 didn't see it, that's your way to get an overview 1797 01:31:45.069 --> 01:31:48.819 of what happened before you dive into our in-depth analysis 1798 01:31:49.000 --> 01:31:52.260 of the key happenings on the show. That's PWTorch.com, your 1799 01:31:52.279 --> 01:31:55.779 home for live TV coverage. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 1800 01:31:55.819 --> 01:31:58.039 with my TV reports. And also check out our NXT 1801 01:31:58.060 --> 01:32:00.819 and Impact coverage on Tuesdays and Thursdays, our Collision reports 1802 01:32:00.880 --> 01:32:02.819 on Saturday nights, and of course our live pay-per-view and 1803 01:32:02.859 --> 01:32:07.220 PLE coverage on weekends. All waiting for you at pwtorch.com. 1804 01:32:09.300 --> 01:32:13.000 The blood and guts, so much has happened in terms 1805 01:32:13.060 --> 01:32:15.840 of since we last talked, you know, just kind of 1806 01:32:15.859 --> 01:32:19.140 storyline-wise with, actually we should start kind of with Jay 1807 01:32:19.180 --> 01:32:22.140 White and his promo on Collision on Saturday. The last 1808 01:32:22.189 --> 01:32:24.220 outfit turned into The Cut. It might have a new 1809 01:32:24.260 --> 01:32:25.560 name by Wednesday. Who knows? 1810 01:32:25.840 --> 01:32:27.119 I hope they do. The Cut? 1811 01:32:27.140 --> 01:32:29.539 I know. It doesn't work for me either. I mean, 1812 01:32:29.560 --> 01:32:31.119 at least the last outfit, you could make fun of it. 1813 01:32:31.119 --> 01:32:32.020 Yeah. 1814 01:32:32.600 --> 01:32:33.359 But The Cut's just like. 1815 01:32:33.380 --> 01:32:36.600 Was it Laundry Day? Yeah. Yeah. 1816 01:32:37.300 --> 01:32:43.380 The... Like, there's... I was trying to think of examples 1817 01:32:43.779 --> 01:32:47.960 of names that got just reduced down due to trademark 1818 01:32:48.220 --> 01:32:49.840 in wrestling history. And I meant to put some time 1819 01:32:49.960 --> 01:32:53.039 into this. where it just ended up, like, this isn't 1820 01:32:53.060 --> 01:32:55.880 the best example, but Big Van Vader became Vader. Like, 1821 01:32:56.119 --> 01:33:00.920 there's wrestlers who had more complex names, and then due 1822 01:33:00.939 --> 01:33:05.909 to copyright, had to become, like, Brutus the Barber Beefcake 1823 01:33:05.949 --> 01:33:10.050 became the Butcher, because he was butchering hair with scissors. 1824 01:33:10.109 --> 01:33:13.909 I don't know. Like, there's times where something feels like 1825 01:33:13.970 --> 01:33:16.939 it's just the stripped-down remnant of, we didn't care enough 1826 01:33:16.949 --> 01:33:18.500 to come up with something original, but we can't really 1827 01:33:19.680 --> 01:33:22.810 do anything, we can't, use other words because they're all 1828 01:33:22.840 --> 01:33:26.260 trademarked and the cut just

feels like a version of 1829 01:33:26.279 --> 01:33:28.060 that as I've been rambling Jason have you thought of 1830 01:33:28.100 --> 01:33:30.470 anything over the years where there's like a faction name 1831 01:33:30.479 --> 01:33:32.510 that just got stripped down to nothing. 1832 01:33:33.060 --> 01:33:35.960 Not so much faction name, but just like names that 1833 01:33:36.020 --> 01:33:39.619 didn't last long. Like Owen Hart, you know, before he 1834 01:33:39.659 --> 01:33:41.600 was the blue blazer, they kind of toyed with the 1835 01:33:41.649 --> 01:33:44.470 blue angel. And I think, oh, now I'm looking at 1836 01:33:44.489 --> 01:33:48.109 his wiki page, even the rocket. What was Sean Waltman 1837 01:33:48.149 --> 01:33:50.170 before he was a one, two, three kid. I thought 1838 01:33:50.189 --> 01:33:51.729 they had a name, not, and not lightning kid. I 1839 01:33:51.770 --> 01:33:54.729 thought they had something different for him too. Yeah. 1840 01:33:54.770 --> 01:33:58.380 They went through a few. I should remember that. But yeah, 1841 01:34:01.350 --> 01:34:04.050 Calling him The Kid is what I'm talking about. Like, oh, 1842 01:34:04.050 --> 01:34:06.229 we're going to call him The Lightning Kid, so we're 1843 01:34:06.250 --> 01:34:09.130 going to call him The Kid. Yeah, what did he– 1844 01:34:09.229 --> 01:34:10.569 he might have won We've Just Been The Kid. 1845 01:34:11.850 --> 01:34:16.520 Maybe it was. I'm looking him up now. Kamikaze Kid 1846 01:34:16.560 --> 01:34:19.119 I think might be what I'm thinking of, or The 1847 01:34:19.180 --> 01:34:22.270 Cannonball Kid, which is kind of weird. Yeah. but yeah, 1848 01:34:22.289 --> 01:34:23.369 the kids on that list. 1849 01:34:24.069 --> 01:34:28.590 And to be named after an upset wind on TV, one, two, three, 1850 01:34:29.529 --> 01:34:31.090 like if you like people are like, why is he 1851 01:34:31.109 --> 01:34:32.590 called the one, two, three kid? Oh, cause he, he 1852 01:34:32.609 --> 01:34:36.289 scored a pin once. Well, hasn't everybody like, well, isn't 1853 01:34:36.329 --> 01:34:38.520 it a three count to win? Like every wrestler has got, Oh, 1854 01:34:38.529 --> 01:34:39.590 but it's against Razor Ramon. 1855 01:34:40.949 --> 01:34:42.409 Yeah. It was an upset. 1856 01:34:42.869 --> 01:34:45.529 It was okay. But it was historical upset and people, 1857 01:34:45.789 --> 01:34:47.289 it made him a star. Oh, okay. Well now I 1858 01:34:47.329 --> 01:34:49.329 guess I kind of get it, but that one, two, 1859 01:34:49.350 --> 01:34:51.630 three kid was, yeah, it was more just by default. Well, 1860 01:34:52.140 --> 01:34:55.279 Dynamite Kid's taken. Lightning Kid, they didn't want to go 1861 01:34:55.300 --> 01:34:58.340 with because it had been used prior. And so, yeah, 1862 01:34:58.359 --> 01:34:59.340 they went through a variety of them. 1863 01:34:59.359 --> 01:35:01.760 I always thought it was very clever because it sailed 1864 01:35:01.800 --> 01:35:03.840 over my

head. I think most people probably figured it out. 1865 01:35:03.880 --> 01:35:06.479 But six being one plus two plus three. 1866 01:35:07.859 --> 01:35:09.520 Oh, I just always thought he was a six member 1867 01:35:09.539 --> 01:35:10.079 of the NWO. 1868 01:35:10.640 --> 01:35:12.279 I think you were the one who told me that 1869 01:35:12.319 --> 01:35:13.500 it was that. I'm like, that's clever. 1870 01:35:14.420 --> 01:35:16.460 Well, maybe it was a combination of both. 1871 01:35:17.020 --> 01:35:17.819 Yeah, I'm not sure. 1872 01:35:17.840 --> 01:35:19.229 I'll have to ask Sean someday. 1873 01:35:19.810 --> 01:35:19.970 Yeah. 1874 01:35:20.050 --> 01:35:20.260 Is it? 1875 01:35:20.609 --> 01:35:23.149 Sixth member or one plus two plus three? Maybe I 1876 01:35:23.189 --> 01:35:24.449 guessed it was one plus two plus three because I 1877 01:35:24.449 --> 01:35:25.789 didn't know he was a sixth member or vice versa. 1878 01:35:25.810 --> 01:35:26.899 I assumed it was because he's a sixth member, but 1879 01:35:26.909 --> 01:35:27.409 it's actually one. 1880 01:35:27.439 --> 01:35:27.729 Two, three. 1881 01:35:27.760 --> 01:35:28.760 Yeah. 1882 01:35:29.539 --> 01:35:31.819 And now we need to know. I know. Yeah. 1883 01:35:32.899 --> 01:35:38.159 All right. So what do you think of Jay White 1884 01:35:38.180 --> 01:35:39.479 leading a faction and how do you think he did 1885 01:35:39.539 --> 01:35:40.039 on Saturday? 1886 01:35:43.560 --> 01:35:47.720 I think you're putting two failed factions together and expecting 1887 01:35:47.840 --> 01:35:50.479 somehow things to get better. And I don't know that 1888 01:35:50.520 --> 01:35:55.359 they will. I've always liked Jay White. But he's kind 1889 01:35:55.399 --> 01:35:56.819 of had a rough go of it in AEW. I 1890 01:35:56.840 --> 01:35:58.760 don't think they brought him in very well. He just 1891 01:35:58.779 --> 01:36:00.649 didn't feel like he was a priority. And he's had 1892 01:36:00.659 --> 01:36:04.109 some injuries. And now he's wearing pants that look like 1893 01:36:04.229 --> 01:36:07.670 Jake Roberts used to wear before he was in WWF. 1894 01:36:07.689 --> 01:36:11.310 And I'm not even a big fan of those. It 1895 01:36:12.069 --> 01:36:19.470 felt needlessly long. Yeah, it's just... there's too many factions 1896 01:36:19.869 --> 01:36:24.850 and I, I'm not excited about the combination other than ID. 1897 01:36:25.090 --> 01:36:28.590 I guess it gets rid of one. Uh, and, and 1898 01:36:28.630 --> 01:36:33.489 the dogs were going nowhere. So, but neither really is 1899 01:36:33.550 --> 01:36:38.029 anybody under Jay Wade. I'll just, and I'm not saying 1900 01:36:38.060 --> 01:36:40.800 about this, anyone in particular here, but they really need 1901 01:36:40.819 --> 01:36:42.880 to trim the fat. And I don't, I just don't 1902 01:36:42.899 --> 01:36:44.899 think Tony will do it unless his hand is forced 1903 01:36:44.920 --> 01:36:48.180 with the TV deal, not working out or something. Yeah. 1904 01:36:48.789 --> 01:36:53.380 Well, I thought it was a lost opportunity on Saturday, 1905 01:36:53.409 --> 01:36:54.739 but fortunately in front of a small crowd, they can 1906 01:36:54.779 --> 01:36:56.819 augment it and try to improve upon it tomorrow night 1907 01:36:57.439 --> 01:37:02.600 to show that Jay White has been underutilized and can 1908 01:37:02.640 --> 01:37:10.789 step up and be a compelling, charismatic centerpiece. I didn't 1909 01:37:10.810 --> 01:37:14.229 mean to do three C's there, but I did. Copyright parliament. 1910 01:37:15.369 --> 01:37:19.079 Of a faction of, And he just, it just sort 1911 01:37:19.119 --> 01:37:22.579 of dragged and it was meandering and it felt sort 1912 01:37:22.619 --> 01:37:27.239 of self-indulgently long. And what I don't love is when a, 1913 01:37:27.529 --> 01:37:29.510 I don't want a promo to sound scripted, but I 1914 01:37:29.510 --> 01:37:32.069 also don't want to feel like somebody sat down and said, 1915 01:37:32.090 --> 01:37:34.689 you know, with the producers or their whatever, we're going 1916 01:37:34.710 --> 01:37:36.729 to hit like these six points. Ah, good. I got it. 1917 01:37:37.630 --> 01:37:39.170 And that's, and then that's all the thought that went 1918 01:37:39.210 --> 01:37:41.699 into it. And if you, For our first promo, we 1919 01:37:41.720 --> 01:37:43.560 were trying to establish the new group. I want to 1920 01:37:43.600 --> 01:37:46.279 know the mission statement. I want to know the backstory 1921 01:37:46.300 --> 01:37:50.270 of recruiting the wrestlers and how it came about. I 1922 01:37:50.279 --> 01:37:53.890 think fans desire more granular detail when you merge two 1923 01:37:53.989 --> 01:37:56.970 failing factions together, why we should believe it isn't just 1924 01:37:57.170 --> 01:37:59.729 a merging of two failed factions that we didn't really 1925 01:37:59.770 --> 01:38:02.109 care that much about. And now there's going to be 1926 01:38:02.149 --> 01:38:06.359 something special. And even the optics, the blocking, so to speak, 1927 01:38:06.380 --> 01:38:09.399 of where wrestlers stood and moved around, it it just 1928 01:38:09.680 --> 01:38:13.909 felt like like like dogs at a dog park just 1929 01:38:13.970 --> 01:38:17.529 sniffing around like just wandering like like old dogs like 1930 01:38:17.550 --> 01:38:18.930 not ones who are gonna play or run just like 1931 01:38:18.949 --> 01:38:20.550 yeah i'm gonna go over here and sniff this shrub 1932 01:38:20.670 --> 01:38:22.970 i'll go over here and sniff this butt like they're 1933 01:38:23.010 --> 01:38:25.109 just you know juices hanging out leaning on the ropes 1934 01:38:25.170 --> 01:38:26.840 and then you know got a couple other guys over 1935 01:38:26.880 --> 01:38:30.359 here it's just speaking of dogs um and. 1936 01:38:30.300 --> 01:38:33.720 Clark Connors please enough with the you know you look 1937 01:38:33.739 --> 01:38:36.520 like the love child of the young Chris

Jericho and 1938 01:38:36.560 --> 01:38:38.359 Lenny Lane I don't know what you're going for dude 1939 01:38:38.739 --> 01:38:40.920 with that shirt and the lollipop and that's the. 1940 01:38:40.899 --> 01:38:43.710 Thing everybody just sort of they didn't they just showed 1941 01:38:43.789 --> 01:38:46.770 up as is and they did they just sort of 1942 01:38:47.149 --> 01:38:50.850 hung out and I don't know I like I think 1943 01:38:50.880 --> 01:38:55.680 the optics matter. I think having a real coherent, cohesive, concise, 1944 01:38:56.100 --> 01:39:00.079 three Cs, message was important for a first impression there. 1945 01:39:00.600 --> 01:39:02.220 And as much as I've been, I'm with you. I 1946 01:39:02.239 --> 01:39:04.460 want a Jay in the ring, on the mic. I 1947 01:39:04.479 --> 01:39:07.770 think there's something there. It kind of was like C 1948 01:39:07.789 --> 01:39:09.189 plus for me. How about you? 1949 01:39:09.970 --> 01:39:13.069 It was. And maybe even lower. Jay was a guy 1950 01:39:13.090 --> 01:39:17.689 that in New Japan, his promos seemed pretty good. In part, 1951 01:39:17.850 --> 01:39:19.859 there wasn't a lot of promo work there. but also 1952 01:39:19.880 --> 01:39:23.109 he was allowed to cuss and he leaned in pretty 1953 01:39:23.149 --> 01:39:25.729 heavily into that and it worked for him. He's not 1954 01:39:25.750 --> 01:39:28.270 gonna be able to do that in AEW. And I mean, it's, 1955 01:39:28.350 --> 01:39:31.649 it's tough when you're trying to get over and now 1956 01:39:31.710 --> 01:39:34.680 you're the face of a faction of people when, where 1957 01:39:34.760 --> 01:39:36.840 none of them have really been over since maybe, you know, 1958 01:39:36.859 --> 01:39:39.899 the guns and juice Robinson at one time, but it's 1959 01:39:39.939 --> 01:39:42.979 been a long time. And yeah, I, I don't, I, 1960 01:39:43.560 --> 01:39:45.609 I just would have spun J wide away from all 1961 01:39:45.649 --> 01:39:48.760 of this, but, I guess the important thing, Wade, is 1962 01:39:48.800 --> 01:39:51.310 that they covered the bases when it came to David 1963 01:39:51.350 --> 01:39:53.880 Finley and Jay White and their history in New Japan 1964 01:39:53.899 --> 01:39:57.920 and how they can get together. I mean, Jesus. Yeah. 1965 01:39:58.760 --> 01:40:03.279 So, yeah, I just, I wish, obviously, we got something 1966 01:40:03.340 --> 01:40:07.060 more where we'd come out of it going, okay, there's 1967 01:40:07.100 --> 01:40:10.800 a hierarchy, there's a top guy, there's a secondary guy, 1968 01:40:10.920 --> 01:40:12.859 they stood next to each other in a certain way, 1969 01:40:12.920 --> 01:40:16.300 you had... And I don't think it's, they don't really. 1970 01:40:15.899 --> 01:40:19.640 Do that in AWA. It's like top guy and everybody else. Yeah. Yeah. 1971 01:40:20.100 --> 01:40:21.859 I mean, I like the Don Callis family. I like 1972 01:40:21.899 --> 01:40:26.130 the chaos of, of the, the, the quantity of people 1973 01:40:26.149 --> 01:40:28.949 who are there, but you have a sense of here's 1974 01:40:28.970 --> 01:40:31.350 a top guy. Here's someone who sees himself as a 1975 01:40:31.390 --> 01:40:34.770 top guy and might be soon. And then two other 1976 01:40:34.810 --> 01:40:37.800 people who are also alphas and there's tension there for it. 1977 01:40:38.029 --> 01:40:40.430 But then you got the, the deputies or the, the 1978 01:40:40.489 --> 01:40:43.930 storm troopers or the, um, you know, the, the lands are. 1979 01:40:43.869 --> 01:40:45.829 Red shirts on star Trek there. 1980 01:40:45.909 --> 01:40:46.210 Yes. 1981 01:40:46.250 --> 01:40:46.510 Yes. 1982 01:40:46.590 --> 01:40:49.130 Like the, the supporting crew and they're cool with it. 1983 01:40:49.130 --> 01:40:50.850 They're just happy to be part of a group standing 1984 01:40:50.880 --> 01:40:53.579 in the background and, and then a vocal leader who, 1985 01:40:53.960 --> 01:40:57.539 you know, has a defined personality. So there's just short answer. 1986 01:40:57.560 --> 01:41:01.060 There's room for improvement, but it takes more work than 1987 01:41:01.079 --> 01:41:02.770 I think Jay White is used to putting into his promos. 1988 01:41:04.010 --> 01:41:06.949 I think that's fair. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. 1989 01:41:07.149 --> 01:41:11.720 So, um, Looking at speaking to Don Callis family, uh, 1990 01:41:11.779 --> 01:41:16.760 blood and guts coming up a week from tomorrow. And, uh, Osprey, I, I, I, 1991 01:41:16.979 --> 01:41:20.579 speaking of collision, I liked Osprey's promo where he said, 1992 01:41:20.619 --> 01:41:23.090 you know, I, I, I know what Darby and Steve 1993 01:41:23.109 --> 01:41:26.250 Borden and Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson will bring, but Adam Copeland, uh, 1994 01:41:26.310 --> 01:41:28.090 what about you? And then Adam stepped up and, and, 1995 01:41:28.250 --> 01:41:31.369 and made his, you know, answer to Will Osprey. Cause 1996 01:41:31.390 --> 01:41:33.010 there's a little bit of tension between them. Cause Copeland's 1997 01:41:33.029 --> 01:41:35.170 going to get a, a title shot. We presume against 1998 01:41:35.210 --> 01:41:37.699 Will at some point, unless they do a title switch. Um, 1999 01:41:38.020 --> 01:41:39.619 or there's an injury or whatever, but it seems like 2000 01:41:39.659 --> 01:41:42.439 that's certainly that's where they're pointing. So I thought Will 2001 01:41:42.479 --> 01:41:44.479 Ospreay was good seeing him be, be serious and not 2002 01:41:44.500 --> 01:41:48.060 just be sort of goofy, corny with speedball, you know, and, 2003 01:41:48.180 --> 01:41:51.310 and his, his other faction, but he does have a faction, 2004 01:41:51.319 --> 01:41:53.970 which he just excluded entirely from the match. That seems 2005 01:41:53.989 --> 01:41:56.449 like it would include, um, the factions too. 2006 01:41:56.529 --> 01:41:59.449 They should be excluded entirely from TV. Why is that? 2007 01:42:00.090 --> 01:42:03.369 Nobody's asking for that.

Yeah. A U S version of 2008 01:42:03.449 --> 01:42:07.810 United Empire. I know. Let Osprey be his own man. 2009 01:42:08.430 --> 01:42:11.590 I just, oh, that one really irritates me, as you 2010 01:42:11.609 --> 01:42:11.970 can tell. 2011 01:42:13.630 --> 01:42:16.739 But it's especially weird to introduce a United Empire, U.S. 2012 01:42:17.520 --> 01:42:20.619 continental version, and then to have a faction match where 2013 01:42:21.100 --> 01:42:23.119 you have Steve Borden in the group, but not anybody 2014 01:42:23.140 --> 01:42:23.760 from your faction. 2015 01:42:24.300 --> 01:42:24.520 Right. 2016 01:42:24.939 --> 01:42:30.359 Yeah. But nevertheless, that's a group against a bunch of 2017 01:42:30.890 --> 01:42:34.350 Don Kell's founding members, led by Kyle Fletcher, of course, Okada. Yeah. 2018 01:42:34.819 --> 01:42:37.100 Kevin Knight, I guess we put Mark Davis in kind 2019 01:42:37.140 --> 01:42:40.659 of borderline top tier with how he's been presented. And 2020 01:42:40.680 --> 01:42:43.619 then Warlow and Jake Doyle filling things out. How do 2021 01:42:43.640 --> 01:42:44.939 you feel about this match? 2022 01:42:46.390 --> 01:42:52.109 I mean, fine. It's a bit thrown together, which is unfortunate. 2023 01:42:52.510 --> 01:42:55.850 The only company that really, in recent years, has kind 2024 01:42:55.890 --> 01:42:58.350 of got it. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but I do 2025 01:42:58.390 --> 01:43:00.909 give WWE credit. We'll see how it goes with the 2026 01:43:01.020 --> 01:43:04.619 whole 9-4-6 and bloodline thing. has its issues but at 2027 01:43:04.659 --> 01:43:07.989 least it feels like they've been working toward war games 2028 01:43:08.029 --> 01:43:09.970 for a long time with it with that in mind 2029 01:43:10.470 --> 01:43:12.949 where this kind of feels like hey we've got blood 2030 01:43:12.970 --> 01:43:14.550 and guts coming up we we need to put some 2031 01:43:14.590 --> 01:43:18.369 teams together and yeah it feels a little more thrown 2032 01:43:18.409 --> 01:43:22.770 together than it should i do like uh really i 2033 01:43:22.810 --> 01:43:25.600 think the callous family would have looked a lot weaker 2034 01:43:25.800 --> 01:43:29.350 even like two weeks ago But when Davis and Doyle 2035 01:43:29.369 --> 01:43:31.850 destroy the Young Bucks like they did, okay, you know, 2036 01:43:31.869 --> 01:43:35.250 they're not the weak links necessarily. So, yeah, I think 2037 01:43:35.550 --> 01:43:38.770 the teams look fairly even in that way. And so, yeah, 2038 01:43:38.810 --> 01:43:40.960 I look forward to the men's version of Blood and Guts. 2039 01:43:46.899 --> 01:43:49.939 Longing for some nostalgia? Or maybe you want to learn 2040 01:43:49.979 --> 01:43:51.060 some wrestling history? 2041 01:43:51.800 --> 01:43:55.229 Don't miss the 90s Passcast every Friday on the PWTorch 2042 01:43:55.289 --> 01:43:58.850 Daily Cast feed. Alex and Patrick will transport you 30 2043 01:43:58.850 --> 01:44:01.739 years

into the past by taking you through the Torch 2044 01:44:02.020 --> 01:44:02.699 issue from. 2045 01:44:02.600 --> 01:44:03.340 That very week. 2046 01:44:03.979 --> 01:44:07.119 Follow news from the WWF and WCW and all the. 2047 01:44:07.119 --> 01:44:10.300 Happenings from across the wrestling industry in real time as 2048 01:44:10.340 --> 01:44:13.729 The Torch reported it 30 years ago. That's the 90s 2049 01:44:13.789 --> 01:44:17.130 past cast every Friday on the PW Torch daily cast feed. 2050 01:44:27.060 --> 01:44:30.020 Would you move blood and guts from something that happens 2051 01:44:30.079 --> 01:44:32.659 at a certain date and you kind of see them 2052 01:44:32.680 --> 01:44:37.079 maneuvering players in position to be part of that match, 2053 01:44:37.279 --> 01:44:39.020 you know, four to six weeks ahead of time or 2054 01:44:39.090 --> 01:44:40.989 give or take, would you rather just see it be 2055 01:44:41.029 --> 01:44:44.930 a match where it organically there's a couple, there's a, 2056 01:44:44.949 --> 01:44:46.550 there's a group and they're against another group and someone 2057 01:44:46.569 --> 01:44:49.470 goes blood and guts kind of like last man standing 2058 01:44:49.949 --> 01:44:52.260 is utilized, but it'd be a more exciting version of it. 2059 01:44:52.340 --> 01:44:54.840 If you didn't do it on a set time, each calendar. 2060 01:44:55.729 --> 01:44:58.069 I do. I really wish it would happen. I don't 2061 01:44:58.109 --> 01:45:01.050 think it's going to. Tony did say he likes it 2062 01:45:01.109 --> 01:45:04.829 in November. Now, I think it's a coincidence. If he 2063 01:45:05.069 --> 01:45:08.329 looked ahead and figured out, oh, election night, NXT is 2064 01:45:08.390 --> 01:45:11.310 probably going to get bumped to Wednesday. Let's do blood 2065 01:45:11.350 --> 01:45:14.500 and guts that night. God bless him. I mean, that's 2066 01:45:14.520 --> 01:45:18.819 pretty forward thinking there. I'm very curious to know if 2067 01:45:18.840 --> 01:45:22.239 he planned it or if it's just a coincidence. But yeah, 2068 01:45:22.500 --> 01:45:26.399 I would rather see all war game blood and guts 2069 01:45:26.579 --> 01:45:29.560 be what you're describing with uh not just being calendar 2070 01:45:29.619 --> 01:45:33.689 events the the tough part especially with aew is you 2071 01:45:33.729 --> 01:45:39.409 gotta sell tickets and i well really both countries i 2072 01:45:39.430 --> 01:45:42.689 mean wwe is they're gonna want to do these tickets 2073 01:45:42.729 --> 01:45:44.840 so far in advance that it's just gonna give away 2074 01:45:44.899 --> 01:45:48.579 like oh there's two rings here there's no other reason 2075 01:45:48.619 --> 01:45:50.880 so it's gonna be this and i say with aew 2076 01:45:50.979 --> 01:45:53.960 it's just because their their fans tend to be in 2077 01:45:54.020 --> 01:45:58.699 my mind, a little more insider types. They're a smart fan, 2078 01:45:58.720 --> 01:46:01.600 whatever you want to

call them. I think they don't 2079 01:46:01.760 --> 01:46:03.699 appeal to the mainstream as much, and so I think 2080 01:46:03.770 --> 01:46:06.689 those fans are going to see it before they can 2081 01:46:06.729 --> 01:46:10.090 get around to announcing it. But I wouldn't mind just like, okay, 2082 01:46:10.109 --> 01:46:12.029 there's going to be one show we announce a month 2083 01:46:12.069 --> 01:46:16.260 in advance, and You do the blood and guts call, 2084 01:46:16.359 --> 01:46:18.460 and then you put tickets on sale, and maybe you 2085 01:46:18.500 --> 01:46:22.140 create a little excitement. And people sense, oh, there's an 2086 01:46:22.199 --> 01:46:23.939 urgency to this. We've got to get our tickets. 2087 01:46:24.539 --> 01:46:28.699 Yeah. I mean, if they're worried about selling tickets, I 2088 01:46:28.739 --> 01:46:30.960 think they should be doing more dark matches with top 2089 01:46:30.979 --> 01:46:34.079 stars who aren't wrestling on Dynamite and have word spread 2090 01:46:34.100 --> 01:46:36.640 on social media that when you pay for Dynamite or Collision, 2091 01:46:37.020 --> 01:46:39.819 there's two hours plus of TV time. Hopefully just two hours, 2092 01:46:40.060 --> 01:46:42.880 but two hours plus. And sometimes the DR will record it. 2093 01:46:42.899 --> 01:46:46.600 Other times it won't. which is maddening for a lot 2094 01:46:46.609 --> 01:46:50.560 of people and frustrating. And, and then you go, yeah, 2095 01:46:50.600 --> 01:46:53.020 but I saw like, well, I've spent the young bucks 2096 01:46:53.060 --> 01:46:57.880 against Davis and Doyle and an Okada. Okay, great. Like Tony, 2097 01:46:57.899 --> 01:47:00.859 you're paying these guys, have them work. How dark matches 2098 01:47:01.270 --> 01:47:05.390 the secret. You don't have to aspire for a four-star 2099 01:47:05.489 --> 01:47:09.350 rating or a, an online poll that says it was great. 2100 01:47:10.140 --> 01:47:13.460 That's not what AW fans need. If you could, it'd 2101 01:47:13.479 --> 01:47:15.680 be nice, but these are human beings and doing a 2102 01:47:15.720 --> 01:47:18.100 dark match and having them do a 28-minute classic, taking 2103 01:47:18.149 --> 01:47:20.229 a ton of spots, ton of bumps and doing big spots. 2104 01:47:20.449 --> 01:47:22.569 You don't have to do that. There is a happy 2105 01:47:22.630 --> 01:47:25.869 middle ground, which is have them go out there and 2106 01:47:26.210 --> 01:47:28.390 in a singles or a tag or a six-man, do 2107 01:47:28.390 --> 01:47:31.630 12 minutes, do some signature spots, let the crowd chant 2108 01:47:31.689 --> 01:47:34.789 for them, do a couple signature moves and then have 2109 01:47:35.050 --> 01:47:36.149 one of the obvious people lose. 2110 01:47:36.350 --> 01:47:36.750 Who cares? 2111 01:47:37.149 --> 01:47:39.149 But the fans got something that they couldn't have watched 2112 01:47:39.850 --> 01:47:41.619 watched if they stayed home. They couldn't have seen if 2113 01:47:41.640 --> 01:47:43.880 they stayed home and watched on TV. And they got 2114 01:47:43.920 --> 01:47:46.420 to see the ring entrances and the stars go through 2115 01:47:46.439 --> 01:47:46.920 the motions. 2116 01:47:47.560 --> 01:47:49.279 And they knew those people were going to be there 2117 01:47:49.300 --> 01:47:52.460 in advance because they were able to advertise them because 2118 01:47:52.500 --> 01:47:54.550 it's a dark match and you can plan ahead for 2119 01:47:54.590 --> 01:47:55.850 that and not have to worry about TV. 2120 01:47:56.529 --> 01:47:59.529 Advertise the dark match in local advertising and on social media. 2121 01:48:00.010 --> 01:48:02.609 Don't worry about people going, oh, I can't see that. 2122 01:48:02.649 --> 01:48:05.210 I'm mad. I don't know if Tony thinks, well, maybe 2123 01:48:05.529 --> 01:48:08.180 people will film it and distribute it. Well, so be it. Hey, 2124 01:48:08.199 --> 01:48:09.100 you could have been there for this. 2125 01:48:09.119 --> 01:48:09.760 Like, whatever. 2126 01:48:09.840 --> 01:48:12.770 Like, stop. Just stop worrying about the little stuff or 2127 01:48:12.789 --> 01:48:14.550 the big stuff that doesn't matter. Some stuff isn't little. 2128 01:48:14.609 --> 01:48:17.130 It's big, but it doesn't matter. What matters is you 2129 01:48:17.149 --> 01:48:21.399 build a reputation for when you go to dine. Like Rob, 2130 01:48:21.439 --> 01:48:23.739 yours last night in Fresno. They didn't get to see 2131 01:48:23.760 --> 01:48:26.460 the 947 in person. They didn't get to see the 2132 01:48:26.479 --> 01:48:29.220 bloodline in person. They got two bonus matches, which I'm 2133 01:48:29.779 --> 01:48:32.850 sure WWE thought is like, oh, we're giving them a 2134 01:48:32.859 --> 01:48:35.569 title match that makes up for it that are unannounced. 2135 01:48:35.609 --> 01:48:39.289 But yeah, no Obafemi. When you go to a show, 2136 01:48:39.329 --> 01:48:42.449 there should be an expectation. If you go to a 2137 01:48:42.930 --> 01:48:45.229 concert for a band you love, you have an expectation 2138 01:48:45.250 --> 01:48:48.069 to see the actual lead singer. And if there's a 2139 01:48:48.250 --> 01:48:53.140 star guitarist or lead guitarist or a drummer, you don't 2140 01:48:53.149 --> 01:48:55.260 just mix and match. Well, two of the five aren't 2141 01:48:55.270 --> 01:48:57.100 here this week. And I think when people go to 2142 01:48:57.239 --> 01:49:01.140 these shows, you kind of expect to see the top stars. 2143 01:49:01.539 --> 01:49:03.979 But there's the conundrum. You don't want to over-feature Will 2144 01:49:04.020 --> 01:49:05.800 Asprey Wrestling on TV. You don't want to burn out. 2145 01:49:06.039 --> 01:49:07.020 But they do anyway. 2146 01:49:08.109 --> 01:49:08.329 Right. 2147 01:49:09.729 --> 01:49:11.510 I want to make sure I don't sound like I'm 2148 01:49:11.550 --> 01:49:13.529 countering my own argument, which is I shouldn't be wrestling 2149 01:49:13.569 --> 01:49:15.189 on TV so

much. Just put them on dark matches 2150 01:49:15.210 --> 01:49:18.050 so the flight and the pay is worth it. But 2151 01:49:18.550 --> 01:49:21.800 to me, that's worth doing because Collision, it really stood out. 2152 01:49:21.840 --> 01:49:23.729 When Jay White was standing in the ring cutting that promo, 2153 01:49:24.260 --> 01:49:27.380 I mean, it felt like it was a couple thousand 2154 01:49:27.420 --> 01:49:30.619 people in a 12,000-seat building. It just was echoey, cavernous. 2155 01:49:31.039 --> 01:49:35.140 You could hear individual fans. It's just not a good experience. 2156 01:49:35.159 --> 01:49:39.350 There is a tipping point where fans... on tv they 2157 01:49:39.390 --> 01:49:41.770 don't know why but it just doesn't feel big time 2158 01:49:42.489 --> 01:49:44.989 and so you're in a really small venue that's packed 2159 01:49:45.109 --> 01:49:47.489 which has its own negatives but it's better than a 2160 01:49:47.550 --> 01:49:52.279 cavernous arena that's just echoey and dark and drab and 2161 01:49:52.760 --> 01:49:54.880 dark matches can be part of an 18 month plan 2162 01:49:54.939 --> 01:49:55.539 to improve it. 2163 01:49:57.279 --> 01:49:59.500 It makes perfect sense i don't know why they haven't 2164 01:49:59.539 --> 01:50:01.779 taken this approach it's it's uh yeah i don't i 2165 01:50:01.840 --> 01:50:05.689 mean I think TV ratings seem to mean more to 2166 01:50:05.750 --> 01:50:09.619 Tony than because, you know, given the circumstances, then attendance 2167 01:50:09.739 --> 01:50:12.619 for whatever. He can ride if they do really well, 2168 01:50:12.819 --> 01:50:14.500 but he doesn't seem to be going out of his 2169 01:50:14.539 --> 01:50:17.359 way to boost dynamite and collision numbers. 2170 01:50:18.300 --> 01:50:22.399 And that's precisely why I said it will help the 2171 01:50:22.439 --> 01:50:26.029 television product. Like, and this goes back five years. Like, 2172 01:50:26.470 --> 01:50:29.069 like you need crowds or kind of post COVID as 2173 01:50:29.109 --> 01:50:31.409 like when the crowds weren't as big. After the initial surge, 2174 01:50:31.439 --> 01:50:33.460 I'm like, AEW is entering a dangerous zone where it's 2175 01:50:33.479 --> 01:50:35.300 going to be hard to create new stars because one 2176 01:50:35.319 --> 01:50:37.159 of the ways that you get TV ratings is by 2177 01:50:37.199 --> 01:50:42.100 having people who are validated from casual viewers as stars. 2178 01:50:42.560 --> 01:50:44.279 And the way that you validate somebody as a star 2179 01:50:44.319 --> 01:50:46.939 to casual viewers is what AEW had, the magic they 2180 01:50:46.979 --> 01:50:49.460 had early on. They turned Orange Cassidy into a star 2181 01:50:49.800 --> 01:50:53.199 and Sammy Guevara into a star. It's because they were 2182 01:50:53.229 --> 01:50:55.210 playing in front of red hot, huge crowds at major 2183 01:50:55.250 --> 01:50:57.770 arenas that were lit up and bright and big markets 2184 01:50:58.369 -->

01:51:01.350 and looked modern. and the crowds were going nuts. They 2185 01:51:01.369 --> 01:51:05.409 were that, that, that, that, the, what sports, like the, 2186 01:51:05.470 --> 01:51:07.550 the six man, the, the, the, what did it say 2187 01:51:07.569 --> 01:51:13.689 in hockey about the crowd? They're the, the extra man, the, the, the, 2188 01:51:13.770 --> 01:51:15.270 the game long power play. 2189 01:51:15.310 --> 01:51:15.609 I don't know. 2190 01:51:15.630 --> 01:51:17.449 I think there's some phrase for what the crowd, what the, 2191 01:51:17.489 --> 01:51:20.640 what the crowd represents, the home crowd. Like they, they 2192 01:51:20.659 --> 01:51:23.479 gave a boost to everything, everybody because they were getting 2193 01:51:23.500 --> 01:51:26.699 pops and, and they lost that. And they lost them part. 2194 01:51:26.939 --> 01:51:28.600 We're a lot, all kinds of reasons. That's a whole 2195 01:51:28.640 --> 01:51:34.869 other podcast, but, Yeah, I'd like to see a multi-step 2196 01:51:34.890 --> 01:51:37.050 plan for what you say Tony cares most about, which 2197 01:51:37.090 --> 01:51:39.449 is ratings. Well, part of the ratings is having stars 2198 01:51:40.470 --> 01:51:42.479 on your show. Well, how do you have stars? Well, 2199 01:51:42.770 --> 01:51:46.399 you create them or validate them through huge energy that 2200 01:51:46.420 --> 01:51:48.359 people see on TV at live events. Well, how do 2201 01:51:48.380 --> 01:51:51.859 you get big, huge crowds at live events? One of 2202 01:51:51.920 --> 01:51:55.760 the ways, one, is dark matches. And it's kind of free. 2203 01:51:56.859 --> 01:51:58.180 And it's just turnkey. You can just start doing it. 2204 01:52:00.420 --> 01:52:01.159 Makes sense to me. 2205 01:52:01.500 --> 01:52:07.250 Yeah. Women's Blood Guts, any thoughts on that? It's not 2206 01:52:07.289 --> 01:52:09.369 official yet, is it? Are they going to make it official? 2207 01:52:09.390 --> 01:52:12.659 I believe it's official. I'm trying to think if they– 2208 01:52:12.729 --> 01:52:15.810 I don't remember if they– I think so. I mean, 2209 01:52:15.829 --> 01:52:16.989 it's all about official either way. 2210 01:52:17.350 --> 01:52:17.520 Yeah. 2211 01:52:17.949 --> 01:52:22.520 So, I mean, any specific thoughts on the teams they 2212 01:52:22.539 --> 01:52:23.939 put together and what happens there? 2213 01:52:25.550 --> 01:52:29.430 I can't say that I'm invested in this. It feels like, again, 2214 01:52:29.470 --> 01:52:32.630 it's just a match that's happening because the men have 2215 01:52:32.649 --> 01:52:34.449 one and we want the women to have one too. 2216 01:52:34.670 --> 01:52:38.109 We didn't put nearly as much thought into either as 2217 01:52:38.180 --> 01:52:40.819 we should, but the women's feels even more thrown together. 2218 01:52:40.840 --> 01:52:46.100 The triangle of madness and divine dominion on one side, 2219 01:52:46.119 --> 01:52:49.020 I would think they're going to win in part because 2220 01:52:49.100 --> 01:52:53.039 we're getting more The Brawling, or no, who are we getting? Yeah, 2221 01:52:53.060 --> 01:52:55.659 the Brawling Birds are going to defend the tag titles against, 2222 01:52:56.500 --> 01:53:00.689 oh God, Rathlander, Chris Atlander, and Harley Cameron. And so 2223 01:53:00.729 --> 01:53:03.930 I'm guessing there's a little self-destruction there somehow to set up, 2224 01:53:05.010 --> 01:53:07.489 just to create some tension with those teams going into 2225 01:53:08.270 --> 01:53:11.260 full gear. But yeah, I just, sadly, I don't care. 2226 01:53:11.300 --> 01:53:12.239 I'd like to, but I don't. 2227 01:53:14.750 --> 01:53:18.539 Tomorrow night on Dynamite, the Fright Night themed event includes 2228 01:53:18.880 --> 01:53:20.800 third match with the Machine Guns and FTR. What have 2229 01:53:20.819 --> 01:53:23.539 you thought of the first two? What do you expect 2230 01:53:23.720 --> 01:53:26.439 out of the third? And kind of more important than 2231 01:53:26.600 --> 01:53:30.130 match quality is, is it doing something for the Motor 2232 01:53:30.149 --> 01:53:33.430 City Machine Guns in terms of their charisma, their presentation, 2233 01:53:33.470 --> 01:53:37.109 how they're being featured, where you think, okay, they're establishing 2234 01:53:37.140 --> 01:53:39.310 themselves in a better place than they were in in WWE? 2235 01:53:40.329 --> 01:53:42.970 I don't know that it is. I really enjoy a 2236 01:53:43.729 --> 01:53:49.250 good best of series and I'm enjoying this one. But 2237 01:53:49.390 --> 01:53:50.939 it does kind of feel like these teams are on 2238 01:53:50.979 --> 01:53:57.539 an island and there's no prize at this point for 2239 01:53:57.680 --> 01:54:01.600 winning this. It's just, I guess, for pride. And it'll 2240 01:54:01.619 --> 01:54:04.939 go five, I'm sure. And hopefully it'll be entertaining. But 2241 01:54:04.960 --> 01:54:08.460 I think it's what they do with the guns afterward 2242 01:54:08.500 --> 01:54:11.460 that it's going to be telling. I mean, hopefully, you know, 2243 01:54:11.539 --> 01:54:13.479 if they win this, hopefully that will give them a 2244 01:54:13.500 --> 01:54:15.050 bit of a boost and then you follow up and 2245 01:54:15.060 --> 01:54:17.470 try to keep them hot. I don't know if they will, 2246 01:54:17.750 --> 01:54:21.869 but yeah, it was a reason to pay more attention 2247 01:54:21.890 --> 01:54:24.229 than usual to collision, I guess. Yeah. 2248 01:54:25.289 --> 01:54:29.899 Also on Dynamite, Persephone and Queen Amanata. Queen Amanata, we 2249 01:54:29.909 --> 01:54:32.880 talked a lot about women's wrestling in WWE main roster 2250 01:54:32.920 --> 01:54:35.800 and NXT. Queen Amanata just sort of would appear and 2251 01:54:35.819 --> 01:54:38.539 you'd be like, oh, that's, she looks like she could 2252 01:54:39.039 --> 01:54:42.439 be memorable and has a distinct look and, um, you know, 2253 01:54:42.460 --> 01:54:43.720 moved around the

ring in a way where like, Oh, 2254 01:54:43.760 --> 01:54:46.199 there's something there. And it's just kind of hovered for 2255 01:54:46.239 --> 01:54:48.640 a while. Um, but now I think she's opening some 2256 01:54:48.800 --> 01:54:52.239 eyes and now she's being featured on dynamite in a 2257 01:54:52.500 --> 01:54:55.789 title match for the second, the second, but nearly as 2258 01:54:55.850 --> 01:54:59.109 prestigious based on who's held it, uh, TBS title. Um, 2259 01:54:59.470 --> 01:55:02.029 talk about, uh, queen Amanata bit. And then this match specifically, 2260 01:55:02.689 --> 01:55:03.069 who is she? 2261 01:55:03.560 --> 01:55:06.500 You know, that's, that's my big question. And, you know, 2262 01:55:06.520 --> 01:55:09.199 I think they've kind of told it it's in bits 2263 01:55:09.239 --> 01:55:11.760 and pieces on collision and I'm sure, you know, whatever 2264 01:55:11.800 --> 01:55:13.279 happens on ring of honor stays on ring of honor. 2265 01:55:13.920 --> 01:55:15.600 But I don't feel like they've told us enough about 2266 01:55:15.640 --> 01:55:18.500 who she is. She just has a bunch of, well, 2267 01:55:18.520 --> 01:55:20.380 I shouldn't say a bunch, but she has new moves 2268 01:55:20.420 --> 01:55:23.310 named after, you know, the, the queen name. Why is 2269 01:55:23.329 --> 01:55:25.210 she a queen? You know, get into some of that. 2270 01:55:25.329 --> 01:55:27.210 And I'm sure there are people out there that have 2271 01:55:27.250 --> 01:55:29.810 paid attention to all of this and know exactly what 2272 01:55:29.829 --> 01:55:32.949 it is, but I don't think the masses do. And, 2273 01:55:33.149 --> 01:55:34.710 but I, I like her. Yeah. I think there's a 2274 01:55:34.729 --> 01:55:37.000 lot to like about her, um, in the ring and 2275 01:55:37.039 --> 01:55:41.960 she's got a good look, uh, promo wise. We'll see. But, uh, yeah, 2276 01:55:42.039 --> 01:55:43.439 I think she's someone to keep an eye on for 2277 01:55:43.460 --> 01:55:45.779 sure in that company. Yeah. 2278 01:55:45.859 --> 01:55:49.060 I'd like the average AW viewer to go Queen Amanata. 2279 01:55:50.319 --> 01:55:50.590 Okay. 2280 01:55:50.890 --> 01:55:55.449 That's her name. And I can describe what she dresses like. 2281 01:55:56.449 --> 01:56:01.819 And I know some of her signature moves, but why 2282 01:56:01.899 --> 01:56:04.010 am I emotionally invested in whether she wins or loses? 2283 01:56:04.670 --> 01:56:05.050 Why is she? 2284 01:56:05.069 --> 01:56:10.149 Yeah. And, and don't give me three cliches like, you know. 2285 01:56:10.470 --> 01:56:12.550 And don't tell me they covered on, you know, AEW 2286 01:56:12.590 --> 01:56:14.130 dark back in the day or so I just, yeah. 2287 01:56:14.149 --> 01:56:15.649 Come on, tell us the story. Yeah. 2288 01:56:15.770 --> 01:56:18.840 Like why are we rooting for her in the context 2289 01:56:19.279 --> 01:56:21.579 outside of the 10 minutes it took in a gimmick 2290 01:56:21.600 --> 01:56:24.779 creation room to come up with her name and her outfit? What, 2291 01:56:25.420 --> 01:56:28.659 you know, cause they, they have done that with other, 2292 01:56:29.949 --> 01:56:32.800 women wrestlers where you know like there's a there's a 2293 01:56:32.939 --> 01:56:36.000 story and if queen anamada is gaining traction here and 2294 01:56:36.039 --> 01:56:39.479 she's going to be featured on dynamite yeah i'd like 2295 01:56:39.520 --> 01:56:42.920 to see i'd like to see evidence of more thought 2296 01:56:43.420 --> 01:56:45.520 that if nothing else is evidence that they believe thought 2297 01:56:45.739 --> 01:56:48.140 in in that in that category is important and sometimes 2298 01:56:48.640 --> 01:56:51.710 they just throw it out there yeah yeah uh darby 2299 01:56:51.729 --> 01:56:53.590 ellen josh alexander last match i think they've only announced 2300 01:56:53.609 --> 01:56:55.449 three matches and that's for the team that's all i 2301 01:56:55.470 --> 01:56:58.619 have so far yeah Yeah. So, have they done enough 2302 01:56:58.659 --> 01:57:01.100 with Josh to justify putting him in what will likely 2303 01:57:01.149 --> 01:57:03.430 be the top... I don't know. They'll probably do the 2304 01:57:03.470 --> 01:57:05.550 Machine Guns FTR as a main event. But one of 2305 01:57:05.590 --> 01:57:08.670 the top three announced matches against a guy like Darby, 2306 01:57:08.689 --> 01:57:11.729 former world champ. You can always say that now. Have 2307 01:57:11.750 --> 01:57:14.569 they done enough to establish him as somebody that we 2308 01:57:14.630 --> 01:57:17.270 also care at all about whether he wins or loses? 2309 01:57:17.970 --> 01:57:22.159 No. If you watched TNA... then you're probably like me 2310 01:57:22.180 --> 01:57:24.319 and like, Oh, this could be fun. But if you haven't, 2311 01:57:24.359 --> 01:57:26.399 if you've only seen Josh in a W he's just 2312 01:57:26.460 --> 01:57:29.119 another guy in the cows family, he's, you know, maybe 2313 01:57:29.140 --> 01:57:31.510 in the middle of it, but not a guy they've 2314 01:57:32.130 --> 01:57:34.729 done as much as I hope they would. He's, he 2315 01:57:34.770 --> 01:57:37.909 brings something unique to them. They don't have enough Matt 2316 01:57:38.010 --> 01:57:41.949 based guys and he can go with wrestlers who work, obviously, 2317 01:57:41.970 --> 01:57:45.369 you know, the AW the more predominant style there. I 2318 01:57:45.409 --> 01:57:48.239 wish they would do more with Josh and maybe they will, 2319 01:57:48.340 --> 01:57:51.510 but yeah, they, It's going to be one where if 2320 01:57:51.550 --> 01:57:56.739 he wins, like, oh, didn't see that coming. But going 2321 01:57:56.819 --> 01:58:01.399 into it, it just doesn't feel like this real hot match. 2322 01:58:01.420 --> 01:58:04.909 One little thing with AEW. I've given up on WWE 2323 01:58:04.949 --> 01:58:07.449 doing it for the most part. It's okay to say 2324 01:58:07.470 --> 01:58:10.739 that Josh Alexander is

a former TNA world champion. it 2325 01:58:10.800 --> 01:58:14.279 gives him credibility yeah who cares if you're mentioning the 2326 01:58:14.319 --> 01:58:18.670 the arrival's name we all know these companies exist so 2327 01:58:18.689 --> 01:58:21.430 just knock it off and use whatever you can to 2328 01:58:21.449 --> 01:58:24.369 their advantage and I mean you'll do it for Some 2329 01:58:24.390 --> 01:58:27.510 guy held a, you know, a title in DDT in 2330 01:58:27.510 --> 01:58:30.449 1984 or whatever, but in Japan, but you won't do 2331 01:58:30.489 --> 01:58:32.510 it for a TNA world champion. Come on. 2332 01:58:33.970 --> 01:58:38.760 Yeah, I, it, it is the, the rationale for mentioning 2333 01:58:38.800 --> 01:58:41.619 or not mentioning it is, is, uh, hard to follow sometimes. 2334 01:58:42.579 --> 01:58:43.079 Definitely. 2335 01:58:45.300 --> 01:58:47.140 iPhone users. If you're listening to us on the native 2336 01:58:47.180 --> 01:58:50.250 podcast app on your iPhone, uh, You can unlock our 2337 01:58:50.329 --> 01:58:55.310 commercial-free versions of our free shows by searching PWTorch in 2338 01:58:55.520 --> 01:58:57.760 Apple Podcasts. You'll see a charcoal gray logo that says 2339 01:58:57.819 --> 01:59:00.220 PWTorch VIP on it. Click on that. There's some free 2340 01:59:00.239 --> 01:59:03.760 samples of VIP shows, and you can unlock the entire 2341 01:59:03.800 --> 01:59:07.369 VIP lineup, which includes VIP exclusives plus commercial-free versions of 2342 01:59:07.409 --> 01:59:10.989 the free shows by searching PWTorch in Apple Podcasts and 2343 01:59:11.029 --> 01:59:13.689 clicking on the PWTorch VIP logo. and then activate your 2344 01:59:13.729 --> 01:59:15.970 three-day free trial. And after that, you can become a 2345 01:59:16.130 --> 01:59:19.229 VIP member using your Apple account. It's that easy. Enjoy 2346 01:59:19.270 --> 01:59:22.800 a streamlined listening experience to our free shows and unlock 2347 01:59:22.979 --> 01:59:26.140 all the VIP exclusives, including our post-pay-per-view roundtables, the Wade 2348 01:59:26.159 --> 01:59:29.300 Keller news bulletins, everything with Rich and Wade, the fix 2349 01:59:29.479 --> 01:59:31.699 that I host with Todd Martin, and a variety of 2350 01:59:31.779 --> 01:59:35.720 other VIP exclusives. Just search PWTorch in your Apple Podcast app. 2351 01:59:35.739 --> 01:59:41.960 All right, quick thoughts to wrap up on AW Full Gear. 2352 01:59:42.500 --> 01:59:49.229 How that's taking shape. Brawling Birds against Harley Cameron and 2353 01:59:49.250 --> 01:59:51.630 Chris Statlander. You got the Young Bucks against Davis and Doyle. 2354 01:59:52.109 --> 01:59:54.729 And you got Hangman and Brody King and Bondito against 2355 01:59:54.770 --> 01:59:57.050 Swerve and the new level. So all tag matches announced 2356 01:59:57.109 --> 02:00:00.039 so far. Your quick thoughts on that. And then what's 2357 02:00:00.079 --> 02:00:04.760 your knowledge or hunch or complete guess on the main 2358 02:00:04.779 --> 02:00:05.420 event world title match? 2359 02:00:06.270 --> 02:00:10.380 Yeah, I did have a list of matches that I'll 2360 02:00:10.420 --> 02:00:12.500 pull up here that I think they're going to go with, 2361 02:00:12.539 --> 02:00:13.500 but I don't know for sure. 2362 02:00:13.520 --> 02:00:14.979 Yeah, there's definitely hints of others, yeah. 2363 02:00:15.659 --> 02:00:19.439 Yeah, so I think with the matches we have advertised, 2364 02:00:21.119 --> 02:00:24.609 Brawling Birds and Rathlander was put off just because of 2365 02:00:24.649 --> 02:00:27.949 an injury, so it's fine. I can't say that I'm 2366 02:00:27.970 --> 02:00:29.890 all excited about it, but I do like the four 2367 02:00:29.930 --> 02:00:30.710 wrestlers involved. 2368 02:00:31.510 --> 02:00:31.789 They. 2369 02:00:32.949 --> 02:00:36.069 Well, Chris Tatlander is kind of a mess. They just 2370 02:00:36.329 --> 02:00:38.869 can't seem to get her to click as a character. 2371 02:00:39.250 --> 02:00:41.539 Harley has all this personality and they stopped showing it. 2372 02:00:41.970 --> 02:00:46.449 So that's a bit disappointing. Bucks against Davis and Doyle. 2373 02:00:46.489 --> 02:00:48.300 I mean, they did a great job of signing that up. 2374 02:00:48.420 --> 02:00:51.399 Assuming there wasn't like, oh, the Bucks pissed and moaned 2375 02:00:51.460 --> 02:00:54.739 all night. If they were on board with putting them 2376 02:00:54.840 --> 02:00:57.319 over the way they did, good for them. We need 2377 02:00:57.359 --> 02:01:00.000 more of that in wrestling. You just gave those guys 2378 02:01:00.079 --> 02:01:03.239 instant credibility. and they probably get their win back and 2379 02:01:03.420 --> 02:01:06.270 that's okay. But, um, yeah, I, I really liked it. 2380 02:01:06.350 --> 02:01:08.369 I I'd love to see him double down on the pay-per-view. 2381 02:01:08.449 --> 02:01:11.029 You think it's shocking that they won a three minute 2382 02:01:11.050 --> 02:01:13.090 match on dynamite. Imagine if they actually had a three 2383 02:01:13.130 --> 02:01:15.449 minute match on a pay-per-view and won, and then the 2384 02:01:15.489 --> 02:01:18.369 bucks have to, uh, battle back and try to get 2385 02:01:18.489 --> 02:01:21.609 back to into a contention and then win those titles. Uh, 2386 02:01:21.689 --> 02:01:24.039 I doubt it's going to happen though. And then, um, yeah, the, 2387 02:01:24.050 --> 02:01:26.270 the trios title, I think we all assume it's going 2388 02:01:26.289 --> 02:01:29.720 to end up being Texas death, uh, I don't know. 2389 02:01:30.279 --> 02:01:32.180 I don't need to see needles. I know that much. 2390 02:01:32.460 --> 02:01:35.659 Hopefully they get that out of their system. But it 2391 02:01:35.859 --> 02:01:41.270 could be good. I'm just apprehensive because some of the 2392 02:01:41.289 --> 02:01:43.609 stuff they do when they go into Texas death, I 2393 02:01:43.630 --> 02:01:45.630 just shake my head at.

But the other matches that 2394 02:01:45.689 --> 02:01:49.100 I had that look like they're being set up, Ospreay 2395 02:01:49.199 --> 02:01:52.539 and Kyle Fletcher for the AEW World Championship is my guess. 2396 02:01:53.180 --> 02:01:56.579 And I don't like it now. I love those two guys. 2397 02:01:56.939 --> 02:01:59.260 And I think Fletcher is like the best young heel 2398 02:01:59.279 --> 02:02:02.300 in that company. And for that reason, I would have 2399 02:02:02.739 --> 02:02:05.600 really built to this match. But I fear they're going 2400 02:02:05.619 --> 02:02:09.119 to turn Fletcher babyface. Not in this match, but that's 2401 02:02:09.159 --> 02:02:11.199 why they're kind of rushing to it. And I fear 2402 02:02:11.270 --> 02:02:13.210 it because I just think he's such a good heel. 2403 02:02:13.770 --> 02:02:16.510 I wouldn't mess with it right now. And then Mercedes 2404 02:02:16.569 --> 02:02:18.609 and Marina Shafir. I don't know if that's been made official, 2405 02:02:18.649 --> 02:02:21.989 but it looks like they're going with that. And all 2406 02:02:22.010 --> 02:02:24.430 the stuff they're doing with the Death Riders is, And 2407 02:02:24.489 --> 02:02:27.109 now whatever the hell, you know, the, uh, the, the, 2408 02:02:27.149 --> 02:02:29.890 the cut, yeah, the cut, whatever they're going to be, 2409 02:02:30.050 --> 02:02:33.270 I'm guessing anarchy in the arena or some variation of that. 2410 02:02:35.109 --> 02:02:37.090 They're the tailored cut outfit. 2411 02:02:38.909 --> 02:02:40.930 Yeah. I don't know. I did. 2412 02:02:40.970 --> 02:02:41.189 Yeah. 2413 02:02:41.869 --> 02:02:43.979 Back to the drawing board guys. Yeah. Yeah. 2414 02:02:44.149 --> 02:02:46.279 Put some thought into it and run it by some 2415 02:02:46.359 --> 02:02:50.739 focus groups first before you, you do it. Um, That's 2416 02:02:50.859 --> 02:02:54.319 I'm with you on on either Fletcher or Copeland, you know, 2417 02:02:54.359 --> 02:02:58.029 kind of hinting at both, you know, blood and guts 2418 02:02:58.069 --> 02:03:00.829 could set the stage for something with Copeland and Osprey 2419 02:03:00.869 --> 02:03:04.109 with Osprey questioning him on, you know, showing some doubt 2420 02:03:04.149 --> 02:03:06.909 or whatever. I mean, it wasn't like like hostile or anything, 2421 02:03:06.989 --> 02:03:09.449 but that seems like something you want to put up to. 2422 02:03:09.470 --> 02:03:11.069 But the Fletcher thing, I'm with you. And but I 2423 02:03:11.109 --> 02:03:13.029 also I. I'm with you on that. You want to 2424 02:03:13.050 --> 02:03:14.409 build that up. It should be special and it should 2425 02:03:14.430 --> 02:03:16.220 seem like a big deal. And if you just throw 2426 02:03:16.260 --> 02:03:18.079 it on full gear is one of the name brand pay-per-views, 2427 02:03:18.119 --> 02:03:19.739 but it does, it feels like it deserves more built 2428 02:03:19.760 --> 02:03:20.979 than it would have a chance to get. 2429 02:03:21.000 -->

02:03:21.899 Yeah. 2430 02:03:22.220 --> 02:03:25.220 But there's not a great other option. And that's, that's 2431 02:03:25.279 --> 02:03:28.010 something Tony Khan should have been able to, you know, 2432 02:03:28.050 --> 02:03:30.770 figure out by now. So it doesn't feel like the, 2433 02:03:30.930 --> 02:03:32.569 the match will be the second or, you know, a 2434 02:03:32.829 --> 02:03:35.149 second or third choice in an emergency more than the 2435 02:03:35.210 --> 02:03:37.529 primary thing you plan for, but they have, you know, 2436 02:03:37.550 --> 02:03:42.210 a couple of weeks to, you know, cement this. Actually, 2437 02:03:42.350 --> 02:03:48.279 I think three dynamites because it'll be tomorrow and then 2438 02:03:48.420 --> 02:03:52.119 two more, I think. So there's a decent amount of 2439 02:03:52.140 --> 02:03:55.720 time to change our minds on this. But yeah, I'm 2440 02:03:55.760 --> 02:03:57.000 worried about Fletcher turning too. 2441 02:03:56.939 --> 02:04:02.239 Often, too. Yeah, he's a very good heel, and I 2442 02:04:02.310 --> 02:04:05.569 think a bit unproven as a singles babyface. I think 2443 02:04:05.970 --> 02:04:07.890 people will take to him, but obviously now is not 2444 02:04:07.909 --> 02:04:09.750 going to be his time when you have Will Ospreay 2445 02:04:09.789 --> 02:04:10.369 in your position. 2446 02:04:10.409 --> 02:04:12.630 Like, what are you going to do? Yeah. 2447 02:04:13.010 --> 02:04:14.850 And for the love of God, get Takeshi more involved 2448 02:04:14.869 --> 02:04:15.250 in things. 2449 02:04:15.970 --> 02:04:19.810 Yep, yep, indeed. All right, anything else you want to 2450 02:04:20.109 --> 02:04:25.590 bring up, Jason, before we conclude? 2451 02:04:25.670 --> 02:04:30.399 Boy, yeah. We have a very important day coming up here, Wade. 2452 02:04:32.250 --> 02:04:37.590 It's a big Tuesday ahead with major ramifications, and I 2453 02:04:37.670 --> 02:04:41.170 just pray that the Vikings make a move a week 2454 02:04:41.189 --> 02:04:43.090 from Tuesday at the NFL trade deadline. 2455 02:04:43.670 --> 02:04:46.319 Kirk Cousins? Kirk Cousins, at least? 2456 02:04:47.939 --> 02:04:48.300 I don't know. 2457 02:04:48.319 --> 02:04:51.260 Yeah, it's just something. I doubt they will go for 2458 02:04:51.300 --> 02:04:54.239 a QB, but unless something were to happen injury-wise, but 2459 02:04:55.090 --> 02:04:57.380 I couldn't resist. I'm going to bite my tongue about 2460 02:04:57.449 --> 02:04:58.600 the really big Tuesday. 2461 02:04:59.560 --> 02:05:02.779 By the way, how has J.J. McCarthy really looked? 2462 02:05:02.800 --> 02:05:04.939 I don't know. I just haven't really been able to 2463 02:05:04.979 --> 02:05:07.560 sit down and watch those games. And it was annoying 2464 02:05:07.600 --> 02:05:09.729 because they kept going to that game every time I 2465 02:05:09.770 --> 02:05:11.109 go to Red Zone. I'm like, I don't have any 2466 02:05:11.130 --> 02:05:12.970 of these people in my fantasy. I

just go back 2467 02:05:12.989 --> 02:05:14.630 to whatever else was on. Yeah. 2468 02:05:15.550 --> 02:05:18.329 Speaking of which, Vikings, by the way, NFL rankings are out. 2469 02:05:18.489 --> 02:05:19.550 Vikings ranked number one. 2470 02:05:20.989 --> 02:05:24.010 Oh, man. That's going to... The other 31... teams that 2471 02:05:24.050 --> 02:05:25.930 the fan base is going to lose their minds and 2472 02:05:26.329 --> 02:05:29.529 it's a moan and whining complaint. It's just the worst way. 2473 02:05:29.720 --> 02:05:31.220 You ever read a comment section? 2474 02:05:31.380 --> 02:05:32.739 No, I don't, I don't, I don't even, I get 2475 02:05:32.840 --> 02:05:34.979 irked when you bring it up to me. Cause I really, really, 2476 02:05:35.020 --> 02:05:37.520 really don't care. I just, I don't like to spend 2477 02:05:37.560 --> 02:05:39.479 energy talking about it. It's just, to me, it's obvious. 2478 02:05:39.539 --> 02:05:41.399 It's stupid. Who cares? Why talk about it? Why feed, 2479 02:05:41.460 --> 02:05:41.920 why feed it? 2480 02:05:42.479 --> 02:05:44.500 Well, that's, but that's just it. Go to the comment 2481 02:05:44.520 --> 02:05:48.060 section and see how triggered these people get. It's hilarious. Like, okay. 2482 02:05:48.220 --> 02:05:51.819 One random writer or a group of people decided that 2483 02:05:52.319 --> 02:05:56.439 this is, what they think and you're outraged and mad 2484 02:05:56.479 --> 02:05:58.869 as hell. And God, you know, some, in some cases 2485 02:05:58.909 --> 02:06:03.590 making threats because they didn't think your shitty team deserved 2486 02:06:03.609 --> 02:06:06.010 to be ranked higher. I know. Yeah. 2487 02:06:06.829 --> 02:06:08.949 Well, the, the number two team is a Buffalo bills 2488 02:06:09.140 --> 02:06:11.680 and in the PW torch VIP forum, I believe I 2489 02:06:11.739 --> 02:06:15.579 predicted and hoped for a Vikings bill Superbowl at the 2490 02:06:15.600 --> 02:06:17.760 start of the season, because I wanted to see one 2491 02:06:17.779 --> 02:06:18.859 of them finally win a Superbowl. 2492 02:06:19.579 --> 02:06:22.560 Wouldn't that be nice? I think everyone in Minnesota and 2493 02:06:22.600 --> 02:06:24.619 Buffalo would be all for that. Absolutely. 2494 02:06:25.270 --> 02:06:28.390 Here we are week six, week seven. I don't know, whatever. 2495 02:06:28.970 --> 02:06:29.350 Week eight? 2496 02:06:29.609 --> 02:06:30.069 What are we in? 2497 02:06:30.670 --> 02:06:33.310 We will be heading into week eight, I believe, because 2498 02:06:33.350 --> 02:06:34.170 we've already had our bye. 2499 02:06:34.729 --> 02:06:38.829 Yeah. So, but nevertheless, most teams have six or seven 2500 02:06:38.850 --> 02:06:42.560 games into the season. And my prediction for the Super Bowl, 2501 02:06:42.600 --> 02:06:46.600 according to the NFL's power rankings, is on track. So 2502 02:06:46.699 --> 02:06:49.550 we'll keep track of this. However, I will say ESPN 2503 02:06:49.590 --> 02:06:52.649

ranked the Vikings three. USA Today ranked them fifth. 2504 02:06:53.689 --> 02:06:54.470 The Suns. 2505 02:06:54.829 --> 02:06:59.109 Yes. The Athletic ranked them fourth. So it's not a consensus. 2506 02:06:59.590 --> 02:07:02.489 CBS Sports ranked the Vikings number one. The most common 2507 02:07:02.529 --> 02:07:05.489 pick is number two. Sporting News, Fox News, Bleacher Report, 2508 02:07:05.510 --> 02:07:07.970 Sports Illustrated all had them at number two. 2509 02:07:09.529 --> 02:07:11.930 For the record, I wouldn't rank the Vikings number one. 2510 02:07:14.609 --> 02:07:16.729 Who would you have number one? Seattle, Buffalo, San Fran? 2511 02:07:17.649 --> 02:07:22.659 Uh, probably Buffalo right now, but I mean, it's, it's 2512 02:07:22.720 --> 02:07:25.359 not like a, it's a kind of wide open year. 2513 02:07:25.600 --> 02:07:28.899 I think everybody's kind of writing off the Rams, but 2514 02:07:29.159 --> 02:07:31.079 if they make it, they're going to be as dangerous 2515 02:07:31.159 --> 02:07:32.520 as anybody. And, and. 2516 02:07:33.289 --> 02:07:35.949 Detroit or chicago or denver. 2517 02:07:35.670 --> 02:07:39.149 Or chicago is uh the most balanced team i think 2518 02:07:39.300 --> 02:07:41.899 in our division and i i think they're the biggest 2519 02:07:41.939 --> 02:07:44.079 threat to win the division even though we have a 2520 02:07:44.159 --> 02:07:46.739 couple of game lead yeah i i definitely think chicago's 2521 02:07:46.779 --> 02:07:47.819 got a real chance. 2522 02:07:48.239 --> 02:07:50.630 I mean if you're four and three and like the 2523 02:07:50.630 --> 02:07:53.319 packers and you're ranked 15th i mean it makes sense 2524 02:07:53.319 --> 02:07:56.640 you're barely above 500 or you're in the middle, but, um, 2525 02:07:57.100 --> 02:07:58.560 you'd be like, oh, come on, we should be hired. 2526 02:07:58.579 --> 02:08:00.560 But there's, there are some parody, you know, in, in 2527 02:08:00.579 --> 02:08:02.460 the Santa Fe rankings as a Steelers at five and 2528 02:08:02.500 --> 02:08:03.159 two ranked number 14. 2529 02:08:03.159 --> 02:08:08.779 Yeah. I just, I don't see it with the Steelers. Um, 2530 02:08:08.960 --> 02:08:10.590 but not that I'm getting to see a lot of their, 2531 02:08:10.689 --> 02:08:14.279 their games, but, um, Yeah, I don't know. There's some 2532 02:08:14.340 --> 02:08:16.340 talent there for sure, but I just don't know that 2533 02:08:16.359 --> 02:08:20.520 they're going to be in that mix. I think Buffalo 2534 02:08:20.560 --> 02:08:22.800 and Minnesota would be fun because I also don't have 2535 02:08:22.859 --> 02:08:25.439 any disdain for the Buffalo team. I like Josh Howard 2536 02:08:25.539 --> 02:08:27.380 and I like that team and I usually hope they 2537 02:08:27.399 --> 02:08:31.750 do well. The Chiefs are right there. They got to 2538 02:08:31.789 --> 02:08:35.649 be in that mix too with Buffalo in the AFC. 2539 02:08:36.130 --> 02:08:38.250 They bounce back in a big way. They look good. 2540 02:08:39.909 --> 02:08:40.010 Yeah. 2541 02:08:40.029 --> 02:08:40.130 Yeah. 2542 02:08:40.949 --> 02:08:43.649 Um, and the bet, the Bengals, their quarterback scoring some 2543 02:08:43.689 --> 02:08:44.229 points this week. 2544 02:08:45.649 --> 02:08:50.680 Great. And they have great receivers. I think their defense is, um, 2545 02:08:50.800 --> 02:08:52.739 you know, kind of what they're like. We used to 2546 02:08:52.779 --> 02:08:54.939 be when we were all offense and no defense and 2547 02:08:55.020 --> 02:08:56.939 now we're all defense and offense. 2548 02:08:57.840 --> 02:08:59.600 But at four and two rank number five in the 2549 02:08:59.640 --> 02:09:01.920 NFL rankings. I mean, they should be, you know, can 2550 02:09:01.960 --> 02:09:05.229 be in the conversation and, uh, they'll, you know, either 2551 02:09:05.770 --> 02:09:08.310 win or lose to the bills, um, in the playoffs. 2552 02:09:08.329 --> 02:09:09.310 Cause that's just what happens. 2553 02:09:10.010 --> 02:09:11.649 Oh, and in Green Bay, don't forget, they're getting their 2554 02:09:11.750 --> 02:09:15.289 big defensive star back. Oh, yeah. So that could make, 2555 02:09:15.350 --> 02:09:17.449 you know, that made them a much better team defense 2556 02:09:17.529 --> 02:09:21.170 last year. And those wide receivers they have are nice. 2557 02:09:21.750 --> 02:09:24.909 Golden and Watson. And they have a nice tight end, too. 2558 02:09:24.949 --> 02:09:28.149 So that's their threat. I mean, everyone in our division is. 2559 02:09:28.640 --> 02:09:32.739 This is, yeah, it's a weird NFL season in that sense. 2560 02:09:33.340 --> 02:09:35.859 When you, you know, when you have the last standing 2561 02:09:35.960 --> 02:09:38.899 undefeated team and you're like, I would not argue with 2562 02:09:38.920 --> 02:09:40.760 them being ranked number 11 when i look at because 2563 02:09:40.779 --> 02:09:43.039 there's 10 teams you could argue are are better than 2564 02:09:43.199 --> 02:09:44.939 that you would bet money on making it to the 2565 02:09:44.979 --> 02:09:45.479 super bowl. 2566 02:09:45.359 --> 02:09:49.489 Instead of them yeah yeah it's it's just wide open 2567 02:09:49.510 --> 02:09:52.029 and i love it i'm sure somebody's gonna emerge eventually 2568 02:09:52.069 --> 02:09:54.050 or a couple of teams will but um for now 2569 02:09:54.130 --> 02:09:55.489 it's just it's really fun to see. 2570 02:09:55.390 --> 02:09:59.699 This kansas city obviously thank you jason so much as 2571 02:09:59.939 --> 02:10:02.439 always having you on the show uh next time we 2572 02:10:02.479 --> 02:10:05.970 talk uh I'm super curious what the Vikings record is. 2573 02:10:06.050 --> 02:10:07.949 I'm super curious to state a politics in the country, 2574 02:10:07.979 --> 02:10:10.899 in the world. And, uh, and kind of curious if 2575 02:10:10.920 --> 02:10:12.520 we can still say we have three teams on course 2576 02:10:12.600 --> 02:10:14.340 to win

championships in 2020. 2577 02:10:14.340 --> 02:10:16.560 Oh, wouldn't that be nice. And, uh, Hey, we'll be 2578 02:10:16.699 --> 02:10:18.680 getting closer to a pay-per-view that we're gonna have to 2579 02:10:18.720 --> 02:10:20.819 talk about whether we're going to attend this sucker together 2580 02:10:20.859 --> 02:10:22.600 with the AW coming to town in December. 2581 02:10:22.619 --> 02:10:23.560 I know. I know. 2582 02:10:23.770 --> 02:10:23.970 Yep. 2583 02:10:24.390 --> 02:10:25.449 Exciting times. All right. 2584 02:10:25.470 --> 02:10:26.750 Thanks, Jason. Thank you. 2585 02:10:27.109 --> 02:10:29.189 All right. We've got the VIP exclusive after show now 2586 02:10:29.229 --> 02:10:31.270 coming up for you. If you're a PW torch VIP 2587 02:10:31.310 --> 02:10:34.699 member or.net member, Here's a couple excerpts from the conversation 2588 02:10:34.739 --> 02:10:37.649 I spliced out and saved it for the VIP exclusive 2589 02:10:37.689 --> 02:10:40.590 after show because the show ran very long. So I 2590 02:10:40.670 --> 02:10:43.510 took out the Minnesota Vikings NFL talk, which will either 2591 02:10:44.050 --> 02:10:46.640 anger some of you who look forward to that or relieve, 2592 02:10:46.760 --> 02:10:49.260 be a relief to you if you don't care about 2593 02:10:49.300 --> 02:10:51.220 it and just come to the show for Jason and 2594 02:10:51.239 --> 02:10:53.460 me talking about wrestling. So that's coming up at the 2595 02:10:53.539 --> 02:10:56.060 very end of the VIP exclusive after show, actually like 10, 2596 02:10:56.060 --> 02:10:59.130 12 minutes to talk about the 6-0 undefeated, only undefeated 2597 02:10:59.149 --> 02:11:01.510 team in the NFL, Minnesota Vikings. And their prospects to 2598 02:11:01.529 --> 02:11:03.689 continue and where they fit in with other teams in 2599 02:11:03.710 --> 02:11:06.229 the league with worse records. First, though, we're going to 2600 02:11:06.250 --> 02:11:09.619 talk about WrestleMania 2. Why? Susan St. James, who was 2601 02:11:09.659 --> 02:11:11.979 a guest commentator with Vince McMahon on one of the 2602 02:11:12.279 --> 02:11:16.220 WrestleMania 2 sites, died at age 80 this week. Sad news. 2603 02:11:16.960 --> 02:11:20.470 And so we look back on WrestleMania 2, the three sites, 2604 02:11:20.890 --> 02:11:23.409 how TKO might be inspired by that in a way 2605 02:11:23.449 --> 02:11:25.449 that I'll regret even bringing up and putting out there. 2606 02:11:26.010 --> 02:11:28.810 And also some thoughts about all the celebrities. It was 2607 02:11:28.829 --> 02:11:33.680 the most celebrity-filled WrestleMania ever. And Jason and I talk 2608 02:11:33.720 --> 02:11:37.119 about our memories of that. And also why there were 2609 02:11:37.140 --> 02:11:38.699 so many celebrities, kind of to put you in the 2610 02:11:38.760 --> 02:11:40.520 context of the moment that Jason and I lived through 2611 02:11:40.560 --> 02:11:45.109 as kids. What was the inspiration for Vince McMahon to 2612 02:11:45.130 --> 02:11:47.710 bring in so many celebrities for that event? So that's 2613 02:11:47.729 --> 02:11:52.199 coming up. If you're not a VIP member, pwtorgevipinfo.com. For. 2614 02:11:52.350 --> 02:11:56.529 NET membership, go to pwmembership.net. Of course, I encourage you 2615 02:11:56.590 --> 02:12:00.060 to support us with memberships to both sites. We'd really 2616 02:12:00.079 --> 02:12:01.979 appreciate that. And we thank those of you who are 2617 02:12:02.000 --> 02:12:03.579 already doing it. And to those of you who are, 2618 02:12:03.880 --> 02:12:06.399 here we go with the VIP exclusive after show for 2619 02:12:06.399 --> 02:12:28.970 20 minutes more of content. 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You can participate in 2629 02:13:01.550 --> 02:13:04.949 the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast by emailing your question 2630 02:13:04.989 --> 02:13:09.770 or topic to wadekellerpodcast at gmail.com. You can also participate 2631 02:13:09.840 --> 02:13:14.180 in the Wade Keller Post Shows by emailing wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com 2632 02:13:14.399 --> 02:13:18.119 during or right after Raw, Dynamite, or SmackDown. Let your voice, 2633 02:13:18.159 --> 02:13:20.760 let your opinions be heard on our shows via email, 2634 02:13:20.920 --> 02:13:25.819 wadekellerpodcast at gmail.com for the flagship and wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com 2635 02:13:25.979 --> 02:13:29.609 for our post shows. It's next-level coverage that you come 2636 02:13:29.630 --> 02:13:33.010 to expect from the PW Torch brand. No AI, no 2637 02:13:33.109 --> 02:13:37.729 rookie perspectives, no unfounded rumors, no clickbait, no deceptive headlines, 2638 02:13:38.500 --> 02:13:42.380 just high-quality writing, breaking news, and fascinating flashbacks every day 2639 02:13:42.520 --> 02:13:46.159 at pwtorch.com. Pull yourself away from the vacuous social media 2640 02:13:46.199 --> 02:13:48.260 experience that I know many of you regret once you 2641 02:13:48.439 --> 02:13:50.760 get lost in it for minutes, if not hours at 2642 02:13:50.800 --> 02:13:54.689 a time, and settle in for high-quality PW Torch-branded wrestling coverage. 2643 02:13:56.359 -->

02:13:58.460 Admit it, you love Nick Barbatti when he co-hosts with 2644 02:13:58.500 --> 02:14:00.239 me on the Wade Keller Post Shows. Well, now you 2645 02:14:00.270 --> 02:14:02.550 can listen to him every week on the Nicky's Club, 2646 02:14:02.609 --> 02:14:05.649 a VIP exclusive podcast. Here's Nick to tell you more. 2647 02:14:05.770 --> 02:14:08.210 Hey, wrestling fans. 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