Полная расшифровка выпуска WWE SMACKDOWN POST-SHOW (11/6) - Keller & Lansdell delve into the pros and cons of Owens-Punk finish, Chelsea's promo on self-doubt, Sami

00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:57.159 lose type of slapstick. It actually worked without seeming, like 69 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:01.439 you said, hokey. It made sense. It wasn't far-fetched. And 70 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.280 there weren't 15 million kickouts leading up to it. So 71 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:06.560 I just thought it was a really smart way to 72 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:10.039 finish a match that never really crossed the line into 73 00:04:10.090 --> 00:04:10.710 going too far. 74 00:04:11.469 --> 00:04:12.930 Praise to Joe Tessitore, too, because there was a near 75 00:04:12.969 --> 00:04:15.430 fall late in the match. after GTS or I don't know, 76 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:16.750 I don't even know whose move it was. No, I'm 77 00:04:16.769 --> 00:04:18.810 thinking about, but he didn't go, this is it. This 78 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:20.290 is going to be it during the count. He goes, 79 00:04:20.589 --> 00:04:22.790 could this be it? And there was a kickout. And so, 80 00:04:23.110 --> 00:04:26.290 you know, just, I just applaud dropping bad habits and 81 00:04:26.329 --> 00:04:29.269 tropes and, and this, this, the finish of this match. 82 00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:30.769 Cause I want to underline it. This I think is 83 00:04:31.089 --> 00:04:35.230 illustrative of what I wish more wrestlers and producers and 84 00:04:35.269 --> 00:04:39.310 bookers went through. These are two really high IQ wrestlers 85 00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:45.589 who in putting together the match probably had a conversation going, okay, 86 00:04:45.610 --> 00:04:48.649 how are we going to make this work? It's a 87 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:51.990 type of finish I could imagine both guys backstage rolling 88 00:04:52.009 --> 00:04:54.009 their eyes at and complaining about at the monitors if 89 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:56.790 other people were doing it in a sloppy or lame way. 90 00:04:56.810 --> 00:04:59.350 And they're like, let's figure something out where we can 91 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:01.209 make this work. And they did. And I want to 92 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:05.540 give them credit for it. This shows extra thought put 93 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.399 into something to make it feel more believable instead of 94 00:05:08.420 --> 00:05:12.000 just kind of going through the motions of something that 95 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:13.920 gets us a finish and then we can just go 96 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:17.259 go back to our hotels um and yes match was 97 00:05:17.470 --> 00:05:20.009 really good um as you would expect with these two 98 00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:22.629 actually before we talk about the match quality and i 99 00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:24.449 want to get into also like the crowd response to 100 00:05:24.509 --> 00:05:26.589 it and kind of analyze that a little bit um 101 00:05:26.769 --> 00:05:28.290 and a little bit of the history with these two 102 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:37.199 um what do you make of the um the actual 103 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.920 history between these two and what they pulled from actually 104 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.959 yeah i'll do that i've got multiple angles i want 105 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:46.930 to take on special we'll do that um did this 106 00:05:47.129 --> 00:05:53.170 feel like the culmination of a feud that wwe did 107 00:05:53.189 --> 00:05:55.649 a good job conveying to fans even if they're newer 108 00:05:55.670 --> 00:05:57.829 and don't know the whole background haven't even don't know 109 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:02.019 what roh stands for um and have never seen a 110 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:05.939 wrestling show with a basketball hoop against a wall in 111 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:09.279 the background with really bad lighting pointed at a camera 112 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:12.509 lens Um, if they've never seen any of that, don't 113 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:13.759 know what they're not. Do you think they did a 114 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:18.000 good job conveying coming into tonight and tonight letting people know, 115 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:20.180 you don't need to know details. These two just don't, 116 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:22.660 you might like both of these guys for similar reasons, 117 00:06:23.459 --> 00:06:26.139 but they don't like each other at all in part 118 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:30.930 because they're similar, but in part because of legit stuff too. Um, so, uh, Chris, yeah. 119 00:06:30.949 --> 00:06:31.389 Talk about that. 120 00:06:32.329 --> 00:06:32.550 Yeah. 121 00:06:32.649 --> 00:06:37.389 It's because it's WWE. Yes. It did feel like a 122 00:06:37.670 --> 00:06:41.769 good combination of, of a feud that has lasted for decades. 123 00:06:42.689 --> 00:06:45.149 Everything I've heard says that these two are never going 124 00:06:45.170 --> 00:06:47.629 to be on each other's Christmas card list, but the 125 00:06:47.769 --> 00:06:52.420 animosity that was there in the ROH days has largely faded. 126 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:56.439 I think you can thank Sami Zayn and Cody a 127 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:01.829 lot for sort of mending those fences somewhat. But in 128 00:07:01.850 --> 00:07:04.870 the terms of how the WWE presented it, they've towed 129 00:07:04.889 --> 00:07:07.629 the line well between here's all this shoulder content. You 130 00:07:07.649 --> 00:07:11.410 need to go watch to understand what happened and sort 131 00:07:11.449 --> 00:07:13.310 of making it clear that, yeah, there is a legit 132 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:15.629 reason these two don't like each other. And, you know, 133 00:07:15.670 --> 00:07:18.569 those two guys, some of the best on the mic ever, 134 00:07:18.629 --> 00:07:22.240 not just currently, I've been able to sort of thread 135 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:26.040 that needle and, and bring that past to the current 136 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:29.579 without ever needing to go into detail on it. It's, 137 00:07:29.740 --> 00:07:34.779 it's been a really, well-written and well-worked angle between the two. 138 00:07:34.899 -->

00:07:39.000 And if there wasn't already that perpetual feud between Owens 139 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:41.279 and Sami Zayn, this could be another one that they 140 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:43.560 could go to. I don't think you need it, but yeah, 141 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:44.579 it's worked really well for me. 142 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:47.920 Standard deviation points are two in the chat. Punk would 143 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:49.379 have won if it was a regular match, but because 144 00:07:49.420 --> 00:07:51.939 it wasn't, Kevin Owens won with a chain. So what 145 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:56.019 do you think about the finish, given there's all kinds 146 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:59.550 of elements? One, there's just current day WWE. Um, is 147 00:07:59.610 --> 00:08:02.480 punk near the end of his career than Kevin Owens? Perhaps. 148 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:06.579 Does it matter? Perhaps not. Who wins this one? Um, 149 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:09.259 I would say it does in the sense that if 150 00:08:09.339 --> 00:08:11.720 punk beat Owens, and I think you alluded to this, 151 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:16.889 it would just solidify a preconception, maybe earned that punk 152 00:08:16.949 --> 00:08:20.050 is a bigger star by a certain amount. Then Owens. 153 00:08:20.089 --> 00:08:21.829 And of course, that's the finish. We're protecting Punk. He's 154 00:08:21.870 --> 00:08:24.490 in the world title scene. He can stay there. Kevin 155 00:08:24.509 --> 00:08:26.509 Owens visits a world title scene, but he won't stay there. 156 00:08:26.709 --> 00:08:28.910 There's just this slight difference in terms of kind of 157 00:08:28.930 --> 00:08:30.750 the tier that they're on. And that just sort of 158 00:08:31.110 --> 00:08:35.399 underlines it, emphasizes it. Instead, it was the other way. 159 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.620 But as standard deviation points out, Punk can just go, yeah, okay. 160 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:41.840 You know, it was, you had a chain around. I'm 161 00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:43.639 not going to, you didn't prove you're a better wrestler 162 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:45.399 by hitting it with a chain. You lucked out. I 163 00:08:45.419 --> 00:08:48.240 would have had you pinned. You know, he's not going 164 00:08:48.259 --> 00:08:53.000 to be a sore loser. Well, he might. I think 165 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:57.320 they covered enough bases, but the politics of this I 166 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:01.299 like in the sense that Punk is just at the 167 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:02.879 level he's going to be at. I think Owens is 168 00:09:03.110 --> 00:09:07.330 more susceptible to the perception that management sends, the signal 169 00:09:07.350 --> 00:09:09.470 they send to the audience that, yeah, Punk's a bigger 170 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:10.850 star than KO. We kind of knew it, and we 171 00:09:10.870 --> 00:09:12.289 told you in this finish. I think this was the 172 00:09:12.309 --> 00:09:14.909 right finish. I don't know the politics that went into 173 00:09:14.929 --> 00:09:17.750 the decision, and everyone was cool with it, but I 174 00:09:17.809 --> 00:09:20.309 think Everyone should be. And I think it's for the better. 175 00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:20.990 Chris. 176 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:26.309 Yeah, it's I don't know that they should even mention 177 00:09:26.370 --> 00:09:28.570 that you had a chain wrapped around your fist because 178 00:09:28.909 --> 00:09:30.769 that was the rules of the match that both men 179 00:09:30.809 --> 00:09:31.210 agreed to. 180 00:09:31.470 --> 00:09:31.649 Right. 181 00:09:32.070 --> 00:09:35.309 Yeah. It's not like there was any cheating or underhandedness involved. 182 00:09:35.370 --> 00:09:38.230 It was as legal as a pile driver. So I 183 00:09:38.269 --> 00:09:40.830 don't I wouldn't want to go there if I were Punk, 184 00:09:40.950 --> 00:09:42.850 unless that's a signal for a heel turn for Punk. 185 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:46.950 Well, Punk could say, I admit you beat me in 186 00:09:46.970 --> 00:09:48.909 a match where chains are involved. If we strip that away, 187 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:50.889 I'll beat you. I mean, something along those lines. He 188 00:09:50.929 --> 00:09:51.879 could slip that in. 189 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:55.129 And then Owens could easily come back and say, but 190 00:09:55.330 --> 00:09:59.330 you agreed to this. I was the better man, and 191 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:01.419 I'll be the better man. next time. And then each 192 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.279 man can keep their ego in check and feel like 193 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:08.000 they came out on the better side of it. But 194 00:10:09.090 --> 00:10:11.850 neither of these guys needs protecting. Each one of them 195 00:10:11.929 --> 00:10:14.129 can easily recover from a loss at this point. It's 196 00:10:14.149 --> 00:10:16.629 not like they've been on losing streaks. Nobody is thinking 197 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:19.029 that either of them is washed as a result of this. 198 00:10:19.929 --> 00:10:22.809 You had asked earlier on which of them is closer 199 00:10:22.850 --> 00:10:25.799 to the end of their career. I think it's arguable 200 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:29.259 either way. I would shade slightly towards Owens because of 201 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:33.500 the injury history, and his neck is probably more of 202 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.019 a ticking time bomb than anything that Punk has going on. 203 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:40.230 But I could see Punk just saying, no, that's enough 204 00:10:40.269 --> 00:10:42.450 for me. I'm going to go and run NXT now. So, 205 00:10:42.809 --> 00:10:47.840 you know, there's an argument each way. But the finish itself... Yeah, 206 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:51.090 it gives each of them a plausible way to build 207 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:53.470 on it. Owens can say he beat Punk, Punk can 208 00:10:53.529 --> 00:10:55.710 say it wasn't a wrestling match, it was a fight, 209 00:10:56.529 --> 00:10:58.889 and then neither one seems to

have lost any face. 210 00:11:00.309 --> 00:11:04.870 I think the build of this felt personal enough that 211 00:11:05.149 --> 00:11:12.070 to a certain extent, even if you say... I agree 212 00:11:12.090 --> 00:11:13.720 with you in general that both guys can recover from 213 00:11:13.750 --> 00:11:17.370 a loss, but... This felt so personal that I do 214 00:11:17.409 --> 00:11:19.299 think there were some bragging rights at stake if you 215 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:23.240 leaned towards one wrestler or the other. And I want 216 00:11:23.259 --> 00:11:26.840 to believe, immersed in the story at least, that Punk 217 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.179 will lose sleep tonight over this. I want to think 218 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:31.610 that Punk's going to have something to say about it. 219 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:36.860 But it does cross my mind... this could be an 220 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:38.919 impetus for a punk heel turn. Like it could be 221 00:11:39.059 --> 00:11:41.840 part of the story. Like when you sit here and go, 222 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:43.850 why did they, why did they do this finish? Maybe 223 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:45.429 in the back they're going, well, of course we'd have 224 00:11:45.450 --> 00:11:46.850 punk beat on us because we think he's a bigger 225 00:11:46.870 --> 00:11:48.710 star than KO. We love KO. He's a big star, 226 00:11:48.730 --> 00:11:51.070 but we think punk's bigger, but we did this because 227 00:11:51.309 --> 00:11:53.970 it's part of a story we're telling of punk is 228 00:11:53.990 --> 00:11:57.379 going to need Paul Heyman's help to, you know, whatever. 229 00:11:57.399 --> 00:11:59.220 I mean, overcome or I don't know, you know? So 230 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:01.299 I just throw that out there as an aside. Sometimes 231 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:03.740 we try to figure out why they do something in 232 00:12:03.779 --> 00:12:06.309 a moment with the information we have. to make sense 233 00:12:06.350 --> 00:12:09.789 of it. But in fact, whatever reason we conjure up 234 00:12:09.929 --> 00:12:13.269 to explain what they do, isn't actually the reason because 235 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:16.539 there's something unforeseeable or that we don't know is going 236 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:18.519 to happen. We could guess might happen, but it's not 237 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:20.860 a given. And that's actually what drove it. So I 238 00:12:20.899 --> 00:12:23.700 just throw that into the conversation too, as a possibility, 239 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.379 but all, all in all, no matter what, I mean, and, 240 00:12:28.490 --> 00:12:30.710 and okay, I'll even sneak in. They might've just said, 241 00:12:31.129 --> 00:12:33.330 you know, Kevin Owens might have more friends in punk backstage. 242 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.450 Punk can be moody. Kevin Owens is more well-liked, generally speaking, 243 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:42.490 behind the scenes. Over time, Punk's had a good track 244 00:12:42.529 --> 00:12:46.389 record here, but he's had moody moments even in WWE. 245 00:12:47.129 --> 00:12:50.309 And I mean, well, that's the whole thing. The promo 246 00:12:50.330 --> 00:12:53.389 from Kevin Owens saying, you know, I looked at you 247 00:12:54.809 --> 00:12:57.169 and got under his skin with a comment about maybe 248 00:12:57.649 --> 00:12:59.639 drama follows you everywhere. It's not everybody else. 249 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:00.039 It's you. 250 00:13:00.460 --> 00:13:01.519 I mean, that is a line a lot of people 251 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:04.039 have talked about with him. So it's possible that there 252 00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:05.399 was just like, yeah, let's ask punk to do the 253 00:13:05.450 --> 00:13:07.139 job and let's see how he feels about it. And 254 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:11.269 people are in power, sort of delighting and letting in 255 00:13:11.509 --> 00:13:12.809 as much as it should matter to two guys in 256 00:13:12.850 --> 00:13:15.250 their forties with millions and millions in fame and career 257 00:13:15.289 --> 00:13:16.990 and a great body of work, but it is resting. 258 00:13:17.029 --> 00:13:19.389 And sometimes things can be petty and personal. It might 259 00:13:19.429 --> 00:13:21.610 be petty and personal. They might've just been testing punk 260 00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:23.629 to see, yeah, we know it's going to bug him. 261 00:13:23.769 --> 00:13:26.159 We have a rationalization with a straight face. We'll tell him, 262 00:13:26.230 --> 00:13:27.549 we know it's going to eat him up inside because 263 00:13:27.570 --> 00:13:29.809 he takes it so seriously. So I throw that out there, 264 00:13:30.250 --> 00:13:33.840 out there too. Um, uh crofton in the chat says 265 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:35.580 punk has lost to chad gable in a dark match 266 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:38.399 grace and waller on nxt kevin owens tonight roman at 267 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:40.240 mania i feel like he must be heading toward the 268 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:43.799 next chapter of his career and and i as i 269 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:45.590 was reading that crofton i thought you might be going 270 00:13:45.889 --> 00:13:48.690 in a couple different directions with that list um i 271 00:13:48.710 --> 00:13:50.950 think they're all very different and i think this is 272 00:13:51.009 --> 00:13:53.409 the one that punk would care the most about losing 273 00:13:54.129 --> 00:13:56.409 if he still cares about that kind of thing i 274 00:13:56.450 --> 00:13:57.909 think this is the one he'd care the most about 275 00:13:57.990 --> 00:14:01.230 i think he knows roman's a bigger star I mean, 276 00:14:01.370 --> 00:14:03.350 you know, Pride, he'd like to be the guy booked 277 00:14:03.370 --> 00:14:05.909 to beat him. Waller, that was just a roll-up finish 278 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:08.509 because of a distraction, and he's giving back. He can 279 00:14:08.750 --> 00:14:11.720 have that, you know, wear the badge of honor and, 280 00:14:13.129 --> 00:14:16.279 you

know, display that on his trophy case of giving 281 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:19.460 back that he likes to draw attention to, and that's fine. 282 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.000 And then a dark match, whatever. So I think this 283 00:14:23.059 --> 00:14:24.600 is the one where it's like, ah, I could see 284 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:25.960 him being bothered by it. Chris, you want to jump 285 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:26.399 in on that? 286 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.899 Yeah, it's tough with Punk because you just never know. 287 00:14:30.590 --> 00:14:33.870 what he's thinking on any given moment. Someone said to 288 00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:37.049 me the other day that the difference between CM Punk 289 00:14:37.110 --> 00:14:39.429 and Teddy Hart is that Punk never did drugs, and 290 00:14:39.470 --> 00:14:42.269 that's the only reason he's still in wrestling. And honestly, 291 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.460 when it comes to backstage attitudes and the way that 292 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:49.019 they have been, he's not far wrong. If you think 293 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:51.080 about some of the stuff that Punk has got away 294 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:54.100 with simply because he never crossed that line into being 295 00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:58.330 a complete waste of space, there's a lot of similarities there. 296 00:14:59.029 --> 00:15:01.730 This might actually bug him, and more to the point, 297 00:15:01.809 --> 00:15:04.370 even if the actual result doesn't, because he's not one 298 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:09.980 that has had an issue with losing matches. It's what 299 00:15:10.019 --> 00:15:14.200 the result kind of portrays, and that's more likely to 300 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:17.320 get to him than the actual, I lost to Kevin Owens. 301 00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:24.129 Yeah, yeah. Your time is valuable. Go VIP and listen 302 00:15:24.169 --> 00:15:29.029 to our shows commercial-free. a nice streamlined listening experience, pwtorch.com 303 00:15:29.330 --> 00:15:33.049 slash govip for full details on a commercial-free listening experience. 304 00:15:33.409 --> 00:15:35.929 And with a full VIP membership, you can create custom 305 00:15:35.990 --> 00:15:38.820 feeds for individual shows or groups of shows by theme 306 00:15:39.129 --> 00:15:42.340 and also unlock nearly four decades of archives and access 307 00:15:42.419 --> 00:15:48.220 our ad-free website with VIP-exclusive content, pwtorch.com slash govip. Your 308 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:49.860 time is valuable, and that's one of the reasons we 309 00:15:49.960 --> 00:15:56.330 offer VIP membership, pwtorch.com slash govip. uh crofton says i 310 00:15:56.370 --> 00:15:58.230 think kevin owns needed to win here i struggle to 311 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:00.149 remember a time he came out on top of a 312 00:16:00.169 --> 00:16:05.809 feud with a major star yeah yeah yeah um and 313 00:16:05.870 --> 00:16:07.750 so yeah some of this just depends on what what 314 00:16:07.769 --> 00:16:08.830 do they have planned the next year and a half 315 00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:11.110 for kale versus punk punk's winding down and it's like 316 00:16:11.149 --> 00:16:12.389 i don't want to do this anymore i don't want 317 00:16:12.409 --> 00:16:14.409 to get hurt i'm excited to give back and go 318 00:16:14.429 --> 00:16:17.000 to nxt and kale's like hey i missed some time 319 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.679 the money's great um i want to catch up with 320 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:21.220 some of these other guys who've been full-time and on 321 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:24.169 top And I'm excited to work with three or four guys. 322 00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:25.929 And Punk's like, I've checked all the boxes. I'm good. 323 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.000 I got to wrestle Chad Gable in a dark match. 324 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:30.559 I got to give that, you know, wrestle Grayson Waller 325 00:16:30.580 --> 00:16:32.000 and try to give him a boost. I like him 326 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:35.059 and you know, whatever he, if Punk might have checked 327 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.240 all the boxes and KO has more left in, this 328 00:16:37.299 --> 00:16:39.419 is a way to make those matches mean more. Um, 329 00:16:40.340 --> 00:16:44.039 what'd you think of the crowd heat here? Cause we 330 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:49.889 had early on a, um, There was a chant for Punk, 331 00:16:49.929 --> 00:16:51.490 which the announcers drew attention to. Then there was a 332 00:16:51.509 --> 00:16:55.110 dueling chant of Kevin Owens, CM Punk. But as the 333 00:16:55.149 --> 00:16:58.879 match went on, they were into it. And we got 334 00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:02.539 to this awesome chant late after the announced death spot. 335 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.339 But there were times, and I trust more feedback than 336 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:09.079 just my perception. There were times where I thought the 337 00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:12.240 crowd was sort of watching because it was two good 338 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:15.809 wrestlers they liked, but they weren't. invested like I was 339 00:17:15.849 --> 00:17:17.250 when I was a little kid wanting Mad Dog with 340 00:17:17.269 --> 00:17:19.529 Sean to beat Crusher Blackwell in a death match. And 341 00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:21.390 I mean, it's still, I still am a little hoarse 342 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:23.890 from that, you know, like I've, I've never recovered from, 343 00:17:24.250 --> 00:17:26.250 from how much I yelled during that. And, and at 344 00:17:26.289 --> 00:17:28.650 Minnesota North stars games way back in the day, blew 345 00:17:28.710 --> 00:17:30.299 up my voice. It's never been the same. Like no 346 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:31.920 one was, there's no kid in the crowd blowing out 347 00:17:31.940 --> 00:17:35.200 his voice for this. Like, you know, this was, Oh, I, Oh, 348 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:35.680 a table. 349 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:35.960 Yeah. 350 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:38.579 Two tables. Oh, four chairs. No six chairs. 351 00:17:38.960

--> 00:17:39.640 Oh, chain. 352 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.400 Oh, jumping off stuff. And, and it was, and I'm, 353 00:17:42.829 --> 00:17:44.950 it's good it's not the worst thing in the world 354 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:47.859 but it is the continuation of a theme on our 355 00:17:48.099 --> 00:17:50.720 show here um which is wb's done a lot of 356 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.460 situations where the fans just don't get to get comfortable 357 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:55.680 and root for one side and i i thought there 358 00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:58.910 was again crud is into the match and it was 359 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:00.950 a long night and so that plays into it too 360 00:18:00.970 --> 00:18:03.349 i mean this was a double taping on monday but 361 00:18:04.190 --> 00:18:09.250 i still crave a crowd just being 100% or 95% 362 00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:12.339 or 85% behind KO to beat Punk or Punk to 363 00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:14.150 beat KO. And I don't think we got that. And 364 00:18:14.190 --> 00:18:15.980 I feel kind of bad that when this match happened, 365 00:18:16.019 --> 00:18:16.680 we didn't have that. 366 00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:20.420 Yeah, I'm curious about this one because when you're doing 367 00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:25.259 a tape double shot like this, you could have filmed 368 00:18:25.299 --> 00:18:28.940 this match first right after Raw finished and then done 369 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:30.619 the rest of SmackDown and we would never have been 370 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:31.339 any the wiser. 371 00:18:31.619 --> 00:18:32.380 Yep. 372 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.539 Because I felt like the crowd was Dead all night. 373 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:38.680 It sounded like they were taping in a museum. And 374 00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:42.130 early on, I honestly felt like some of those chants 375 00:18:42.170 --> 00:18:45.250 were piped in or at least sweetened. It didn't sound natural. 376 00:18:46.109 --> 00:18:47.769 But they were definitely into the match by the end 377 00:18:47.809 --> 00:18:50.190 of it. And it's the sign of how good a 378 00:18:50.230 --> 00:18:53.000 match is when you can resurrect a dead crowd like that. 379 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:58.890 I do feel for them, but also... this is, this 380 00:18:58.970 --> 00:19:00.529 is what you get yourself into when you do a 381 00:19:00.569 --> 00:19:03.230 four hour taping, right? Like you've got to expect that 382 00:19:03.470 --> 00:19:05.730 at some point the crowd is going to fall off. 383 00:19:06.660 --> 00:19:06.839 Yeah. 384 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.440 I mean, they, I think they probably did it efficiently 385 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.180 and we had video packages and, you know, they can 386 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:14.680 speed through commercial breaks. I've been at, you know, old 387 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:18.440 school WBF tapings for syndication and it was just bang, bang, bang. 388 00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:20.369 I mean, as a wrestler's leaving and their music fades, 389 00:19:20.430 --> 00:19:23.569 the next music queues up immediately and they come out 390 00:19:23.769 --> 00:19:26.789 because the producers and they don't want to pay security 391 00:19:26.829 --> 00:19:29.049 over time. They know the fans are tired and it 392 00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:31.950 is a fast ship. I don't know who's left from 393 00:19:31.970 --> 00:19:34.460 that era other than Bruce Prichard and his days are numbered. Oh, 394 00:19:34.490 --> 00:19:39.349 Michael Hayes too. But yeah. So anyway, let's see. I 395 00:19:39.369 --> 00:19:41.390 was going to, was there something else about this match 396 00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:43.269 you wanted to bring up? How did, just how did, 397 00:19:43.289 --> 00:19:44.789 I mean, it was a good match, but how did 398 00:19:44.869 --> 00:19:48.180 Punk and Owens look physically to you in executing the 399 00:19:48.220 --> 00:19:50.400 spots that they did. Was there a point where you're like, ah, 400 00:19:51.059 --> 00:19:53.480 Punk would have done that better, done that move better, 401 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:57.140 been more graceful, hit a little tighter and harder, not 402 00:19:57.180 --> 00:19:59.920 seem tired. Same thing for Owens. Or did you look 403 00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:03.630 at this and go, I wasn't even thinking about Punk being, 404 00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:05.490 pushing 50 and KO being in his forties. 405 00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:08.569 I mean, I've been watching these guys for 20, 25 years. 406 00:20:08.750 --> 00:20:11.369 So it would be, impossible for them not to look 407 00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:14.109 like they've shown their age in that time. I didn't 408 00:20:14.210 --> 00:20:17.819 think that they looked old. I thought they just looked 409 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.200 like they'd slowed down since I was watching, you know, 410 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:22.900 Kevin Owens in Ring of Honor and Punk when he 411 00:20:22.940 --> 00:20:26.099 first left. And, you know, I was watching him in TNA. 412 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.460 I was watching him at the end of his ROH run. 413 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:31.619 And then when he came up to WWE CW, like that, 414 00:20:32.029 --> 00:20:34.930 it just has been his career. 415 00:20:34.950 --> 00:20:35.049 Yeah. 416 00:20:35.869 --> 00:20:38.750 He's slower now, but it, The match didn't feel like 417 00:20:39.410 --> 00:20:43.069 a Chris Jericho match, for example, where everything is significantly 418 00:20:43.109 --> 00:20:44.150 slower than it used to be. 419 00:20:47.529 --> 00:20:51.380 I didn't watch the match. I mean, I'm, of course, 420 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:55.740 cognizant in the background always that Punk's got the gray 421 00:20:55.779 --> 00:20:57.740 hair and Kevin Owens got the gray hair and the 422 00:20:57.779 --> 00:21:00.839 beard and they are not at the top, top, top 423 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:03.980 of their game. But man, sometimes... you know, it's like Ovechkin, 424 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:05.420 you know, yeah, you

got the gray hair in your beard, 425 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:07.490 but man, you still fear him if you're a goaltender. 426 00:21:09.190 --> 00:21:11.750 And so I'm trying to do hockey analogies for you, Chris. 427 00:21:11.789 --> 00:21:13.509 Is that better than American? 428 00:21:13.869 --> 00:21:16.309 I mean, basketball would work. All right. 429 00:21:16.329 --> 00:21:18.490 All right. I'm trying to cater to Canadians and I forget. 430 00:21:18.529 --> 00:21:18.670 Yeah. 431 00:21:18.690 --> 00:21:21.700 I mean, I'm mostly English. Don't forget. 432 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:24.079 Yeah. No, I know. Well, I mean, can you live 433 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:27.640 in Canada and not end up peripherally picking up on 434 00:21:28.970 --> 00:21:30.369 um apparently. 435 00:21:30.230 --> 00:21:33.529 Um to be fair i was heavily into the to 436 00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:36.069 the nhl to start with but i i just i'd 437 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:37.789 rather watch hockey and not fighting if i want to 438 00:21:37.809 --> 00:21:39.910 watch fighting i'll watch the ufc and it's just become 439 00:21:39.950 --> 00:21:42.140 way too much about the fighting i'll watch olympic hockey 440 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:43.019 though that's way more. 441 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:48.539 Fun yeah yeah um okay oh uh there's a little 442 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.160 a note here because i was going to get into 443 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:52.119 the little promos that punk and ko did too and 444 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:53.829 then we'll kind of wrap this up but Crofton said 445 00:21:53.849 --> 00:21:55.539 it was hilarious how they were pretending that this happened 446 00:21:55.779 --> 00:21:57.599 after NXT. I was aware of the way they framed 447 00:21:57.619 --> 00:22:00.019 Raw all night. Jimmy was handcuffed by 946 and then 448 00:22:00.339 --> 00:22:04.740 confronting Sami a second later. And they talked about after Raw, 449 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:06.680 after Raw for the sake of the live audience. The 450 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:10.259 live audience wasn't saying, hey, way back on Monday this happened. 451 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:12.619 They actually changed their phrase and go after Raw and 452 00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:15.089 it worked for both the TV audience on a Friday, 453 00:22:15.109 --> 00:22:17.450 but also the live crowd that saw something happen a 454 00:22:17.589 --> 00:22:23.680 half hour earlier. But yeah, the Kevin Owens... promo talking 455 00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:27.140 about showing up to NXT and Shawn Michaels saying you 456 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:30.059 need to leave because it's time for his match. I 457 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:32.059 don't think he got into what he, I don't think 458 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:36.619 he explicitly said in that segment that he attacked or 459 00:22:36.660 --> 00:22:39.480 distracted punk and didn't gloat. So I think they could 460 00:22:39.509 --> 00:22:42.710 have actually aired that in front of the crowd and 461 00:22:42.769 -->

00:22:45.029 it wouldn't have given away the finish, but I wonder 462 00:22:45.069 --> 00:22:46.349 if they just, but why air that in front of 463 00:22:46.369 --> 00:22:47.950 the crowd, just tape it afterwards and add it later. 464 00:22:48.029 --> 00:22:51.089 So I'm, I'm, I don't know. I glanced, but I 465 00:22:51.109 --> 00:22:53.559 didn't really look at the spoilers. So I don't know 466 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.480 if that did air in the building or not. But anyway, 467 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.059 so but my question to you is, what do you 468 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:03.059 think of the Punk promo and the Kevin Owens promo? 469 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:04.980 I think Kevin Owens scored more points. But, you know, 470 00:23:05.009 --> 00:23:06.089 if you're a fan of Punk, you might have thought 471 00:23:06.109 --> 00:23:06.509 he did, too. 472 00:23:06.529 --> 00:23:06.880 What do you think? 473 00:23:07.930 --> 00:23:10.269 The Punk promo was fine. I was more distracted by 474 00:23:10.309 --> 00:23:12.569 the state his eyes were in. He looked like he 475 00:23:12.609 --> 00:23:16.190 had just gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime. 476 00:23:18.029 --> 00:23:20.349 It was the CM Punk promo. There aren't bad ones. 477 00:23:20.890 --> 00:23:24.569 There was nothing special about it. Owen's promo. I actually 478 00:23:24.589 --> 00:23:27.009 wrote down here that I loved his delivery. I loved 479 00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:30.069 his tone. I loved his volume. I loved the threat 480 00:23:30.109 --> 00:23:32.380 he made at the end, which was the exact level 481 00:23:32.410 --> 00:23:34.539 of threat we need to hear more of. Like, I 482 00:23:34.619 --> 00:23:37.500 am going to send you to retirement sooner than you want. 483 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:40.700 That is fine. That is something that you should want 484 00:23:40.740 --> 00:23:42.980 to do if you're trying to beat somebody you dislike. 485 00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:45.019 That is something that you can actually do in a 486 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.640 wrestling ring. I did think some of it was a 487 00:23:47.660 --> 00:23:49.930 little too inside baseball, though. there were a little too 488 00:23:49.950 --> 00:23:52.809 many references to politicking with Shawn Michaels to get a 489 00:23:52.829 --> 00:23:55.599 title shot. I don't know if that was necessary. 490 00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:58.460 I don't know if that's insider. That's just, how'd you get, 491 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:00.700 I mean, it's, it's storyline. How the heck did CM 492 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:02.259 Punk wants to get back to her, but he suddenly, 493 00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:05.920 you know, headline a NXT show that got thrashed in 494 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:08.309 the ratings as I reported on PW torch earlier today. 495 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:10.289 And first in the weight color hotline for VIP members 496 00:24:10.410 --> 00:24:12.890 before anyone else had the details. Um, as far as 497 00:24:12.910 --> 00:24:16.569

I know, um, that Dynamite outdrew NXT by a big 498 00:24:16.609 --> 00:24:18.970 margin with Punk in the headline match. And, I mean, 499 00:24:18.990 --> 00:24:20.890 that's a whole separate topic, but, you know, Punk and 500 00:24:20.910 --> 00:24:23.829 his history with AEW, I think Tony Khan was pretty 501 00:24:23.869 --> 00:24:26.710 thrilled that he was able to beat a CM Punk 502 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:29.579 main event on NXT that, of course, from his perspective, 503 00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:31.700 was kind of predatory and overdue. You know, it's like, hey, 504 00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:34.339 just do a regular show. Don't bring out Cody and 505 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:35.839 Cena and a Punk title match. 506 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:38.920 It's amazing what Tony Khan will do when he fears 507 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:41.170 for his life. So I guess that was something to 508 00:24:41.210 --> 00:24:41.549 do with it. 509 00:24:41.569 --> 00:24:41.710 Yeah. 510 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:46.309 And I actually I think that somewhat ironic that in 511 00:24:46.329 --> 00:24:48.089 the week of blood and guts, we had a no 512 00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:50.529 holds barred match and you get to compare how the 513 00:24:50.569 --> 00:24:55.769 two companies do a no disqualification match. It's probably not 514 00:24:55.809 --> 00:24:57.390 a surprise to anyone who's had me on a post 515 00:24:57.430 --> 00:25:04.339 show before that I greatly preferred this. But yeah, the. 516 00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:04.960 White would like to trade spots with you because he 517 00:25:04.980 --> 00:25:06.299 doesn't like the blood and guts format either. 518 00:25:07.049 --> 00:25:08.950 Uh, I mean, listen, we've, we've done a lot of 519 00:25:08.970 --> 00:25:12.109 shows together recently on, uh, on worse or better. And, uh, 520 00:25:12.490 --> 00:25:15.650 I love chatting with that guy. Also a quick plug. 521 00:25:15.750 --> 00:25:19.549 If you haven't heard, can they coexist with him and Adam? 522 00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:23.259 So good. They have such good chemistry. 523 00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:23.539 Yes. 524 00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:26.380 I don't, I feel like I spent 30 minutes dissecting 525 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:30.279 their different personalities on Wednesday's post show with, with Joshua, um, 526 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:32.160 and why they work so well together. They're like, I, 527 00:25:32.619 --> 00:25:36.670 they're both great personalities and just great people. Um, but 528 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:38.720 having them play off each other, it is, it is, 529 00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:41.420 it is just a fun, it is the type of 530 00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:44.059 show you can just put on, on a car ride 531 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:45.559 or at the gym or on a dog walk or 532 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:47.599 in the background or you're cleaning the house. And it's 533 00:25:47.619 --> 00:25:50.880 just like having two buddies who are, know their stuff 534 00:25:51.059 --> 00:25:53.119 and they're different. And I, again, I just, I gush 535 00:25:53.140 --> 00:25:54.980 about it because they have such a different way of 536 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:59.569 delivering their opinions. You know, Adam Kidd's so blunt, just fearless, 537 00:25:59.789 --> 00:26:02.710 but he has opinions and Josh has a lot of opinions, 538 00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:04.900 but you know, it's like, it's it's more of a 539 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:07.279 layup than a slam dunk but it gets it scores 540 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:09.680 the point so it's it's it's yeah it's a really 541 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:11.680 fun it's a vip exclusive show really fun show newest 542 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:14.140 in the lineup every sunday night or first thing monday 543 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:16.789 it drops and it's you know 90 minutes or two 544 00:26:16.809 --> 00:26:18.950 hours just marching through all the shows all the big 545 00:26:18.990 --> 00:26:20.569 news stories and all the tv shows and all the 546 00:26:20.589 --> 00:26:22.910 big angles and um yeah it's a really cool addition 547 00:26:22.930 --> 00:26:23.589 to the lineup. 548 00:26:23.710 --> 00:26:25.769 It's funny because they like to compare themselves to the 549 00:26:25.829 --> 00:26:28.349 fix and i think it's actually closer to when you 550 00:26:28.390 --> 00:26:32.319 and eric get on together Just the banter and the 551 00:26:32.380 --> 00:26:32.960 back and forth. 552 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:34.240 Interesting. 553 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:37.819 It's way more of one person being very blunt and 554 00:26:37.859 --> 00:26:40.380 direct and one person being a bit more diplomatic, whereas 555 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:44.250 you and Todd just josh at each other constantly. It's 556 00:26:44.529 --> 00:26:47.630 great to listen to, and it's worth going VIP for 557 00:26:48.150 --> 00:26:49.430 if the fix wasn't already enough. 558 00:26:50.490 --> 00:26:54.279 PWTorchVIPinfo.com is where you go for information to sign up. 559 00:26:54.430 --> 00:26:56.289 We'd love to have you as a member. Been doing 560 00:26:56.309 --> 00:26:59.130 weight killer hotlines, news updates. They're run about 15, 20 561 00:26:59.130 --> 00:27:01.009 minutes almost every day for a couple of weeks now. 562 00:27:01.430 --> 00:27:03.390 Really enjoyed doing it. Can rearrange some things in my 563 00:27:03.430 --> 00:27:05.160 schedule to make it work. I'm going to keep doing that. 564 00:27:06.059 --> 00:27:08.910 Been breaking news. One of the things I've wanted to do, 565 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:12.119 because I often have information about a story going around. 566 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:14.200 It's like, it's not quite that, but I don't want 567 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:16.480 to be the person who posts a new story going, 568 00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:19.359 you might've read yesterday this. Let me tell you why 569 00:27:19.380 --> 00:27:21.240 they got it slightly wrong or a lot wrong or whatever. 570 00:27:21.609 -->

00:27:22.970 I don't want to be that person. So it just 571 00:27:23.029 --> 00:27:25.759 slips into my post show. Sometimes it's like, now I can, 572 00:27:26.700 --> 00:27:28.680 I like the form. I'm just talking to my VIP members, 573 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:31.700 you know, like, Hey, this, this is a story, but 574 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:36.099 it's being reported, but here's, here's based on my, you know, 575 00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:38.809 Intel and sourcing and whatever knowledge that they got a 576 00:27:38.829 --> 00:27:40.250 little bit wrong here, a lot wrong here. And I 577 00:27:40.289 --> 00:27:41.869 understand why, but this is a real story. So I've 578 00:27:41.890 --> 00:27:44.950 been doing that. And just, it's a soup for the listeners, 579 00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:47.049 just an efficient way to keep up on what's going on. 580 00:27:47.450 --> 00:27:50.180 Big stuff, little stuff. You don't have to, you let 581 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:53.759 me be the gatekeeper for what's like actually news and 582 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:55.420 what isn't, you don't have to click a bunch of, 583 00:27:55.940 --> 00:27:57.519 you know, a bunch of websites that are just wasting 584 00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:00.599 your time. And, and so it's a shorter format, um, 585 00:28:00.980 --> 00:28:03.380 than other, than other stuff we're doing. And it's, um, 586 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:06.640 kind of like the locked on podcast series. It's kind 587 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:09.690 of a big deal in, uh, sports podcasting where every 588 00:28:09.710 --> 00:28:12.230 team has a, a daily update on their favorite sports 589 00:28:12.269 --> 00:28:14.769 team with, and I've subscribed to some of those and 590 00:28:14.809 --> 00:28:18.500 I was doing that format. in the two thousands way before, um, 591 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:21.440 locked on was even a twinkle in its dad's eye. But, um, 592 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:23.460 but now, now they have copied me and now I'm, 593 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:26.359 I'm inspired by them to bring that format back. So anyway, 594 00:28:26.420 --> 00:28:29.680 PW torch VIP info.com. If you're like what we've talked about, 595 00:28:30.140 --> 00:28:33.269 jump on board. And yes, the, um, can they get 596 00:28:33.289 --> 00:28:36.369 along is like the fix in the sense that it's like, Oh, 597 00:28:36.390 --> 00:28:38.029 there's some new stories I want to cover and we're 598 00:28:38.049 --> 00:28:40.190 going to march through the shows and just two people 599 00:28:40.230 --> 00:28:43.289 giving their opinion. Um, I mean, mostly with a fix, 600 00:28:43.369 --> 00:28:45.049 mostly it's me throwing to Todd for the sake of 601 00:28:46.049 --> 00:28:48.730 duration and i get to talk all week otherwise uh 602 00:28:48.750 --> 00:28:50.369 but this is their centerpiece show each week and they 603 00:28:50.390 --> 00:28:54.490 just share you know pretty equally um every once in 604 00:28:54.509 --> 00:28:57.049 a while adam has more to say but

that's that's 605 00:28:57.069 --> 00:29:00.490 fine anyway um got a little ahead of ourselves and 606 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:02.279 off topic which is great because i got a vip 607 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:06.339 plug in here instead of later um i thought punk 608 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:09.960 was very punk like when he said ah this whole 609 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.079 feud's about something that was a big deal to kevin 610 00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:14.940 owens and i barely remember it happened That's so punk. 611 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:17.099 And that's how he'll deal with this finish. Ah, I 612 00:29:17.140 --> 00:29:19.500 don't take pride in losing a match where someone gets 613 00:29:19.539 --> 00:29:21.440 hit with a shade. What does that do with wrestling skill? 614 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:23.619 Like you, he's a person who will care deeply about 615 00:29:23.660 --> 00:29:27.569 something until he loses in which. And then at that point, 616 00:29:27.589 --> 00:29:29.190 it was never important to him in the first place. 617 00:29:29.210 --> 00:29:29.569 Who cares? 618 00:29:30.250 --> 00:29:35.690 Um, with Owens, um, his line as a friend of 619 00:29:36.250 --> 00:29:41.089 key people in AW, the young bucks, um, he, you know, 620 00:29:41.529 --> 00:29:43.869 they wanted people to think, how is punk going to 621 00:29:43.930 --> 00:29:48.650 feel about Kevin Owens referencing the sore spot in punk's 622 00:29:48.710 --> 00:29:51.420 career where he lost a lot of points with a 623 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:53.200 lot of people. I mean, people kind of took sides 624 00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:55.259 and there's a lot of people on punk side, of course, but, 625 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:57.950 you know, bring it up. the essentially referring to the 626 00:29:57.970 --> 00:30:00.539 aw situation but really it's just follows punks every punk 627 00:30:00.619 --> 00:30:02.539 everywhere i mean how at some point you know if 628 00:30:02.579 --> 00:30:07.480 everyone says you're an asshole maybe are um and and 629 00:30:07.619 --> 00:30:10.880 so for kevin to go there you know i i 630 00:30:10.900 --> 00:30:12.809 thought i thought it was a good final push and 631 00:30:13.029 --> 00:30:14.970 as i said in my original early question to you 632 00:30:15.670 --> 00:30:18.029 you didn't need to know their history or follow anything 633 00:30:18.049 --> 00:30:19.410 but that would be the last five years to go 634 00:30:19.930 --> 00:30:21.410 ah i like these two guys but i didn't know 635 00:30:21.430 --> 00:30:22.549 they didn't like each other and i want to see 636 00:30:22.589 --> 00:30:23.789 him fight this is gonna be cool and i think 637 00:30:24.190 --> 00:30:26.869 i think the promo's brought in the video package too 638 00:30:26.910 --> 00:30:30.819 just kind of did justice to this match i don't 639 00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:32.039 think they're going to do more until one of them 640 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:33.799 turns if they ever wrestle again. 641 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:37.559 Yeah and i think that's the key right it's like 642 00:30:38.380 --> 00:30:40.500 these two guys aren't going anywhere they need to be 643 00:30:40.539 --> 00:30:46.099 able to coexist and it's i they did well like 644 00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:48.869 you know we've we've gone over it i'm happy with 645 00:30:48.900 --> 00:30:50.410 how it went i think the match was good i 646 00:30:50.450 --> 00:30:52.950 think the promos were good storyline building up to it 647 00:30:52.990 --> 00:30:55.829 was good And let's move on. And if we need 648 00:30:55.849 --> 00:30:56.690 to revisit it, we can. 649 00:30:57.430 --> 00:30:58.049 Yep. Yep. 650 00:31:00.170 --> 00:31:00.670 Hey, everyone. 651 00:31:00.710 --> 00:31:03.450 Greg Parks here. You've probably heard me hosting Wrestling Night 652 00:31:03.470 --> 00:31:06.559 in America after pay-per-views and also co-hosting the Tuesday Flagship 653 00:31:06.579 --> 00:31:09.599 with Wade Keller. I also host a VIP exclusive podcast 654 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:12.619 every week called Greg Parks Out Loud. In this podcast, 655 00:31:12.660 --> 00:31:14.740 I delve into a single topic for around 20 minutes, 656 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:16.839 perfect length for one of your daily commutes or while 657 00:31:16.859 --> 00:31:19.839 walking the dog. A couple of my recent episodes included 658 00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:21.740 a look at TNA as they moved to AMC and 659 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:25.829 and WWE and AEW injuries for the year 2025. You 660 00:31:25.869 --> 00:31:28.289 can listen to VIP Podcasts with a VIP membership on 661 00:31:28.309 --> 00:31:31.869 many platforms, including on Patreon, Spotify, the Apple Podcasts native 662 00:31:31.910 --> 00:31:34.769 app on iPhone and CarPlay, just about every popular iOS 663 00:31:34.809 --> 00:31:37.390 and Android podcast app out there, and even stream right 664 00:31:37.410 --> 00:31:40.980 from the ad-free PWTorch VIP website. Full details on VIP 665 00:31:41.019 --> 00:31:45.539 membership at pwtorch.com slash govip. As an added bonus, VIP 666 00:31:45.579 --> 00:31:48.359 membership means you won't hear this commercial again, or any commercials, 667 00:31:48.730 --> 00:31:50.970 as commercial breaks are skipped right over on the VIP 668 00:31:51.009 --> 00:31:54.559 podcast feed, in addition to all the commercial-free VIP podcasts. 669 00:31:54.960 --> 00:31:55.359 Check it out. 670 00:31:55.539 --> 00:31:57.420 We'd love for you to join our community and unlock 671 00:31:57.500 --> 00:31:59.759 access to all our VIP-exclusive content. 672 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:03.400 All right, a couple comments on this match, and then 673 00:32:03.420 --> 00:32:06.700 we will move on to other topics. We've got Darrell 674 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:08.200 on hold, too. Look forward to talking to him about 675 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:14.069 tonight's show. Mark Paschetti says, Kevin Owens no-selling after the GTS. 676 00:32:14.589 --> 00:32:16.509 and

hitting Punk with a chain is the closest this 677 00:32:16.569 --> 00:32:19.130 match got to AEW's no-sell style. This match is Exhibit 678 00:32:19.130 --> 00:32:21.829 1088 for Why Selling Matters. Mark, I don't know if 679 00:32:21.849 --> 00:32:22.990 you were with us at the top of the show, 680 00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:27.009 but I addressed that. Chris did, too. This, you know, 681 00:32:27.069 --> 00:32:29.450 is a finish I normally don't like, but I give 682 00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:32.980 them plenty of points for not only addressing it in 683 00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:36.680 the execution, where it did feel fortuitous and fluky, and 684 00:32:36.700 --> 00:32:38.000 when you have a chain wrapped around your fist, I 685 00:32:38.019 --> 00:32:40.599 want to reiterate this. It's not like Kevin Owens recovered 686 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:44.390 enough to execute a move. Kevin Owens recovered enough to 687 00:32:44.430 --> 00:32:47.339 have just enough force as he's falling down to punch 688 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:51.039 his top enemy with a chain. So this isn't the 689 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:53.980 same thing as suddenly taking someone's finisher, but popping up 690 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:56.180 and then giving them your finisher. He didn't give a stunner. 691 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:58.730 He didn't, you know, do an elaborate move. He just 692 00:32:58.769 --> 00:33:00.670 kind of bounced another out. So he's knocked out and 693 00:33:00.690 --> 00:33:03.509 his last thing is a chain that covers it. That's 694 00:33:03.569 --> 00:33:06.410 enough for me. You know, like it, it, it wasn't. 695 00:33:07.009 --> 00:33:08.799 And so I want to, I want to point out, I, 696 00:33:08.970 --> 00:33:11.700 it's not a blanket statement against certain things that are 697 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:15.940 tropey and overdone and fake. My philosophy is if you 698 00:33:15.980 --> 00:33:19.130 can make it look better, do that. 699 00:33:19.609 --> 00:33:19.869 Yeah. 700 00:33:20.049 --> 00:33:22.210 You know, that's what I, that's why like you go, 701 00:33:22.230 --> 00:33:24.299 why do you care about breakups of pins and tag 702 00:33:24.359 --> 00:33:27.839 matches the safes? I care about it because it's the 703 00:33:27.890 --> 00:33:31.640 most glaring example of the most easily fixable thing that 704 00:33:31.700 --> 00:33:34.940 is symptomatic of a philosophy that I want to permeate 705 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:37.359 wrestling so we can get back to things making more sense. 706 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:40.640 And this is something that just is, oh, yes, Wade's right. 707 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:43.099 This would be so easy to fix. If someone breaks 708 00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:45.259 up a pin, actually knock them off the cover and 709 00:33:45.299 --> 00:33:47.960 the person underneath should lift their shoulder 100% of the time. 710 00:33:48.259 --> 00:33:49.779 And the ref shouldn't stop his count if someone's still 711 00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:51.660 on top and the shoulder's still down. But they don't 712 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:53.490 do it because they don't think anyone cares anymore. I 713 00:33:53.569 --> 00:33:56.470 want fans to watch with that level of scrutiny. They 714 00:33:56.509 --> 00:33:59.670 could watch this finish tonight with scrutiny and go, no, 715 00:33:59.690 --> 00:34:01.549 it didn't work for Mark. But I think most fans 716 00:34:01.589 --> 00:34:03.630 would go, I can kind of see that happening instead of, oh, 717 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:06.779 eye roll, you know, tropey thing I saw on AEW 718 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:09.099 a thousand times in the last year. So I want 719 00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:11.599 to praise them for this, Chris. 720 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:14.860 If I'm being super picky, I could argue that it 721 00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:17.880 probably shouldn't have come off a GTS, maybe a different 722 00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:21.199 move because the GTS is a finisher that normally drops 723 00:34:21.239 --> 00:34:24.579 people on their back instead of into the ropes and 724 00:34:24.619 --> 00:34:28.139 then rebounding with a punch. Like, sure, I can go 725 00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:32.550 for that. Sure. But, like, this isn't like he just, 726 00:34:32.590 --> 00:34:34.969 like you said, popped back up, ignored the shot, and 727 00:34:36.010 --> 00:34:38.730 took a swing and hit his finisher. He used the 728 00:34:38.769 --> 00:34:41.929 momentum of bouncing off the ropes from a move and 729 00:34:41.969 --> 00:34:43.409 just did a wild swing and connected. 730 00:34:44.090 --> 00:34:44.840 Yeah. 731 00:34:45.110 --> 00:34:45.619 It is. 732 00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:50.639 I mean, I might be more against the anti-selling than 733 00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:53.760 you are with my diatribes against Darby Allen and Kyle 734 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:57.679 Fletcher recently and how much I hate that. This wasn't that. 735 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:01.119 This was a move and a sequence that made sense. 736 00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:02.719 Yep. Yep. 737 00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:08.190 Another comment here. Crofton just said, I agree with Mark. 738 00:35:08.210 --> 00:35:09.849 It was a bit too cute of a finish. Either 739 00:35:09.889 --> 00:35:13.130 you're knocked out or you aren't. I will just reiterate. 740 00:35:13.710 --> 00:35:17.570 You get knocked silly. You bounce against the ropes, that adrenaline, 741 00:35:17.610 --> 00:35:20.489 the last swing, and then you fall on top and 742 00:35:20.510 --> 00:35:23.639 you don't know what happened. I don't think you can 743 00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:25.400 get 100% there, but I think they got 85% of 744 00:35:25.420 --> 00:35:27.940 the way there in most situations like that it's zero 745 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:31.780 percent so um i will take that if they want 746 00:35:31.820 --> 00:35:37.059 and and i also think too this wasn't like i 747 00:35:37.099 --> 00:35:38.929 was watching this match going you know because i i 748 00:35:38.949 -->

00:35:41.369 avoided i read something about this far i'm like you 749 00:35:41.389 --> 00:35:43.170 know what i'm not even gonna look like i got 750 00:35:43.210 --> 00:35:44.909 you know there's spoilers out there and it's like i 751 00:35:44.909 --> 00:35:47.050 got to that match and it's like oh i'm gonna 752 00:35:47.150 --> 00:35:48.610 forget anything i saw and i just want to watch 753 00:35:48.630 --> 00:35:50.090 it play out and so i really didn't know what 754 00:35:50.150 --> 00:35:53.550 happened um whatever i glanced at i just forgot like 755 00:35:53.590 --> 00:35:56.780 intentionally and it worked So I was watching them, genuinely 756 00:35:57.099 --> 00:35:58.800 not knowing what the finish was or how they'd get there. 757 00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:02.179 And to me, this finish works in part because of 758 00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:06.219 the conundrum of what finish to do with these two. So, again, 759 00:36:06.260 --> 00:36:09.639 I give slack when it's like, it's not, oh, why'd 760 00:36:09.659 --> 00:36:11.079 you book this match if you don't do a finish? 761 00:36:11.239 --> 00:36:13.699 It's like, it's cool you could do this match, but 762 00:36:13.719 --> 00:36:16.940 there isn't a good finish, except for kind of this one, 763 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:20.000 because I don't want interference. I don't want a double countout. 764 00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:22.980 You know, like, I mean, this was a pin, but 765 00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:28.010 it protected... Yeah, you get my point. Yeah, I do. 766 00:36:28.110 --> 00:36:30.010 We agree on this. I thought the finish was great. 767 00:36:30.949 --> 00:36:35.440 It was a perfect no, sure, but this isn't getting 768 00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:37.900 tombstoned off the apron through a chair and then coming 769 00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:39.639 back into the ring and winning the match. 770 00:36:40.139 --> 00:36:43.820 Yep, exactly. Piledriver Pete says, I wish he would stop 771 00:36:43.889 --> 00:36:46.650 calling him Phil. I'm fine with it. I don't care. 772 00:36:48.570 --> 00:36:51.949 It's one of those things where it's happened enough now 773 00:36:51.989 --> 00:36:52.590 that people know. 774 00:36:53.090 --> 00:36:54.239 Yeah. Who was.... 775 00:36:55.739 --> 00:36:58.599 Who was calling somebody by their real name like a 776 00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:00.639 year or two ago in WWE. And it was just like, 777 00:37:01.619 --> 00:37:05.349 it just wasn't working. Um, chat, remind me if, if, if, 778 00:37:05.460 --> 00:37:07.199 if it comes up, if you can think of it, 779 00:37:07.260 --> 00:37:10.730 there was somebody who was, it was sort of like Bobby, 780 00:37:10.789 --> 00:37:13.329 someone's calling Bobby Lashley, Robert, something like that. And it was, 781 00:37:13.510 --> 00:37:15.590 but it just, it, it, it was delivered like it 782 00:37:15.610 --> 00:37:17.449 was more clever and biting than it was. It just 783 00:37:17.469 --> 00:37:19.969 was kind of being a dick. So, um, this is 784 00:37:20.050 --> 00:37:23.030 more not Kevin Owens going, I'm going to call you 785 00:37:23.050 --> 00:37:26.090 a name. You don't like to be called. to be 786 00:37:26.150 --> 00:37:29.369 a jerk, I'm going to call you this name because 787 00:37:29.449 --> 00:37:34.969 it's symbolizes that I'm talking about you and not your gimmick. Like, um, 788 00:37:35.690 --> 00:37:38.590 I don't know. So I, to me it, it, and 789 00:37:38.849 --> 00:37:42.679 Kevin also knows like there's a history of that, not 790 00:37:43.110 --> 00:37:46.059 of that being something that punk only wants certain people 791 00:37:46.099 --> 00:37:47.900 to call him. And so I don't know. I mean, there's, 792 00:37:48.139 --> 00:37:50.159 there's history with that. It doesn't just come across as 793 00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:51.920 being kind of a jerk by calling somebody by name. 794 00:37:51.940 --> 00:37:54.219 They don't want to be called. It's, it is intentionally 795 00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:55.139 to get under his skin. 796 00:37:56.519 --> 00:38:01.409 Yeah, and there's a well-documented history of punk hating being 797 00:38:01.449 --> 00:38:04.050 called Phil in public. If fans call him Phil, he 798 00:38:04.489 --> 00:38:06.510 won't just ignore him. He will berate them, or he 799 00:38:06.550 --> 00:38:11.309 has in the past. And I think doing it, as 800 00:38:11.329 --> 00:38:13.510 you said, to refer to this is you, the person, 801 00:38:13.550 --> 00:38:15.230 not you, the gimmick, I actually think that makes it 802 00:38:15.269 --> 00:38:18.949 worse because that does bring it into the inside baseball level. 803 00:38:19.949 --> 00:38:23.480 People know this now that his name is Phil There 804 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:25.980 was a time when there were entire websites dedicated to 805 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:28.530 wrestlers' real names, and that was a big deal if 806 00:38:28.570 --> 00:38:29.650 you knew who they were. 807 00:38:31.269 --> 00:38:35.170 My full-page magazine ads during the 90s, which grew the 808 00:38:35.190 --> 00:38:38.469 Pursing Torch newsletter in the pre-internet days, is if you subscribe, 809 00:38:38.650 --> 00:38:41.980 you know, five issues for $ 10 or whatever it was, 810 00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:45.940 if you subscribe, we'll give you the PW Torch Insider, 811 00:38:46.119 --> 00:38:48.039 what did we call it? The Insider's Guide or something 812 00:38:48.079 --> 00:38:51.400 like that. And it had a list of wrestler real 813 00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:53.670 names in it. Um, had a couple other things, so 814 00:38:53.710 --> 00:38:55.389 I should see if I can find a copy of that, 815 00:38:55.409 --> 00:38:56.030 put it online. 816 00:38:56.940 --> 00:38:58.900 Um, it was a guy I went to school with 817 00:38:59.079 --> 00:39:01.840 who was a subscriber and brought it into school one day. 818 00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:03.480 And we were all like, Oh my God, I didn't 819 00:39:03.500 --> 00:39:05.780 know this. Wait, Hulk Hogan is on his real

name. 820 00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:06.619 Yeah. 821 00:39:06.900 --> 00:39:09.170 I don't know if I did ages then, but, and 822 00:39:09.190 --> 00:39:12.289 it's funny too, because like now it's, it's hard to 823 00:39:12.690 --> 00:39:14.449 fathom not being able to know the real name and 824 00:39:14.489 --> 00:39:18.690 age of any famous person. But back then, like I 825 00:39:18.730 --> 00:39:23.769 would literally call up wrestlers and go, I know your name, 826 00:39:23.789 --> 00:39:26.469 I am going to publish it, but I don't know 827 00:39:26.510 --> 00:39:28.900 how to spell it. Do you mind helping me? um 828 00:39:30.019 --> 00:39:31.500 billy gunn hung up on me once when i did 829 00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:36.579 that um so um you know eddie guerrero was like 830 00:39:37.019 --> 00:39:40.760 eddie or eddy i don't care wade okay fine i 831 00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:42.679 was hoping you would just tilt me one direction he 832 00:39:42.699 --> 00:39:44.139 wouldn't help me he's like either way he's fine he 833 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:47.130 didn't care at all um But yeah, oh, we did that, 834 00:39:47.170 --> 00:39:49.110 and then we did the insider wrestling terminology. That was it. 835 00:39:49.150 --> 00:39:52.679 So it was wrestlers' real names and insider terminology, current 836 00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:55.820 ones and sort of antiquated. What's a better word than antiquated? 837 00:39:56.699 --> 00:39:57.139 Obsolete? 838 00:39:57.940 --> 00:40:00.440 Yeah, there's even a better word. No, there's even another 839 00:40:00.460 --> 00:40:03.059 word I'm trying to think of, but those both work. 840 00:40:04.440 --> 00:40:07.320 It means something like it's so old that it isn't 841 00:40:07.460 --> 00:40:09.780 used anymore. It's expired as a. 842 00:40:11.179 --> 00:40:11.489 Oh. 843 00:40:13.710 --> 00:40:16.780 Antiquated's really close, but it is even a better, better way. 844 00:40:16.820 --> 00:40:18.099 As a writer, I like to come up with the 845 00:40:18.119 --> 00:40:20.019 best words. I don't always do that, especially on the spot. 846 00:40:21.619 --> 00:40:25.360 So anyway, yeah, so that's fun. I should republish, republish. 847 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:26.699 That'd be fun though, because no one knew how to 848 00:40:26.719 --> 00:40:28.500 spell Mark Calloway, even his friends. Like no one saw 849 00:40:28.519 --> 00:40:31.190 his driver's license. There was contracts. So there's so many 850 00:40:31.210 --> 00:40:35.670 different spellings of Calloway over the years. Larry Piffle for 851 00:40:35.710 --> 00:40:37.630 Lex Luger. Like what? How do we spell that? So 852 00:40:38.349 --> 00:40:41.989 that's cool though, that you did that. Someone else might've, 853 00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:46.260 copied me doing magazine ads and copied an insider free 854 00:40:46.519 --> 00:40:49.300 free uh free guide um in their quest to gain 855 00:40:49.340 --> 00:40:52.820 readers too back in the day um oh kip. 856 00:40:52.619 --> 00:40:55.500 Sop yes that's really gone. 857 00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:57.920 Atlas fear says the guy named kip sop didn't want 858 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:02.530 that name out there shocking um yeah i. 859 00:41:02.550 --> 00:41:06.190 Uh are you thinking maybe archaic or anti-diluvian is. 860 00:41:06.090 --> 00:41:09.449 Another good word archaic are you just thesaurus no no oh. 861 00:41:11.159 --> 00:41:14.659 Literally, it's been in the ADHD part of my brain 862 00:41:14.699 --> 00:41:15.659 running through. Yep. 863 00:41:15.980 --> 00:41:19.539 I think Archaic is good. Feel free, chat, to chime 864 00:41:19.579 --> 00:41:23.539 in with other theories. Let's see. 865 00:41:23.559 --> 00:41:27.230 Kipsock was one that blew my mind. And Richard Blood 866 00:41:27.309 --> 00:41:29.190 as well was the one that I was like, why 867 00:41:29.230 --> 00:41:30.550 would you not just use that? 868 00:41:30.570 --> 00:41:34.650 I know. I can imagine him just saying Ricky Steamboat 869 00:41:34.710 --> 00:41:37.210 is who we're talking about. That Steamboat is a better 870 00:41:37.230 --> 00:41:39.920 wrestling name than Blood. But it is there are people 871 00:41:39.940 --> 00:41:43.159 with very unfortunate last names and Richard Blood or Rick 872 00:41:43.340 --> 00:41:45.920 Blood is a pretty cool. If he had stuck with that, 873 00:41:45.960 --> 00:41:47.760 it's pretty good. A lot of people just didn't want people. 874 00:41:47.800 --> 00:41:49.480 I mean, there used to be phone books where everybody's 875 00:41:50.360 --> 00:41:53.219 first and last name and phone number. You could look 876 00:41:53.239 --> 00:41:55.760 them up by name like this is blows like the 877 00:41:55.980 --> 00:41:59.159 young generation's minds because everything's, you know, like not super 878 00:41:59.179 --> 00:42:01.159 private because people are very public in other ways. You know, 879 00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:04.110 like they're very personal about their photos that they put 880 00:42:04.139 --> 00:42:06.559 out there. But used to be able to get a book, 881 00:42:06.679 --> 00:42:09.559 a gigantic thick book in the mail, white pages and 882 00:42:09.579 --> 00:42:11.659 yellow pages. Yellow pages were all the businesses and white 883 00:42:11.679 --> 00:42:14.940 pages was a chronological list of everybody in your metropolitan 884 00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:20.210 area by last name with their phone number and their address. 885 00:42:20.269 --> 00:42:20.969 And their address. 886 00:42:21.010 --> 00:42:23.329 You could find anybody if you knew their name and 887 00:42:23.349 --> 00:42:24.969 go up to their door and egg their house. 888 00:42:25.090 --> 00:42:29.170 In school, it used to be if you wanted a 889 00:42:29.210 --> 00:42:31.150 girl's phone number, but she wouldn't give it to you. 890 00:42:31.369 --> 00:42:31.510 Yeah. 891 00:42:31.739 --> 00:42:33.659 The next best thing was to try and find out 892 00:42:33.719 --> 00:42:35.780 her dad's name. So you could find them in

the 893 00:42:35.820 --> 00:42:36.639 phone book. 894 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:42.699 Yep. That's hilarious. So how did we get on? Oh, Phil. Yeah. 895 00:42:42.909 --> 00:42:44.429 So it used to be a very much a top 896 00:42:44.469 --> 00:42:47.750 secret what wrestlers, that wrestlers even had other names, you know? 897 00:42:48.630 --> 00:42:49.809 All right. 898 00:42:50.469 --> 00:42:50.630 Yeah. 899 00:42:50.929 --> 00:42:57.429 Let's see. A couple tangential. Oh, Jason D in Australia goes, 900 00:42:57.449 --> 00:42:58.849 I hope this is the last we hear about CM 901 00:42:58.869 --> 00:43:00.090 Punk and how he was back in the day and 902 00:43:00.130 --> 00:43:03.230 who he offended. I'm so over it. I'm fine with 903 00:43:03.269 --> 00:43:04.869 that too, but he needs on air. I mean, well, 904 00:43:05.150 --> 00:43:06.889 maybe he's podcasting too. I'm fine with both. 905 00:43:07.650 --> 00:43:08.570 Um, yeah. 906 00:43:10.289 --> 00:43:12.829 Um, let's see. Uh, Boris J in the chat says, 907 00:43:12.889 --> 00:43:15.170 Wade Cameron Hawkins was putting you over today. You know him. 908 00:43:15.489 --> 00:43:17.780 He was a torch contributor. He did a podcast with 909 00:43:17.820 --> 00:43:20.460 us for years. He's been a co-host on this very show. Um, 910 00:43:21.219 --> 00:43:23.820 probably more than a dozen times. He, he, in a 911 00:43:23.940 --> 00:43:27.519 current PW torch, we have panelists, rich fan, um, are, are, 912 00:43:27.679 --> 00:43:31.630 are really tight. Um, Christopher Maitland too. And, uh, Travis Bryant, um, 913 00:43:32.039 --> 00:43:34.880 They all did the PWTorch East Coast cast together or 914 00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.690 were callers together. So absolutely. Boris says, Wade Kamhocken said 915 00:43:39.730 --> 00:43:42.190 Steve Austin used to call you up. Is that true? Yeah, 916 00:43:42.210 --> 00:43:45.150 that's well known. I mean, nobody's been a guest on 917 00:43:45.190 --> 00:43:47.050 Steve Austin's podcast more than me. I've been on it 918 00:43:47.230 --> 00:43:52.510 like 40 times. And yeah, I mean, he's done long 919 00:43:52.530 --> 00:43:54.250 interviews with me and he's done my show. I've done 920 00:43:54.269 --> 00:43:56.409 his show. We've got best of editions up. And I 921 00:43:56.429 --> 00:43:57.860 knew him back when he was trying to decide whether 922 00:43:57.889 --> 00:44:00.659 he should go to After it got fired from WCW, 923 00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:02.480 he's trying to decide should he go to All Japan 924 00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:04.079 or ECW? 925 00:44:05.139 --> 00:44:05.659 Or was it? 926 00:44:06.210 --> 00:44:09.449 Yeah, I think it was those two, not WWF. But 927 00:44:09.469 --> 00:44:11.449 it might have been WWF or All Japan. I mean, 928 00:44:12.710 --> 00:44:16.289 one path led to that anyway. But yeah. 929 00:44:16.929 --> 00:44:17.369 Yeah, yeah. 930 00:44:17.389 --> 00:44:21.039 Steve and I go way back. All right. Let's see. 931 00:44:21.119 --> 00:44:21.340 Okay. 932 00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:23.900 Well, let's super deep in the show. But let's for 933 00:44:23.920 --> 00:44:25.760 people just listening and didn't look at the names. Let's 934 00:44:26.300 --> 00:44:29.630 introduce who we are and what we are. Did you 935 00:44:29.670 --> 00:44:33.070 know that you can enjoy commercial-free versions of all of 936 00:44:33.110 --> 00:44:36.820 your favorite Wade Keller podcasts and PWTorch daily casts on Spotify? 937 00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:41.619 Just go to patreon.com, search PWTorch, and subscribe to a 938 00:44:41.639 --> 00:44:44.099 VIP membership tier. You get a seven-day free trial, by 939 00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:45.780 the way, to kick the tires a bit and see 940 00:44:45.820 --> 00:44:48.570 if you like the service. And then sync it with Spotify, 941 00:44:48.670 --> 00:44:51.489 and you can listen to commercial-free versions of our free shows, 942 00:44:51.530 --> 00:44:53.989 like the Wade Keller post shows, the Wade Keller podcast flagship, 943 00:44:54.349 --> 00:44:57.380 our flashbacks, and also the PWTorch daily cast lineup. Again, 944 00:44:57.610 --> 00:45:01.360 all commercial-free, a nice streamlined listening experience. But with third-tier membership, 945 00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:04.780 you can also unlock all the VIP podcasts, including Everything 946 00:45:04.800 --> 00:45:06.519 with Rich and Wade, The Fix with Todd Martin that 947 00:45:06.539 --> 00:45:08.820 I host with Todd every week, the Wade Keller News 948 00:45:08.860 --> 00:45:14.079 Bulletin's post-pay-per-view roundtables, and an array of other VIP-exclusive podcasts 949 00:45:14.099 --> 00:45:17.119 with different hosts and different themes. Check out the lineup. 950 00:45:17.500 --> 00:45:21.929 Go to Patreon and search PWTorch and subscribe and sync 951 00:45:21.969 --> 00:45:24.710 it up with Spotify or stay within the Patreon ecosystem. 952 00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:28.460 Either way works. Go to Patreon and start your seven-day 953 00:45:28.559 --> 00:45:32.550 free trial. This is the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post 954 00:45:32.590 --> 00:45:37.550 Show for Friday, November 6, 2026. And I'm Wade Keller, 955 00:45:37.570 --> 00:45:39.869 host of the show, editor, publisher, and founder of the 956 00:45:40.050 --> 00:45:42.769 long-running Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly newsletter, which if you've listened 957 00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:45.280 carefully the first 40-some minutes of the show, you know, 958 00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:48.380 it predated the internet. And we used to gain subscribers 959 00:45:48.400 --> 00:45:52.559 by advertising and national wrestling magazines. It was controversial when 960 00:45:52.579 --> 00:45:55.159 I did that, Chris, there were people in the newsletter community, 961 00:45:55.179 --> 00:45:57.599 the insider newsletter community who felt like I was opening 962 00:45:57.619 --> 00:46:00.239 a door to the world that should only be invite only, 963 00:46:00.420 --> 00:46:02.460 you know, it was

like, um, you know, in the 964 00:46:02.480 --> 00:46:04.360 internet where it's like, Oh, you only get to be 965 00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:08.639 in this group, this online group through invite only. Um, 966 00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:10.539 it was a secret club and I opened the doors 967 00:46:10.599 --> 00:46:13.539 up with national ads and magazines. And then also, um, 968 00:46:13.940 --> 00:46:17.719 sports illustrated and USA today. And then, doing a lot 969 00:46:17.739 --> 00:46:19.800 of radio shows. So spread the word those ways before 970 00:46:19.960 --> 00:46:22.719 the internet. And those back issues, by the way, with 971 00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:28.960 VIP membership, did we mention VIP membership? PWTorchVIPinfo.com. That includes access, 972 00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:31.380 by the way, to nearly four decades now of Pro 973 00:46:31.420 --> 00:46:34.219 Wrestling Torch weekly newsletters dating back to the late 1980s. 974 00:46:34.219 --> 00:46:37.889 You can read about my match report on every SummerSlam ever. 975 00:46:39.190 --> 00:46:43.760 And you can listen to a round table podcast round 976 00:46:43.800 --> 00:46:45.880 table audio shows uh we called them audio shows because 977 00:46:45.900 --> 00:46:48.199 word podcast wasn't around we first started doing them um 978 00:46:48.400 --> 00:46:53.739 after uh wrestling pay-per-views and dating again um back to 979 00:46:53.780 --> 00:46:56.239 the uh to 2003 or 2004 and then even some 980 00:46:56.280 --> 00:46:59.239 retro shows where we look back at earlier wrestlemania so 981 00:46:59.880 --> 00:47:02.219 lots and lots and lots of cool stuff um we 982 00:47:02.239 --> 00:47:07.610 had an endorsement um um, uh, earlier in the chat to, uh, 983 00:47:07.670 --> 00:47:10.369 standard deviation said the Wade Keller news hotline updates are 984 00:47:10.389 --> 00:47:14.489 the best thing about going VIP at the moment. Thank you. 985 00:47:14.829 --> 00:47:19.940 Standard deviation. Appreciate it. That's always, uh, encouraging and inspiring to, uh, 986 00:47:20.239 --> 00:47:24.420 you know, get feedback. So appreciate that. Um, yeah, so 987 00:47:24.460 --> 00:47:27.739 go VIP and, uh, if not at least subscribe to 988 00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:29.559 all our free podcasts, search Wade Keller, get the blue 989 00:47:29.619 --> 00:47:31.880 and red logo show on your podcast feed, wake up 990 00:47:31.900 --> 00:47:34.639 the post shows, wake up the podcast. And then also, uh, Oh, 991 00:47:34.800 --> 00:47:37.380 speaking of Steve Austin, this weekend, I interviewed with him 992 00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:41.530 from 10 years ago. He was evaluating the current WWE 993 00:47:41.610 --> 00:47:48.550 product 10 years ago this week. So there's some good 994 00:47:48.610 --> 00:47:49.969 stuff in that. In fact, I was going to look 995 00:47:50.030 --> 00:47:56.130 at the summary here that will be going up tomorrow night. 996 00:47:56.849 --> 00:47:59.639 Steve Austin, oh, he addresses the awkward. This is an 997 00:47:59.739 --> 00:48:01.699 interview I did with him 10 years ago that everyone 998 00:48:01.719 --> 00:48:05.210 can listen to tomorrow night. Steve Austin addresses his awkward 999 00:48:05.250 --> 00:48:07.969 Dean Ambrose interview on WWE Network when Steve interviewed him 1000 00:48:07.989 --> 00:48:11.150 and there was no chemistry. It was just awkward. So 1001 00:48:11.190 --> 00:48:13.909 he addresses that. He also talks about the prospects of 1002 00:48:13.949 --> 00:48:17.519 a Shawn Michaels, AJ Styles match, his thoughts on Charlotte Flair. 1003 00:48:18.300 --> 00:48:21.719 Some talk about Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey. There was 1004 00:48:21.739 --> 00:48:25.719 something else. Oh, Goldberg's return. That was interesting. And evaluating 1005 00:48:25.760 --> 00:48:27.840 main event programs and main event wrestlers in WWE and 1006 00:48:27.860 --> 00:48:30.300 what was working and not working. So like an hour 1007 00:48:30.340 --> 00:48:34.000 and a half with Steve tomorrow. on that show. So 1008 00:48:34.239 --> 00:48:36.119 check it out. That is on our blue logo show. 1009 00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:39.019 Search Wade Keller to subscribe to that. And while you're 1010 00:48:39.039 --> 00:48:41.519 at it, search PW Torch and subscribe to the PW 1011 00:48:41.559 --> 00:48:46.199 Torch Daily Cast. That includes Chris, a show that you 1012 00:48:46.860 --> 00:48:49.340 are often part of. Talk about it. Chris Lansdell is 1013 00:48:49.380 --> 00:48:51.780 my co-host, by the way. Chris Lansdell. Haven't said that 1014 00:48:51.880 --> 00:48:53.340 fully yet. Good to have you. 1015 00:48:54.099 --> 00:48:54.360 Thanks. 1016 00:48:54.400 --> 00:48:56.460 Yeah, it's always fun to get on with you, Wade. 1017 00:48:56.539 --> 00:48:58.400 I've been doing a lot of guest shots on Worse 1018 00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:02.000 or Better with Joshua White recently, and it's a lot 1019 00:49:02.039 --> 00:49:04.989 of fun. I'm not sure how tightly we're sticking to 1020 00:49:05.010 --> 00:49:07.260 the original format. We just tend to sit there and 1021 00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:10.679 just nostalgia for an hour and a half, but it's fun. Uh, 1022 00:49:11.320 --> 00:49:13.739 most recent one was just like, we, we took about 1023 00:49:13.739 --> 00:49:16.409 40 wrestling tropes and tore them to shreds. And that was, 1024 00:49:16.670 --> 00:49:20.480 that was really enjoyable. Uh, and, uh we've got we're 1025 00:49:20.500 --> 00:49:23.179 looking to uh keep that going until stephanie can come 1026 00:49:23.219 --> 00:49:26.320 back but i i will always talk wrestling you you 1027 00:49:26.340 --> 00:49:28.150 throw me in front of a microphone and i'll just 1028 00:49:28.409 --> 00:49:30.530 i'll turn on ham mode i'm i love. 1029 00:49:30.409 --> 00:49:35.070 It awesome yes so uh search pw torch subscribe it's 1030 00:49:35.130 --> 00:49:36.409 a different show each day of the week with a 1031 00:49:36.409 --> 00:49:40.739 different format

There's a show focused on TNA, on AEW, 1032 00:49:41.179 --> 00:49:44.059 on the indie scene. 30 years ago, newsletters were analyzed 1033 00:49:44.099 --> 00:49:46.920 in the 90s past cast. Worse or better, a nostalgia 1034 00:49:46.940 --> 00:49:50.179 show comparing to today to yesterday. Some weeks sticking to 1035 00:49:50.199 --> 00:49:54.650 the format more than others. And yeah, and wrestling that 1036 00:49:54.670 --> 00:49:57.489 in America after major PLEs. And I'm leaving something out 1037 00:49:57.530 --> 00:50:00.250 and something out, but whatever. It's great. It's a different 1038 00:50:00.269 --> 00:50:01.210 Joey today than we check it out. 1039 00:50:01.769 --> 00:50:01.949 All right. 1040 00:50:03.869 --> 00:50:05.820 Join us in the chat. If you are watching us 1041 00:50:05.880 --> 00:50:07.519 live and you haven't done so yet, if you're not 1042 00:50:07.559 --> 00:50:09.800 watching us live, you're invited to join us live. Search 1043 00:50:09.900 --> 00:50:13.519 PWTorch on YouTube. Set an alarm. We go live after Raw, Dynamite, 1044 00:50:13.539 --> 00:50:16.619 and SmackDown. We also have a show after NXT with 1045 00:50:16.679 --> 00:50:20.449 a different crew and after most PLEs. And our email 1046 00:50:20.489 --> 00:50:24.630 is wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com for the post shows and wadekellerpodcast 1047 00:50:24.710 --> 00:50:27.369 at gmail.com to submit a question for the flagship or 1048 00:50:27.429 --> 00:50:28.969 our mailbag edition for the Blue Logo Show. 1049 00:50:29.289 --> 00:50:29.590 All right. 1050 00:50:30.329 --> 00:50:32.510 Let's... let's move on. Cause we've got a lot more 1051 00:50:32.530 --> 00:50:35.570 to talk about. And we have a pay-per-view starting in 1052 00:50:36.110 --> 00:50:44.239 about 13 hours. Oh, people are talking about the yellow pages. 1053 00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:47.820 Sadler goes, LOL. Yellow pages was for prank calling as 1054 00:50:47.889 --> 00:50:50.190 a kid. It was a prank calling hack as a kid. 1055 00:50:50.210 --> 00:50:56.610 Someone's commented on, they used it to call like get dates, 1056 00:50:56.849 --> 00:50:59.650 but I can't find that, that comment. So Anyway, some 1057 00:50:59.670 --> 00:51:03.829 listeners reminiscing about those days. Standard deviation says, I remember 1058 00:51:03.969 --> 00:51:05.760 seeing the Undertaker's real name on the internet as a 1059 00:51:05.800 --> 00:51:12.059 kid and it blew my mind, LOL. Yep. Boris says, 1060 00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:14.239 because of all this stuff that's happened, he'll always be 1061 00:51:14.300 --> 00:51:18.559 called Phil. I can only think of Phil, says standard deviation. 1062 00:51:21.519 --> 00:51:25.099 Trying to just round out these comments while it's fresh. Oh, Sadler, 1063 00:51:25.380 --> 00:51:27.820 version three goes, The Austin podcast is how I found 1064 00:51:27.860 --> 00:51:30.489 out about this podcast. I'd never heard of an analytical 1065 00:51:30.530 --> 00:51:32.369 breakdown

of weekly wrestling shows until this one. 1066 00:51:33.590 --> 00:51:35.369 Um, cool. Yeah, certainly. 1067 00:51:35.829 --> 00:51:38.630 Um, a good number of our listeners came from, from, uh, 1068 00:51:38.989 --> 00:51:42.800 all those appearances with Austin and Crofton says CM Punk 1069 00:51:42.820 --> 00:51:44.119 and Cody should do one last feud where it's all 1070 00:51:44.139 --> 00:51:45.940 about how cranky punk is and how Cody can't look 1071 00:51:45.960 --> 00:51:47.500 up to his dad. They can blow up both. 1072 00:51:47.599 --> 00:51:53.090 Um, Wait, who is Cody's dad? I don't think it's 1073 00:51:53.130 --> 00:51:57.110 ever been mentioned on TV. Actually, I'm surprised. I watched 1074 00:51:57.150 --> 00:51:59.380 Street Fighter last night. My wife and I went out 1075 00:51:59.409 --> 00:52:02.260 to see it. I'm surprised there wasn't some failed mention 1076 00:52:02.300 --> 00:52:06.679 to Dusty in the movie. It was the kind of 1077 00:52:06.699 --> 00:52:08.380 thing I would have expected him to throw in there. 1078 00:52:08.860 --> 00:52:11.019 Very enjoyable flick, by the way. I enjoyed it greatly. 1079 00:52:11.440 --> 00:52:12.519 Doesn't take itself seriously. 1080 00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:19.659 Cool. Yeah, I think Cody is cognizant, self-aware of it, 1081 00:52:20.139 --> 00:52:23.429 and Wants to respect his dad and wants to respect 1082 00:52:23.469 --> 00:52:26.619 the idea that sometimes so many wrestlers on the roster 1083 00:52:26.659 --> 00:52:28.179 had a history with him. So it makes sense. They'd 1084 00:52:28.199 --> 00:52:31.579 bring it up. But I, I, I mean, in, in 1085 00:52:31.639 --> 00:52:33.670 fairness to Cody, I think if they could, if they 1086 00:52:33.730 --> 00:52:37.849 vowed a 2027 mortatorium on bringing up dusty, except in 1087 00:52:37.869 --> 00:52:41.409 the dusty classic on NXT, he would vote for that. Like, Like, 1088 00:52:41.449 --> 00:52:44.050 I just want to be clear. I don't think Cody's going, oh, 1089 00:52:44.409 --> 00:52:46.190 how can we bring up my dad in another feud 1090 00:52:46.230 --> 00:52:48.610 I'm having? It's just, it's hard to not do it 1091 00:52:48.630 --> 00:52:50.530 because Dusty was such a huge figure and so many 1092 00:52:50.550 --> 00:52:52.170 people worked with him at NXT who are around now. 1093 00:52:52.210 --> 00:52:56.869 But I just want to be clear. I don't think 1094 00:52:56.909 --> 00:53:03.030 Cody is, it's his choice to always do that. Another 1095 00:53:03.150 --> 00:53:06.269 Yellow Pages note. Businesses don't start their name with AAA 1096 00:53:06.309 --> 00:53:08.789 anymore because the Yellow Pages died. Yeah, if you want 1097 00:53:08.809 --> 00:53:12.590 to know about why it's AAA concrete, AAA plumbers, it's 1098 00:53:12.630 --> 00:53:15.730 because you wanted to be first in the listings. Because 1099 00:53:15.789 --> 00:53:18.510 sometimes you'd go to plumbing and there'd be AAA this, 1100 00:53:18.639 --> 00:53:24.800 AAA that. So, yeah. Good comment. 1101 00:53:26.539 --> 00:53:26.800 Okay. 1102 00:53:27.440 --> 00:53:33.139 So, Sami Zayn. Give me your thoughts on his performance tonight. 1103 00:53:33.199 --> 00:53:41.969 The build to... the match tomorrow against Roman Reigns and 1104 00:53:42.269 --> 00:53:46.829 Jimmy playing a role in building this up and pulling 1105 00:53:46.889 --> 00:53:50.380 a lot from the bloodline history. And then, you know, 1106 00:53:50.389 --> 00:53:55.699 9-4-6 getting involved. And speaking of yellow pages and phone numbers, 1107 00:53:55.760 --> 00:53:57.840 error codes, that's actually more of a zip code takeoff, 1108 00:53:57.860 --> 00:53:58.320 but nevertheless. 1109 00:54:00.199 --> 00:54:00.380 Yeah. 1110 00:54:00.420 --> 00:54:02.489 And then we have the 9-4-6 getting involved with Sammy 1111 00:54:02.530 --> 00:54:04.849 having a chance to help Jimmy after talking about, you'll 1112 00:54:04.869 --> 00:54:07.329 always be family to me. But on the eve, you know, 1113 00:54:07.710 --> 00:54:12.230 in the timeline, TV timeline eve of defending, or not defending, 1114 00:54:12.250 --> 00:54:14.630 but facing Roman with the pride on the line, he 1115 00:54:14.670 --> 00:54:16.570 decides not to help. I don't really blame him. I 1116 00:54:16.590 --> 00:54:18.949 think it made sense. Jimmy didn't have to come out there. 1117 00:54:19.090 --> 00:54:21.230 You can't expect Sammy to get beat up going into 1118 00:54:21.250 --> 00:54:22.789 the match. I'm glad he didn't, too, because that would 1119 00:54:22.809 --> 00:54:25.719 have maybe given away the finish. That Sammy went today 1120 00:54:25.760 --> 00:54:27.980 to Jimmy. He gets beat up for the 9-4-6. Then 1121 00:54:28.019 --> 00:54:30.519 he loses to Roman. And then he uses that against Roman. 1122 00:54:30.539 --> 00:54:32.340 And we don't really, it would have maybe given away 1123 00:54:32.380 --> 00:54:34.039 the finish. So the fact that he walked away from 1124 00:54:34.099 --> 00:54:36.949 it makes sense. So yeah, number of things we can 1125 00:54:36.989 --> 00:54:39.969 go into here. One other thing I'll bring up is 1126 00:54:39.989 --> 00:54:43.489 the peak for me was when Sammy said, Jimmy, he 1127 00:54:43.550 --> 00:54:47.219 really said that? Like when Jimmy said, Roman is thinking 1128 00:54:47.239 --> 00:54:48.539 about you. And he's like, I just want him to 1129 00:54:48.579 --> 00:54:50.300 take me seriously. I want him to be worried about this. 1130 00:54:51.059 --> 00:54:57.019 He so desperately wants not Roman's approval, but Roman's respect 1131 00:54:57.079 --> 00:55:00.079 that he is at his level. And I thought that 1132 00:55:00.099 --> 00:55:01.780 was a real poignant moment in the promo. Chris. 1133 00:55:01.989 --> 00:55:05.530 Yeah, I My first note on Sammy actually was when 1134 00:55:05.570 --> 00:55:07.849 he had his first heel run, they had to change 1135 00:55:07.889 --> 00:55:10.510 his music so that people would boo him. And I 1136

00:55:10.550 --> 00:55:14.130 think this time not changing his music has worked really 1137 00:55:14.170 --> 00:55:17.750 well because he doesn't think he's changed. 1138 00:55:18.750 --> 00:55:20.349 Yeah, that's a good point. 1139 00:55:20.730 --> 00:55:24.170 The choice in the music has really solidified the difference 1140 00:55:24.210 --> 00:55:27.289 in the two heel characters. I thought his delivery was good, 1141 00:55:27.889 --> 00:55:31.489 but I loved, as you said, the part where Jimmy 1142 00:55:31.550 --> 00:55:35.449 came out to confront him And actually ended up reassuring 1143 00:55:35.510 --> 00:55:38.389 Sammy in the process. And then I thought it got 1144 00:55:38.449 --> 00:55:42.260 worse when Sammy just sort of walked away and didn't 1145 00:55:42.400 --> 00:55:45.440 even pretend that he was going to help or try 1146 00:55:45.460 --> 00:55:48.980 to talk the 946 down or do anything. I thought 1147 00:55:49.019 --> 00:55:53.170 that kind of didn't really seem in character for what 1148 00:55:53.210 --> 00:55:55.769 he just said. Definitely it was in character for him 1149 00:55:55.809 --> 00:55:58.989 to run away and not get physically involved. But just 1150 00:55:59.010 --> 00:56:02.079 to sort of stand there and look completely nonplussed, I 1151 00:56:02.099 --> 00:56:04.099 thought was a bit of a miss from a story 1152 00:56:04.139 --> 00:56:04.920 beat perspective. 1153 00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:07.539 In a little bit of defense of this, I think 1154 00:56:07.599 --> 00:56:12.219 he looked torn. He looked conflicted. No, that's not enough 1155 00:56:12.260 --> 00:56:14.409 for you. But I want it for if he did. 1156 00:56:14.429 --> 00:56:17.610 I felt he thought I should do the right thing 1157 00:56:18.590 --> 00:56:20.190 or I should do something because it would be the 1158 00:56:20.230 --> 00:56:23.699 right thing. And now my actions are going to contradict 1159 00:56:23.760 --> 00:56:27.880 my words. and I think we're supposed to believe in 1160 00:56:28.139 --> 00:56:31.820 my inner dialogue on this, my inner plot, what is 1161 00:56:31.900 --> 00:56:34.380 it called? Inner, um, whatever. 1162 00:56:35.300 --> 00:56:36.059 Well, no. 1163 00:56:36.179 --> 00:56:39.159 And when you're reading a story and there's your, you have, you, 1164 00:56:39.199 --> 00:56:41.500 you tell yourself a story that, that, that is trick 1165 00:56:41.539 --> 00:56:44.900 that is kind of prompted in the storytelling. Um, there's 1166 00:56:44.960 --> 00:56:48.119 a term for that. It might be inner dialogue, um, 1167 00:56:48.340 --> 00:56:51.219 or inner plot, but, um, chat help out if you 1168 00:56:51.239 --> 00:56:53.400 know what I'm talking about. And I think we're supposed 1169 00:56:53.420 --> 00:56:55.519 to look at him and go, yeah, he's thinking, you 1170 00:56:55.539 --> 00:56:57.860 know what though? That Roman match, I got to be 1171 00:56:57.909 --> 00:57:00.170 fresh for that. I wish the announcers underlined it. I wish, 1172 00:57:00.349 --> 00:57:04.190 I wish Wade Barrett had said, what a coward. He 1173 00:57:04.230 --> 00:57:06.510 says he's family and then he doesn't help. And Barrett's like, 1174 00:57:06.750 --> 00:57:08.110 he's got a match with Roman Reigns. It's the most 1175 00:57:08.150 --> 00:57:10.150 important match. You just watched him talk about what an 1176 00:57:10.170 --> 00:57:12.539 important match it was. It was, it's not Sammy's fault 1177 00:57:12.559 --> 00:57:14.340 that Jimmy decided to come out there and put himself 1178 00:57:14.400 --> 00:57:16.719 in danger. You could have had the, you could say, well, 1179 00:57:16.739 --> 00:57:22.210 that's too expository and maybe, but, I told myself the 1180 00:57:22.250 --> 00:57:25.389 story that I thought made sense, and I think it's 1181 00:57:25.409 --> 00:57:26.869 what they had in mind, but they could have been 1182 00:57:26.889 --> 00:57:27.789 more expository about it. 1183 00:57:29.090 --> 00:57:32.820 Yeah, I didn't really see the taunt. He just looked 1184 00:57:32.860 --> 00:57:36.280 stone-faced to me. And he could have yelled at them, saying, 1185 00:57:36.340 --> 00:57:38.659 come on, you don't need to do this, or that's enough. 1186 00:57:39.400 --> 00:57:42.400 And then as Royce Keyes sort of got menacing, he 1187 00:57:42.420 --> 00:57:45.139 could have just said, all right, I tried, and then left. 1188 00:57:45.199 --> 00:57:47.079 And I think that would have had the same effect. 1189 00:57:48.199 --> 00:57:51.610 But That is a minor gripe. I think that the 1190 00:57:51.659 --> 00:57:54.780 whole thing worked well. And the delivery of that line 1191 00:57:54.800 --> 00:57:56.920 where he said, he really said that, that's all I wanted. 1192 00:57:56.980 --> 00:58:00.139 I thought that was perfect as a sort of a 1193 00:58:00.219 --> 00:58:02.360 beat from Sammy. 1194 00:58:02.400 --> 00:58:03.969 We have a vote for the way I saw it. 1195 00:58:04.019 --> 00:58:06.179 Standard Aviation said, I read it as him being torn. 1196 00:58:06.739 --> 00:58:08.409 I wrote in my report, just to refresh my memory, 1197 00:58:08.449 --> 00:58:11.250 Sammy was shown hanging his head and seeming to ponder 1198 00:58:11.809 --> 00:58:15.989 the situation and then decided to walk to the back 1199 00:58:16.329 --> 00:58:19.070 and not help out. Um, but it was, you know, 1200 00:58:19.690 --> 00:58:21.710 it was subtle enough, you know, I didn't hit you 1201 00:58:21.730 --> 00:58:26.840 over the head with it. Um, Darrell says, uh, Sammy 1202 00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:28.639 told us he did the attack on Roman cause he 1203 00:58:28.679 --> 00:58:30.460 wanted Roman to focus on him. So after doing that 1204 00:58:30.480 --> 00:58:33.340 to him, walking away from that beat, beat down fit 1205 00:58:33.400 --> 00:58:35.599 because he got what he wanted and he didn't want 1206 00:58:35.619 --> 00:58:39.800 to mess it up. Uh, Crofton said, I, well, I'll 1207 00:58:39.920 --> 00:58:43.960 probably

repeat for says I yelled coward, LOL, um, at 1208 00:58:43.980 --> 00:58:46.179 the TV. Crofton says, I did as well. His acting 1209 00:58:46.199 --> 00:58:48.780 throughout was great, and he looked sad in the back. 1210 00:58:49.579 --> 00:58:51.920 And then Standard Aviation said, the crowd booing when he 1211 00:58:51.980 --> 00:58:54.119 chose to leave was the result they wanted. Now, they 1212 00:58:54.139 --> 00:58:56.760 might have piped that in, but I think the crowd booed. 1213 00:58:57.179 --> 00:58:57.360 Yeah. 1214 00:58:57.909 --> 00:59:00.130 Crofton said, I think Sammy does care about Jim and 1215 00:59:00.150 --> 00:59:03.349 the others. I'm still thinking he's transforming as a character 1216 00:59:03.389 --> 00:59:05.489 and will become even more selfish and ruthless. He's not 1217 00:59:05.590 --> 00:59:07.489 done becoming the heel he will be. 1218 00:59:07.510 --> 00:59:09.050 Yeah. 1219 00:59:11.219 --> 00:59:11.400 Fair. 1220 00:59:11.440 --> 00:59:14.599 Derek Mitchell in, more broadly, says, I've said it all week, 1221 00:59:14.659 --> 00:59:16.360 Sami Zayn and WWE, I remember you saying this, Sami 1222 00:59:16.380 --> 00:59:18.360 Zayn and WWE and Jon Moxley and AEW are two 1223 00:59:18.389 --> 00:59:21.030 of the best actors in wrestling, consistently staying true to 1224 00:59:21.050 --> 00:59:24.489 their characters and effectively conveying their stories. Chris, how good 1225 00:59:24.710 --> 00:59:28.829 is Sami right now? I mean, I'm watching him in 1226 00:59:28.849 --> 00:59:32.269 this segment, and I mean, not this more than others necessarily, 1227 00:59:32.309 --> 00:59:35.769 but it struck me today, tonight watching it, like, man, 1228 00:59:35.809 --> 00:59:40.369 he's just so good. He is so, he's so, like, 1229 00:59:40.650 --> 00:59:43.579 he understands his character so much, and I was thinking 1230 00:59:43.599 --> 00:59:48.239 about how he's doing interviews, contemporaneous mainstream interviews, breaking down 1231 00:59:48.320 --> 00:59:52.199 his current character choices, which I don't like. Wait three months, 1232 00:59:52.239 --> 00:59:55.079 six months, three years, write a book someday, but while 1233 00:59:55.099 --> 00:59:58.500 we're enjoying you on air, don't put out there in the, 1234 00:59:59.030 --> 01:00:02.679 in the guise of publicity, like a breakdown of the 1235 01:00:02.719 --> 01:00:05.380 choices you're making. I, I like, I want to see 1236 01:00:05.400 --> 01:00:07.559 the movie and then afterwards have the actor do that. 1237 01:00:07.579 --> 01:00:09.099 I don't want to watch a movie for the first 1238 01:00:09.159 --> 01:00:11.519 time when I'm immersed in it and have breaks where 1239 01:00:11.539 --> 01:00:13.039 the actor tells me why they, or the director tells 1240 01:00:13.079 --> 01:00:15.119 me why they made the decisions they made. So I'm 1241 01:00:15.159 --> 01:00:17.730 against that, but that was on my mind. And I 1242 01:00:17.750 --> 01:00:22.429 was like, yeah, this is, he's really, really good in 1243 01:00:22.469 --> 01:00:25.869 this role. You know, Sammy, after, after Jimmy goes family, huh? 1244 01:00:26.159 --> 01:00:28.159 you know, after what you did, you know, taking Roman 1245 01:00:28.179 --> 01:00:30.000 down if a nine for six attacks him. And Sammy goes, 1246 01:00:30.219 --> 01:00:35.619 you're mad. And I understand. Like Al Sayed, like, I 1247 01:00:35.659 --> 01:00:38.280 understand why you're mad. Now let me tell you why 1248 01:00:38.929 --> 01:00:43.269 you're also wrong. So anyway, Chris, anything you want to 1249 01:00:43.289 --> 01:00:43.570 add to that? 1250 01:00:44.210 --> 01:00:46.650 I think the biggest thing for me with Sammy is 1251 01:00:46.690 --> 01:00:49.570 that he's showing his range. We know he can do comedy, 1252 01:00:50.789 --> 01:00:54.840 but we haven't really seen him in a calm, serious role. 1253 01:00:54.860 --> 01:00:56.960 Because a lot of his serious stuff up until now 1254 01:00:57.019 --> 01:00:59.960 has been sort of overloading on the emotion and the 1255 01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:03.619 sort of highly raw, even sometimes screaming. And this is 1256 01:01:03.940 --> 01:01:07.730 a more calm, serious Sammy that we haven't seen. And 1257 01:01:07.769 --> 01:01:11.949 it's really expanded what we've seen from the person portraying 1258 01:01:11.989 --> 01:01:15.570 the role. Yeah, I think he's been very, very good. 1259 01:01:16.329 --> 01:01:20.530 It's refreshing to see somebody actually putting some thought not 1260 01:01:20.590 --> 01:01:25.469 just into the match, but into what the character would 1261 01:01:25.530 --> 01:01:28.909 do leading up to the match. It's an underrated part 1262 01:01:28.929 --> 01:01:30.929 of wrestling, and I'm glad that we're seeing such a 1263 01:01:30.929 --> 01:01:32.010 good example of it right now. 1264 01:01:54.079 --> 01:01:56.780 There's always a place for wrestling's past in the Paradise too, 1265 01:01:57.119 --> 01:01:59.679 and we've done fun historical shows such as the We 1266 01:01:59.719 --> 01:02:04.190 Love Liger series, celebrating the glorious career of Jushin Thunder Liger, 1267 01:02:04.570 --> 01:02:06.710 and our I Was There When shows, where our guests 1268 01:02:06.730 --> 01:02:09.250 will join me to talk about a classic bout that 1269 01:02:09.269 --> 01:02:12.429 they were in attendance for. We love variety, and you 1270 01:02:12.449 --> 01:02:14.929 can expect lots of it at the Pro Wrestling Paradise. 1271 01:02:15.449 --> 01:02:19.730 Detailed PWTorch VIP subscription information and a list of all 1272 01:02:19.750 --> 01:02:25.530 the VIP benefits is available at pwtorchvipinfo.com. And yes, all 1273 01:02:25.570 --> 01:02:29.739 VIP podcasts are compatible with popular podcast apps on iPhone 1274 01:02:29.780 --> 01:02:33.000 and Android devices. Or you can stream them directly from 1275 01:02:33.059 --> 01:02:36.760 our ad-free VIP mobile site. See you in the paradise! 1276 01:02:40.880

--> 01:02:43.199 When Jimmy said, I just talked to Roman, because I 1277 01:02:43.320 --> 01:02:45.800 love the juxtaposition of Jimmy thought he was going to 1278 01:02:45.820 --> 01:02:49.079 scare Sammy. I talked to Roman, and after what happened Monday, 1279 01:02:49.440 --> 01:02:51.139 he said he's going to kick your ass at Crown Jewel. 1280 01:02:51.559 --> 01:02:53.260 And you expect Sammy to go, oh, shit, I went 1281 01:02:53.300 --> 01:02:53.840 too far. 1282 01:02:54.059 --> 01:02:54.559 Oh, no. 1283 01:02:54.739 --> 01:02:58.780 And Sammy smiles and goes, he really said that? He 1284 01:02:58.840 --> 01:03:01.260 really said that? And Jimmy goes, yeah. That's great, because 1285 01:03:01.280 --> 01:03:03.989 that's all I wanted. I wanted the full attention of 1286 01:03:04.010 --> 01:03:06.659 the tribal chief. I want him angry at me, because 1287 01:03:06.679 --> 01:03:10.500 that's the respect I deserve. You tell Roman Reigns. that 1288 01:03:10.519 --> 01:03:16.719 the WWE Undisputed Champion will see him Saturday. Just fantastic. Like, 1289 01:03:16.940 --> 01:03:20.880 just fantastic. Conceptually and in execution. 1290 01:03:21.199 --> 01:03:24.139 And he didn't say it with anger. He said it 1291 01:03:24.179 --> 01:03:26.719 with pride and there was emotion in his voice. He 1292 01:03:26.739 --> 01:03:29.840 was like, I just want the respect. The only thing is, 1293 01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:34.849 I think now the logical conclusion from that delivery is, 1294 01:03:35.190 --> 01:03:37.469 Sami doesn't care if he loses because he's already got 1295 01:03:37.489 --> 01:03:42.199 what he wanted. And Going into a match where you 1296 01:03:42.219 --> 01:03:44.800 don't care if you lose isn't probably the motivation I 1297 01:03:44.820 --> 01:03:49.929 would want somebody to have. But other than that, no. 1298 01:03:50.610 --> 01:03:54.250 I think you're right, but I think WWE is safe 1299 01:03:54.289 --> 01:03:57.210 and Sami is safe in thinking the average viewer is 1300 01:03:57.250 --> 01:03:59.989 thinking Sami got what he wanted, but he also wants more. 1301 01:04:00.130 --> 01:04:03.940 He still wants to win. Like, there's some, you know, 1302 01:04:03.980 --> 01:04:05.820 you make it to the World Series. Like, well, no 1303 01:04:05.860 --> 01:04:07.460 one expected us to be here. If we don't win, 1304 01:04:07.699 --> 01:04:09.460 it's still been a good season. I don't think Sami's 1305 01:04:09.480 --> 01:04:11.429 saying that. I think Sammy's not going, well, I got 1306 01:04:11.449 --> 01:04:13.780 to be a crown jewel against Roman Reigns. I've made it. 1307 01:04:13.849 --> 01:04:16.190 Roman took me seriously. I still think Sammy wants to 1308 01:04:16.230 --> 01:04:17.909 prove he can beat him, but I, but I get 1309 01:04:17.949 --> 01:04:20.760 what you're saying. And I think that's there, but I 1310 01:04:20.760 --> 01:04:22.429 don't think it, I don't think it takes away from 1311 01:04:22.469 --> 01:04:24.739 the average viewer just going, yes. Now the next thing 1312 01:04:24.760 --> 01:04:25.659 Sammy wants to do is beat him. 1313 01:04:26.260 --> 01:04:26.420 Yeah. 1314 01:04:26.460 --> 01:04:28.800 Well, he definitely wants to, but I think if he doesn't, 1315 01:04:29.320 --> 01:04:31.000 he will say, all right, I already won because you 1316 01:04:31.019 --> 01:04:31.760 took me seriously. 1317 01:04:31.820 --> 01:04:32.659 So. Yeah. 1318 01:04:33.360 --> 01:04:39.449 All right. If you check comments here on this, um, Yeah, 1319 01:04:39.639 --> 01:04:41.449 so Jirai says, I think he was torn, but the 1320 01:04:41.489 --> 01:04:43.869 match with Roman is much more important in him trying 1321 01:04:43.889 --> 01:04:45.789 to prove his point rather than back up the word 1322 01:04:45.829 --> 01:04:48.030 he just spoke. Yeah, and I think that's what was 1323 01:04:48.050 --> 01:04:49.239 going on. I think that's a good way to put it. 1324 01:04:49.809 --> 01:04:52.920 Crofton said, I was struck in the opening segment how 1325 01:04:52.940 --> 01:04:57.280 Sami is a main eventer. Sadler says, Sami's recent main 1326 01:04:57.300 --> 01:04:59.139 event run gives hope to others that it's never too 1327 01:04:59.179 --> 01:05:00.639 late to become a top guy. Two years ago, I 1328 01:05:00.639 --> 01:05:02.510 never would have thought he'd be world champ. Now he's 1329 01:05:02.530 --> 01:05:06.440 the best character in the company. Uh, standard deviation says 1330 01:05:06.480 --> 01:05:08.000 Sammy feels like the focal point of the show right now. 1331 01:05:08.019 --> 01:05:10.619 It's a stark contrast. How AEW presents Osprey. 1332 01:05:10.639 --> 01:05:11.099 Yeah. 1333 01:05:11.460 --> 01:05:16.480 Yeah. Um, he was dry. Says he was so excited 1334 01:05:16.500 --> 01:05:18.000 to hear that. And he went off. 1335 01:05:18.500 --> 01:05:19.380 Yeah. 1336 01:05:19.400 --> 01:05:21.519 Um, Crofton adds, I was struck when Sammy sat there 1337 01:05:21.539 --> 01:05:23.659 with Jimmy, how my perception or was there with Jimmy, 1338 01:05:23.699 --> 01:05:25.860 how my perception of him has shifted into that of 1339 01:05:25.900 --> 01:05:27.719 a main event or when his music hits, I feel 1340 01:05:27.860 --> 01:05:31.639 different than I did earlier this year. Derek Mitchell says, 1341 01:05:31.679 --> 01:05:33.050 Sammy's a guy who asked his buddy to tell a 1342 01:05:33.070 --> 01:05:36.329 girl he likes her. And wants a date. And she says, yes, 1343 01:05:36.699 --> 01:05:42.639 I love that segment. Now, Standard Deviation said, I see 1344 01:05:42.679 --> 01:05:46.800 Sammy winning. And Jirai says, me too. And Standard Deviation says, 1345 01:05:47.119 --> 01:05:48.679 I'd be surprised if Roman wins since we need to 1346 01:05:48.719 --> 01:05:50.639 establish that Sammy is a worthy champion in order for 1347 01:05:50.659 --> 01:05:52.179 him to then go on to earn everyone's respect at 1348 01:05:52.219 --> 01:05:53.980 a later time. I talked about

this in the Wade 1349 01:05:54.000 --> 01:05:56.659 Keller Hotline for VIP members this afternoon, one preview in 1350 01:05:56.679 --> 01:05:59.420 Crown Jewel. Kind of the pros and cons in different ways. 1351 01:05:59.460 --> 01:06:04.440 They could do it, you know, 60%, 70%, 90%. a 1352 01:06:04.460 --> 01:06:07.159 hundred percent in terms of Sammy winning and what that 1353 01:06:07.199 --> 01:06:09.239 would mean, and then sort of hedge on the way 1354 01:06:09.280 --> 01:06:11.420 that they do it and kind of the pros and 1355 01:06:11.440 --> 01:06:14.960 cons of that. Chris, where are you on the odds 1356 01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:17.219 of Sammy winning one way or the other? 1357 01:06:18.000 --> 01:06:20.280 I don't see it. Roman doesn't have a crown jewel 1358 01:06:20.300 --> 01:06:23.480 championship and he will want one, but he needs the 1359 01:06:23.500 --> 01:06:26.219 full set, right? He is the person that the company 1360 01:06:26.239 --> 01:06:28.050 is fully behind. He's the face of the company for 1361 01:06:28.070 --> 01:06:31.809 the most part. He's, he's winning. Sammy doesn't, it's not 1362 01:06:31.849 --> 01:06:36.110 in Sammy's character to win that match. unless the 9-4-6 1363 01:06:36.380 --> 01:06:38.340 gets involved. That's the only way I see it happening. 1364 01:06:38.800 --> 01:06:38.960 Right. 1365 01:06:39.239 --> 01:06:39.380 Yeah. 1366 01:06:39.519 --> 01:06:41.719 And I brought, obviously, it's an obvious thing to bring 1367 01:06:41.760 --> 01:06:43.960 up as a possibility. I brought that up on the 1368 01:06:43.980 --> 01:06:46.639 hotline when it kind of the nuances of how that 1369 01:06:46.659 --> 01:06:49.659 could work too. Crofton says, I also like how Sammy 1370 01:06:49.679 --> 01:06:51.579 still hasn't forgotten about that match for his buddy, Johnny. 1371 01:06:51.619 --> 01:06:53.849 He's going to talk to Aldis. He's such a good pal. 1372 01:06:54.530 --> 01:06:56.949 That's another good thing about Sammy right now. It's not 1373 01:06:56.969 --> 01:06:59.929 just the in-ring stuff. It's the interaction with Johnny Gargano 1374 01:07:00.269 --> 01:07:03.030 and Candice LeRae. I love Candice just being skeptical in 1375 01:07:03.050 --> 01:07:06.750 the background, but not wanting to you know, interject her 1376 01:07:06.809 --> 01:07:10.710 skepticism of Sammy too much. Um, and, and when, when 1377 01:07:10.869 --> 01:07:15.389 Sammy like says, you know, whatever happens with Roman, we 1378 01:07:15.409 --> 01:07:17.429 still got to deal with you, Johnny, you have something 1379 01:07:17.469 --> 01:07:20.070 coming your way. And Johnny just perks up like, yes, 1380 01:07:20.230 --> 01:07:22.369 we do. You're talking to your talk. I hear what 1381 01:07:22.389 --> 01:07:24.969 you're saying. Tell me more, Sammy. I know you've got 1382 01:07:25.010 --> 01:07:28.329 my back. I know you want to do right by me. Um, 1383 01:07:28.389 --> 01:07:32.840 tell me about it. Like he's so gullible and trusting and, um, 1384 01:07:33.389 --> 01:07:35.500 has faith in Sammy in a way that Candace is 1385 01:07:35.539 --> 01:07:38.699 a little embarrassed by. So Gargano's been good, Candace's been good, 1386 01:07:38.760 --> 01:07:41.199 and it's a fun other dimension of Sammy because you 1387 01:07:41.219 --> 01:07:44.920 see Sammy who aspires to have Roman's respect, but you 1388 01:07:44.940 --> 01:07:46.840 also have Sammy, so he's a beta, but you have 1389 01:07:46.860 --> 01:07:49.980 Sammy as an alpha relative to Gargano, and you get 1390 01:07:50.000 --> 01:07:51.780 to see what he's like when he has the power 1391 01:07:51.800 --> 01:07:55.440 advantage versus what he's like when he doesn't, and that's intentional, 1392 01:07:55.500 --> 01:07:57.800 and I think that's why Gargano's in this because it 1393 01:07:57.840 --> 01:08:00.039 makes Sammy more of a heel than if this part 1394 01:08:00.059 --> 01:08:05.199 of the story didn't exist. Sammy being... The bigger name, 1395 01:08:06.090 --> 01:08:10.750 he's physically bigger, more successful in WWE's world, more the 1396 01:08:10.809 --> 01:08:13.070 elf in that dynamic. That is important how he treats 1397 01:08:13.150 --> 01:08:15.190 Johnny to make you have less sympathy for him, even 1398 01:08:15.230 --> 01:08:16.829 when he makes good points against Roman like he did 1399 01:08:16.890 --> 01:08:17.229 on Monday. 1400 01:08:18.789 --> 01:08:25.310 Yeah, it's interesting that that whole thing is, there's all 1401 01:08:25.350 --> 01:08:27.649 this back and forth. And Roman is just such a 1402 01:08:27.710 --> 01:08:32.989 big character though, right? He's almost unbeatable in that setting. 1403 01:08:34.069 --> 01:08:37.600 I just, I can't see a way, even with all 1404 01:08:37.640 --> 01:08:40.659 the points in favor, unless there's interference, I just, I 1405 01:08:40.699 --> 01:08:44.680 can't see it. The Johnny Gargano thing, though, I mean, Crofton, 1406 01:08:44.720 --> 01:08:46.439 if you think that's happening, buddy, I got a bridge 1407 01:08:46.460 --> 01:08:51.279 to sell you, my friend. It's, I like what they're 1408 01:08:51.310 --> 01:08:53.770 doing with Johnny now, he's like this sort of gullible 1409 01:08:53.810 --> 01:08:56.170 little gopher type of character, that's the way it feels 1410 01:08:56.210 --> 01:09:00.149 to me, but it's, at some point that's going to 1411 01:09:00.189 --> 01:09:02.550 get old and I hope that they sort of progress 1412 01:09:02.590 --> 01:09:05.170 it a little bit. 1413 01:09:05.329 --> 01:09:08.569 I'm in on it. I think they are, there's times 1414 01:09:08.590 --> 01:09:10.810 stories take longer than they would like because it's the 1415 01:09:10.850 --> 01:09:12.909 secondary story to another story that needs to reach a 1416 01:09:12.909 --> 01:09:15.439 PLE to reach its next chapter before they can tell it. 1417 01:09:15.729 --> 01:09:18.850 But it does give Sammy something to do after this. 1418 01:09:18.970 --> 01:09:22.789

And the moment that Johnny figures out that Sammy is 1419 01:09:22.829 --> 01:09:26.949 bullshitting him and LeRae is like, finally, I think it's 1420 01:09:26.989 --> 01:09:30.520 going to lead to Johnny having the best main roster 1421 01:09:31.100 --> 01:09:31.720 run he's had. 1422 01:09:32.319 --> 01:09:32.779 Yeah. 1423 01:09:32.800 --> 01:09:34.220 I think this has a really good chance to work out. 1424 01:09:35.140 --> 01:09:37.539 Derek Mitchell says, I hope Sammy wins to help solidify 1425 01:09:37.579 --> 01:09:39.399 himself and wants to beat Roman at Crown Jewel for 1426 01:09:39.479 --> 01:09:44.390 breaking rights. Puzzler repeats that Sammy's searching to fill the hole. 1427 01:09:44.310 --> 01:09:44.699 In his heart. 1428 01:09:44.810 --> 01:09:49.140 Roman's attention isn't it, my friend. Sadler version three says 1429 01:09:49.180 --> 01:09:51.619 Roman winning does nothing. Sammy winning pushes his character even 1430 01:09:51.680 --> 01:09:53.460 further and pushes a nine for six bloodline feud for 1431 01:09:53.500 --> 01:09:56.300 war games. The downside with Roman winning in, yes, in, 1432 01:09:56.479 --> 01:09:59.640 in short, Sammy winning gives Sammy a boost. Roman beating 1433 01:09:59.680 --> 01:10:03.159 Sammy is nothing. That's just a really good sports team 1434 01:10:03.180 --> 01:10:05.659 beating early bad sports team. Well, it's not like that exactly, 1435 01:10:05.699 --> 01:10:07.270 but you know what I mean? Like that's a not, 1436 01:10:07.329 --> 01:10:09.970 not newsworthy in sports when it happens, when there's upsets, there's, 1437 01:10:10.750 --> 01:10:15.090 it's more newsworthy. However, you want to protect Roman for 1438 01:10:15.130 --> 01:10:18.069 the Obafemi moment. when Oba beats him. And if Roman 1439 01:10:18.109 --> 01:10:22.850 loses to Sammy, even with some interference, it takes something away. 1440 01:10:22.930 --> 01:10:26.029 Roman isn't this, I can't imagine Roman getting pinned. I 1441 01:10:26.090 --> 01:10:30.680 can't imagine it. You know, if the Bulls, Chicago Bulls 1442 01:10:30.720 --> 01:10:32.779 win three titles in the 90s and then lose two, 1443 01:10:33.079 --> 01:10:36.579 but actually have Jordan, it's not as big of a 1444 01:10:36.579 --> 01:10:39.100 deal to beat them the second or third time. They 1445 01:10:39.119 --> 01:10:43.579 already lost. It's ending the undefeated championship streak that has 1446 01:10:43.600 --> 01:10:47.539 the initial impact. Once you show you're not unbeatable. The 1447 01:10:47.600 --> 01:10:50.279 future losses mean less. So, and Oba is so important 1448 01:10:50.300 --> 01:10:52.579 to them that even though you can say, yes, Sammy 1449 01:10:52.600 --> 01:10:55.600 has a gain, Roman doesn't, they really are looking broader 1450 01:10:55.640 --> 01:10:57.859 than just what's best this month. Chris. 1451 01:10:59.970 --> 01:11:02.909 I agree with all of that. I'm just not convinced 1452 01:11:02.949 --> 01:11:06.489 that Oba beats Roman for his first win. I think 1453 01:11:06.529 --> 01:11:10.810 that's the next mania. I think his first win is 1454 01:11:10.850 --> 01:11:13.689 against someone else, and they push the Roman boat down 1455 01:11:13.729 --> 01:11:16.430 the road to give him even more time to build 1456 01:11:16.470 --> 01:11:20.079 himself up. But in general, I think, yes, you don't 1457 01:11:20.260 --> 01:11:24.880 want to spend a Roman loss on Sami Zayn in 1458 01:11:24.920 --> 01:11:28.239 a match that isn't really relevant outside of Saudi Arabia. 1459 01:11:29.340 --> 01:11:34.390 Yeah, yeah, fair point. Sadler says, assuming 9 for 6 interferes, 1460 01:11:34.409 --> 01:11:36.829 that's the only way Sami would win. Yeah, Sami's not 1461 01:11:36.850 --> 01:11:38.390 going to win clean with a Huluva kick. I mean, 1462 01:11:38.409 --> 01:11:40.109 there is going to be an asterisk either way, but 1463 01:11:40.270 --> 01:11:44.779 even the asterisk isn't enough to protect the idea of 1464 01:11:44.840 --> 01:11:47.500 I can't imagine Roman losing under any circumstances. And I 1465 01:11:47.520 --> 01:11:49.319 think they want to build that up for whoever his 1466 01:11:49.340 --> 01:11:54.920 WrestleMania opponent is. Let's see. Standard Evasion says Gargano is 1467 01:11:54.960 --> 01:11:58.000 kind of the Sami that Sami was to Roman. Yep. 1468 01:11:58.359 --> 01:12:00.239 I mean, I think it's very intentional. It's great to 1469 01:12:00.270 --> 01:12:02.449 have the Gargano character to do it because no matter 1470 01:12:02.489 --> 01:12:05.239 how Sami portrays him, how much no matter how much 1471 01:12:05.319 --> 01:12:09.899 Sammy condemns Roman for how Roman treated him. And you 1472 01:12:09.920 --> 01:12:12.140 might be sympathetic to Sammy when Sammy then just goes 1473 01:12:12.140 --> 01:12:15.470 10 minutes later and treats Johnny the way Roman treated him. 1474 01:12:16.069 --> 01:12:18.229 You lose all sympathy for Sammy. And I think that's, 1475 01:12:18.569 --> 01:12:21.310 that's deliberate. It's, it's why, you know, he's food. So 1476 01:12:21.350 --> 01:12:24.430 there's this Saudi, the Saudi factor probably boost Sammy's chances 1477 01:12:24.470 --> 01:12:28.350 to probably helps their sports washing propaganda. Uh, yeah, maybe. 1478 01:12:28.590 --> 01:12:33.439 I mean, I don't know. Um, Do crowds... Crofton says, 1479 01:12:33.479 --> 01:12:39.739 do crowds continue to boost Sammy if these performances keep up? Yeah, fans, 1480 01:12:39.760 --> 01:12:41.479 I don't think cheer... I don't know. I don't think 1481 01:12:41.520 --> 01:12:43.810 fans are just going to cheer a really effective heel 1482 01:12:43.989 --> 01:12:45.970 if what you're in wrestling for is to appreciate good 1483 01:12:46.010 --> 01:12:49.729 matches and good promos, as long as he has the 1484 01:12:49.770 --> 01:12:53.050 right opponents and the right stories. I think the fans 1485 01:12:53.069 --> 01:12:57.229 who recognize good promos and good

wrestling are... I think 1486 01:12:57.270 --> 01:13:01.350 they're sort of the fan... The approach fans take to wrestling, 1487 01:13:01.369 --> 01:13:03.720 I think is growing out of, let me show how 1488 01:13:03.770 --> 01:13:05.979 smart I am by cheering for the guy who, who 1489 01:13:06.079 --> 01:13:08.380 gets a good grade for his performance. And I think they're, 1490 01:13:09.720 --> 01:13:12.180 they're more willing than they were 15 years ago, give 1491 01:13:12.220 --> 01:13:15.060 or take to boo a heel out of respect rather 1492 01:13:15.100 --> 01:13:16.979 than cheer a heel out of respect because they know 1493 01:13:17.100 --> 01:13:19.399 the heel is trying to get booed and it's disrespectful 1494 01:13:19.420 --> 01:13:21.439 to cheer them. That's not what they're looking for. You're 1495 01:13:21.470 --> 01:13:24.130 not showing how smart you are by doing it. You're 1496 01:13:24.149 --> 01:13:26.409 actually undercutting the person that you're trying to praise. 1497 01:13:28.409 --> 01:13:29.189 Yeah, that makes sense. 1498 01:13:29.630 --> 01:13:29.829 Yeah. 1499 01:13:30.920 --> 01:13:36.119 Okay. Is there another top subject on the show, Chris, 1500 01:13:36.159 --> 01:13:37.640 you want to bring up before we go to Darrell? 1501 01:13:38.560 --> 01:13:41.560 Top subject? The only other one would be the Chelsea 1502 01:13:41.619 --> 01:13:43.859 Live thing, but I wouldn't call that a top subject. 1503 01:13:43.939 --> 01:13:47.930 We'll go to Darrell and we'll get to everything else 1504 01:13:47.970 --> 01:13:49.729 on the show, at least Rapid Fire, before we sign 1505 01:13:49.750 --> 01:13:50.010 off here. 1506 01:13:50.130 --> 01:13:51.369 Bring him out. Bring him out. 1507 01:13:51.590 --> 01:13:52.449 Darrell, welcome. 1508 01:13:53.130 --> 01:13:55.930 How you doing today? 1509 01:13:56.270 --> 01:13:56.529 Good. 1510 01:13:56.829 --> 01:14:03.100 I've it's been nice a couple for a few days here. 1511 01:14:04.340 --> 01:14:06.000 There's just something different in the air. 1512 01:14:06.819 --> 01:14:10.750 Are you riding that wave too? I'm riding the wave. 1513 01:14:11.350 --> 01:14:13.270 Of course. Can you adjust your mic a little bit? 1514 01:14:13.430 --> 01:14:15.550 I think it's up against your cheek again. A little bit. 1515 01:14:15.569 --> 01:14:16.090 I'm sorry. 1516 01:14:17.449 --> 01:14:20.489 Yeah. No, of course. I've not been shy about that. 1517 01:14:20.609 --> 01:14:23.079 And I don't, it's not a controversial stance to take. 1518 01:14:23.119 --> 01:14:26.770 This has been, it's, it's been amazing. And I mean, I, people, 1519 01:14:26.829 --> 01:14:28.369 you know, in 10 years, people look back and go, well, 1520 01:14:28.590 --> 01:14:30.430 it was inevitable and it did not, it has not 1521 01:14:30.510 --> 01:14:33.750 felt like we would inevitably get out of fascism. Um, 1522 01:14:33.909 --> 01:14:37.100 and it's not done yet, but it's the chances of, 1523 01:14:38.439 --> 01:14:43.720 of

the chances of fascism taking over was diminishing in 1524 01:14:43.739 --> 01:14:46.140 this term over time. And it was scary with ice 1525 01:14:46.159 --> 01:14:47.479 a year ago when I was in the heart, you know, 1526 01:14:47.520 --> 01:14:50.109 heart of it. And I had friends and neighbors who 1527 01:14:50.630 --> 01:14:54.069 didn't stop guys of Brown, people with brown skin who 1528 01:14:54.289 --> 01:14:55.850 stopped going to work and are hiding out in basements 1529 01:14:55.890 --> 01:14:57.630 of friends' houses. I mean, it was just, it was 1530 01:14:57.789 --> 01:14:59.649 genuinely awful and we got it worse than anybody. And 1531 01:14:59.670 --> 01:15:02.090 our protests, I think, inspired the country and the world 1532 01:15:02.130 --> 01:15:05.729 based on people saying so. And we weren't the only 1533 01:15:05.750 --> 01:15:07.470 community that got it, but we got it. We had the, 1534 01:15:07.949 --> 01:15:10.960 you know, the multiple deaths from the ice thugs. And 1535 01:15:11.680 --> 01:15:14.279 so it does seem like there's a chance that we 1536 01:15:14.300 --> 01:15:20.079 can try them and imprison them for just awful, awful things. 1537 01:15:20.159 --> 01:15:21.659 And we got to just get people out of these 1538 01:15:22.699 --> 01:15:26.239 out of these detention facilities where it's just, the conditions 1539 01:15:26.300 --> 01:15:30.979 are awful. So, but, but I feel it's not done yet, 1540 01:15:31.050 --> 01:15:34.569 but I do feel like the, the, the 18 to 1541 01:15:34.569 --> 01:15:37.829 29 year olds just completely flipped from the bro culture 1542 01:15:37.869 --> 01:15:40.569 and all the, all the podcasters who were being paid 1543 01:15:40.609 --> 01:15:42.529 by like Putin and stuff. I mean, it sounds so 1544 01:15:42.609 --> 01:15:44.350 weird to say, it sounds like that's not, can't be 1545 01:15:44.390 --> 01:15:46.609 the case, but it, it, there's all these people who 1546 01:15:46.649 --> 01:15:49.909 are spewing propaganda on, on people. And I'll, they see 1547 01:15:49.930 --> 01:15:52.770 how it affected their lives and that generation just completely flipped. 1548 01:15:52.810 --> 01:15:55.609 And now they've got this whole group. I mean, the 1549 01:15:55.649 --> 01:15:59.750 new Iowa governor, Governor Sand is like the coolest, like 1550 01:15:59.930 --> 01:16:02.149 dude in the world. Who's like the opposite of cool 1551 01:16:02.170 --> 01:16:03.449 in some ways. They say he's the darkest kid in 1552 01:16:03.470 --> 01:16:05.789 class and the coolest kid in school. He's that skateboard 1553 01:16:05.829 --> 01:16:09.510 video that's gone viral is amazing. And then Trinidad, he 1554 01:16:09.529 --> 01:16:11.729 was a model back like 20 years ago before I 1555 01:16:11.729 --> 01:16:14.109 had a family. And, but he's like, if you watch 1556 01:16:14.140 --> 01:16:16.869 his interview, it's just like, you can just get why 1557 01:16:16.970 --> 01:16:19.569 he just completely flipped how people think of Iowa now. 1558 01:16:19.630 --> 01:16:22.050 And he just wants to do the dirty work. He's not, 1559 01:16:22.069 --> 01:16:23.989 you know, I don't know. It's just the whole array 1560 01:16:24.020 --> 01:16:27.300 of personalities is a whole new generation of people. I 1561 01:16:27.300 --> 01:16:30.159 remember how I felt when Bill Clinton played the saxophone 1562 01:16:30.199 --> 01:16:33.279 on Arsenio Hall and came out to Can't Stop Thinking 1563 01:16:33.300 --> 01:16:35.699 About Tomorrow. And I was like, this isn't Ronald Reagan anymore. 1564 01:16:35.739 --> 01:16:38.979 This is, politics can be exciting and youthful. And that's 1565 01:16:39.060 --> 01:16:42.609 happening again. And it showed up in the biggest wave 1566 01:16:42.970 --> 01:16:47.060 of people waking up um, to just the BS and, 1567 01:16:47.199 --> 01:16:51.659 and the, the cruelty and the billionaire selfishness that was 1568 01:16:51.699 --> 01:16:55.689 going on that, that some very sophisticated machines are trying 1569 01:16:55.699 --> 01:16:58.609 to trick people into voting against our better interests. And, uh, 1570 01:16:58.729 --> 01:17:00.409 now we're seeing what it really means to be a man. 1571 01:17:00.529 --> 01:17:04.010 We have a bunch of politicians who are, um, you know, giving, 1572 01:17:04.149 --> 01:17:06.529 who are much, much, much, much better role models. So 1573 01:17:06.590 --> 01:17:10.090 it's been a, a thrilling weekend. It's we're just getting 1574 01:17:10.109 --> 01:17:12.470 started as you said, Darrell, but, um, it's not over, 1575 01:17:12.510 --> 01:17:14.750 but that is what we, that is what we needed. 1576 01:17:15.350 --> 01:17:18.229 And I think it's going to make a huge difference. 1577 01:17:19.100 --> 01:17:21.520 Crofton says, thank you guys from a Canadian next door. 1578 01:17:21.579 --> 01:17:25.460 Standard Aviation says, good job, America. Derek Mitchell says, I 1579 01:17:25.479 --> 01:17:27.020 live in D.C., so I'll be glad when the National 1580 01:17:27.079 --> 01:17:31.659 Guard goes away. Palo Verde Pizza says, nothing but blue skies. 1581 01:17:33.060 --> 01:17:33.260 Yeah. 1582 01:17:34.039 --> 01:17:37.039 Anyway, so it's been a good week. Chris, you feeling 1583 01:17:37.060 --> 01:17:38.239 good about what you're seeing down south? 1584 01:17:38.840 --> 01:17:40.960 I'm pretty sure if I talk about American politics, I 1585 01:17:41.000 --> 01:17:41.800 have to pay a tariff. 1586 01:17:43.479 --> 01:17:43.819 Fair enough. 1587 01:17:44.340 --> 01:17:49.859 No, I hope there's some way that Abdul El-Sayed becomes 1588 01:17:49.899 --> 01:17:51.840 the attorney general so he can be the one to 1589 01:17:51.920 --> 01:17:55.319 prosecute all the impeachment cases against all these people. That 1590 01:17:55.359 --> 01:17:58.529 would be my idea of comic justice. But yeah, it's 1591 01:17:58.550 --> 01:18:00.449 a good start. There's some good stuff happening for sure. 1592 01:18:00.770 -->

01:18:06.670 Yeah, it was to, I mean, there's like, if the 1593 01:18:06.710 --> 01:18:08.729 Democrats do their job, there's almost zero chance there can 1594 01:18:08.760 --> 01:18:13.590 be a Republican president again until the Republicans completely completely 1595 01:18:13.710 --> 01:18:17.760 overhaul what they are i mean like they can exist 1596 01:18:17.779 --> 01:18:20.020 but they can't exist as they have in recent years 1597 01:18:20.439 --> 01:18:24.180 um and to have texas turn blue and have um 1598 01:18:24.979 --> 01:18:27.340 all but one national polit or all but one statewide 1599 01:18:27.380 --> 01:18:29.279 office held by a democrat it's just insane if you 1600 01:18:29.300 --> 01:18:31.960 followed american politics this long and it's it if the 1601 01:18:31.979 --> 01:18:35.020 electoral college stays in place in texas in california new 1602 01:18:35.039 --> 01:18:37.329 york stay blue in illinois i mean there's just no 1603 01:18:37.369 --> 01:18:39.470 way for for republican to win and they're going to 1604 01:18:39.489 --> 01:18:43.750 win other southern states now they've completely flipped um uh what. 1605 01:18:43.670 --> 01:18:50.859 Did lbj yeah kansas mississippi 1932 1932. 1606 01:18:49.819 --> 01:18:53.000 Yep lbj said because the civil rights board we're going 1607 01:18:53.020 --> 01:18:55.260 to lose the south for 50 years he said that 1608 01:18:55.260 --> 01:18:59.659 50 years ago it's over they lost the south democrats 1609 01:18:59.680 --> 01:19:01.340 lost south for 50 years and now they're getting it 1610 01:19:01.399 --> 01:19:03.930 back it just it does i mean i don't want 1611 01:19:03.939 --> 01:19:05.550 to be too ahead ahead of things but it does 1612 01:19:05.569 --> 01:19:07.689 feel like it's over and i think there's a lot 1613 01:19:07.710 --> 01:19:09.850 of people kind of waking up to the to the 1614 01:19:09.890 --> 01:19:12.800 propaganda machine. And I mean, it was sophisticated and very, 1615 01:19:12.979 --> 01:19:16.720 very tuned in to manipulate people who, who wanted to 1616 01:19:17.270 --> 01:19:20.289 blame other people for the problems that a bunch of 1617 01:19:20.329 --> 01:19:22.829 Republican policies cause, but let's blame people with brown skin. 1618 01:19:23.590 --> 01:19:26.449 and demonize them. And Minnesota had it awful with what 1619 01:19:26.470 --> 01:19:28.250 they did to the Somalis. I mean, that thing is 1620 01:19:28.289 --> 01:19:29.670 so blown out of proportion. There's so many people on 1621 01:19:29.689 --> 01:19:31.989 their high horse about fraud in Minnesota. It was like 1622 01:19:32.010 --> 01:19:35.310 the seventh biggest fraud case of that year during COVID 1623 01:19:35.329 --> 01:19:37.189 that was documented. And it was like three Somalis and 1624 01:19:37.270 --> 01:19:40.109 one white lady was a ringleader. And the Somalis are 1625 01:19:40.189 --> 01:19:43.439 beloved in this community and valued and a huge contributor. 1626 01:19:43.449 --> 01:19:46.180 And they're not. And they just caricaturize them and demonize 1627 01:19:46.199 --> 01:19:48.020 them in TV ads and just shame on them and 1628 01:19:48.439 --> 01:19:50.220 go the F away. Get out of our state. Those 1629 01:19:50.520 --> 01:19:53.220 Republicans pushing those ads. It was awful. And I'm glad 1630 01:19:53.810 --> 01:19:56.460 I'm glad that they were humiliated and destroyed for the 1631 01:19:56.500 --> 01:20:01.779 tactics that they used. So anyway, yeah, I'm feeling refreshed 1632 01:20:02.819 --> 01:20:03.520 and more hopeful. 1633 01:20:05.130 --> 01:20:06.729 All right. That's what I wanted to hear right there. 1634 01:20:07.970 --> 01:20:10.270 Yeah, I could go on. I could go on, but 1635 01:20:11.310 --> 01:20:15.699 I'll probably pause there. iPhone users, if you're listening to 1636 01:20:15.760 --> 01:20:18.550 us on the Native Podcast app on your iPhone, You 1637 01:20:18.569 --> 01:20:22.390 can unlock our commercial-free versions of our free shows by 1638 01:20:22.430 --> 01:20:26.220 searching PWTorch in Apple Podcasts. You'll see a charcoal gray 1639 01:20:26.260 --> 01:20:28.859 logo that says PWTorch VIP on it. Click on that. 1640 01:20:28.899 --> 01:20:31.300 There's some free samples of VIP shows, and you can 1641 01:20:31.539 --> 01:20:35.399 unlock the entire VIP lineup, which includes VIP exclusives plus 1642 01:20:35.439 --> 01:20:39.090 commercial-free versions of the free shows by searching PWTorch in 1643 01:20:39.289 --> 01:20:42.170 Apple Podcasts and clicking on the PWTorch VIP logo. and 1644 01:20:42.189 --> 01:20:44.470 then activate your three-day free trial. And after that, you 1645 01:20:44.489 --> 01:20:47.529 can become a VIP member using your Apple account. It's 1646 01:20:47.550 --> 01:20:50.550 that easy. Enjoy a streamlined listening experience to our free 1647 01:20:50.590 --> 01:20:54.859 shows and unlock all the VIP exclusives, including our post-pay-per-view roundtables, 1648 01:20:55.039 --> 01:20:57.779 the Wade Keller news bulletins, everything with Rich and Wade, 1649 01:20:58.020 --> 01:21:00.279 the fix that I host with Todd Martin, and a 1650 01:21:00.340 --> 01:21:04.020 variety of other VIP exclusives. Just search PWTorch in your 1651 01:21:04.079 --> 01:21:06.979 Apple Podcast app. Go on, Darrell. 1652 01:21:08.060 --> 01:21:11.170 Okay, to get back, wrestling, I guess. 1653 01:21:11.189 --> 01:21:13.689 To talk about what y'all was saying, I liked the 1654 01:21:13.729 --> 01:21:17.390 moment that Johnny and Sammy had backstage. It was like 1655 01:21:17.729 --> 01:21:20.850 Johnny coming up to Sammy and trying to convince Sammy 1656 01:21:20.909 --> 01:21:25.850 from feeling bad that he left Jimmy out there, feeling 1657 01:21:25.899 --> 01:21:30.979 bad for what he did. He was starting to second 1658 01:21:31.020 --> 01:21:34.840 guess himself, but then when Johnny came and said what 1659 01:21:34.859 --> 01:21:39.760 he said to him, it snapped Sammy back into

his 1660 01:21:39.800 --> 01:21:42.619 thought process and him thinking that oh I did this 1661 01:21:42.659 --> 01:21:44.239 for a reason it was a good thing for what 1662 01:21:44.310 --> 01:21:47.250 I did and made him get back into that delusional 1663 01:21:47.289 --> 01:21:50.069 way of thinking all of this came full circle to 1664 01:21:50.090 --> 01:21:52.890 me and it was like him doing what he did 1665 01:21:53.109 --> 01:21:56.430 and this whole show tonight let you know how important 1666 01:21:56.489 --> 01:21:59.739 the bloodline was to Sammy and how it shaped this 1667 01:21:59.800 --> 01:22:03.460 Sammy that we got today and how he take different 1668 01:22:03.479 --> 01:22:06.420 stuff from what he learned from Roman or saw Roman 1669 01:22:06.460 --> 01:22:11.359 did to him and everybody else And I just appreciated that. 1670 01:22:11.479 --> 01:22:13.359 And I appreciated what they did back there in that 1671 01:22:13.439 --> 01:22:16.350 segment with Sammy and Johnny. 1672 01:22:16.989 --> 01:22:17.170 Yep. 1673 01:22:17.310 --> 01:22:18.670 Your mic's rubbing your cheek again, by the way. 1674 01:22:19.409 --> 01:22:19.789 I got you. 1675 01:22:20.170 --> 01:22:21.090 Yep. 1676 01:22:21.210 --> 01:22:21.390 Yep. 1677 01:22:22.069 --> 01:22:24.369 You know, I'm with you, Darrell, on those comments. 1678 01:22:26.369 --> 01:22:29.449 Then next would be, I think I was getting into 1679 01:22:29.470 --> 01:22:30.180 it with Chelsea. 1680 01:22:30.810 --> 01:22:34.159 Now they're getting a little bit too into it with 1681 01:22:34.199 --> 01:22:38.300 that second guessing herself and stuff like that. I guess 1682 01:22:38.319 --> 01:22:40.739 they wanted to call attention to it today. But that 1683 01:22:40.779 --> 01:22:43.470 should have happened a week or two ago when they 1684 01:22:43.479 --> 01:22:46.550 had her stand up for herself finally and get past it. 1685 01:22:46.590 --> 01:22:50.579 But I guess since it was a throwaway episode, kind of, 1686 01:22:50.590 --> 01:22:52.510 sort of, they wanted to have her come out there 1687 01:22:52.550 --> 01:22:54.350 and say that and stuff. I like the things that 1688 01:22:54.369 --> 01:22:57.369 she said, but I think it was a week too late. 1689 01:22:58.369 --> 01:23:00.289 You could have went past it and not had her 1690 01:23:00.329 --> 01:23:03.090 say anything because we got the gist of it last week. 1691 01:23:05.640 --> 01:23:07.340 Yeah, we haven't talked about this yet. I like this 1692 01:23:07.439 --> 01:23:13.130 segment a lot. I understand. We've been talking about Chelsea 1693 01:23:13.149 --> 01:23:15.630 for weeks, which is, has she shown too much confidence? 1694 01:23:16.329 --> 01:23:20.430 Is it a natural progression? The longer she holds a title, 1695 01:23:20.909 --> 01:23:23.340 the better. But to have Liv say the things that 1696 01:23:23.359 --> 01:23:30.920 were very biting coming into this week, I think Chelsea confessing, 1697 01:23:31.279 --> 01:23:33.359 that she can sit there and say, it doesn't bother me, 1698 01:23:33.399 --> 01:23:35.300 but I need to let everybody know it does. And 1699 01:23:35.319 --> 01:23:38.920 I'm emotional today because going into Crown Jewel, winning means 1700 01:23:39.000 --> 01:23:41.050 everything because I need to show that all the things 1701 01:23:41.060 --> 01:23:45.329 that Liv has said aren't true. But the reason isn't 1702 01:23:45.390 --> 01:23:48.909 because I know they're not true. It's that I'm fearful 1703 01:23:48.949 --> 01:23:51.630 they might be true. And beating Liv at Crown Jewel 1704 01:23:51.649 --> 01:23:54.029 is the only way to prove to myself, much less others, 1705 01:23:54.100 --> 01:23:58.140 that it's not. And to me, this whole story with 1706 01:23:58.199 --> 01:24:00.819 Liv and Chelsea and Chelsea's whole reign was leading to 1707 01:24:00.859 --> 01:24:04.079 this moment, you can say, well, if they knew they 1708 01:24:04.100 --> 01:24:05.239 were going to end up at this moment, they could 1709 01:24:05.260 --> 01:24:07.739 have taken a different journey to get there. And that's fine. 1710 01:24:07.779 --> 01:24:10.460 Maybe they didn't really have this exact promo in mind, 1711 01:24:10.520 --> 01:24:13.079 but I think the journey we've been on with Chelsea 1712 01:24:13.380 --> 01:24:15.649 has been a mix of, of, oh my God, I 1713 01:24:15.689 --> 01:24:19.489 can't believe I'm a champion. Isn't this amazing too? I better, 1714 01:24:20.109 --> 01:24:23.130 I have an imposter syndrome behind this, this facade, but 1715 01:24:23.149 --> 01:24:25.449 I need to project confidence because that's what champions do. 1716 01:24:26.550 --> 01:24:29.329 And then Liv says those things and it breaks the facade. 1717 01:24:29.489 --> 01:24:32.689 She has self-doubt. She confesses it emotionally. And I thought 1718 01:24:32.710 --> 01:24:35.229 a good performance convincingly, Nick, all this, his facial expressions 1719 01:24:35.250 --> 01:24:38.850 were great too. And I, I, to me, it made, 1720 01:24:39.470 --> 01:24:42.630 it brought the ups and downs that I think they 1721 01:24:42.710 --> 01:24:48.100 crafted intentionally to a, to a, uh, it culminated in 1722 01:24:48.770 --> 01:24:51.659 what I crave, which is, yeah, you're, everyone's going to 1723 01:24:51.680 --> 01:24:54.159 be rooting for Chelsea and they're going to care about 1724 01:24:54.199 --> 01:24:56.770 the outcome. Not just if the wrestling is good. There 1725 01:24:56.789 --> 01:25:00.470 was a little bit of that. Like it wasn't fourth 1726 01:25:00.489 --> 01:25:02.909 wall breaking and meta, but you can look at it 1727 01:25:02.949 --> 01:25:05.010 that way too. I have a question. I'll probably cover 1728 01:25:05.029 --> 01:25:06.970 Sunday in the way Keller hotline for VIP members about this, 1729 01:25:07.010 --> 01:25:09.460 which is, you know, our live in Chelsea, really the 1730 01:25:09.500 --> 01:25:12.000 best representation of was Nick Aldis said

the deepest women's 1731 01:25:12.020 --> 01:25:15.560 division WWE's ever had. Do they belong there with all 1732 01:25:15.579 --> 01:25:18.899 the other choices? And Chris Lansdale to our podcast listeners 1733 01:25:18.920 --> 01:25:24.930 shaking his head. No, that plays into Chelsea's imposter syndrome. 1734 01:25:25.199 --> 01:25:30.180 her sense of inferiority. She lucked into it. It was interim. 1735 01:25:30.239 --> 01:25:33.550 It's only because Rhea's injured. So for this match, it works. 1736 01:25:33.779 --> 01:25:35.710 You can think Chelsea and Liv aren't the best WWE 1737 01:25:35.750 --> 01:25:37.670 has to offer, but still want Chelsea to prove she's 1738 01:25:37.689 --> 01:25:40.270 better than Liv. So I think it works. Chris, what 1739 01:25:40.649 --> 01:25:41.029 are your thoughts? 1740 01:25:41.550 --> 01:25:44.890 I think Chelsea Green's imposter syndrome is so strong that 1741 01:25:45.210 --> 01:25:48.210 she's actually convinced that her imposter syndrome is an imposter. 1742 01:25:48.590 --> 01:25:52.189 And that's where the confidence came from. The problem I 1743 01:25:52.229 --> 01:25:55.039 had with this segment was twofold. I thought at the 1744 01:25:55.079 --> 01:25:59.350 start of it, Chelsea was being genuine about mental health struggles. 1745 01:25:59.529 --> 01:26:01.649 And I was ready to praise this to high heavens 1746 01:26:01.729 --> 01:26:05.310 because I need more of that on TV. I think 1747 01:26:05.989 --> 01:26:10.329 she went a little too far and came across more 1748 01:26:10.569 --> 01:26:14.630 meek than she did vulnerable. I think it almost made 1749 01:26:14.670 --> 01:26:17.949 her feel like she had no chance and that she 1750 01:26:18.140 --> 01:26:21.359 did deserve to feel this way because she wasn't good enough. 1751 01:26:22.000 --> 01:26:24.529 And that's a tough one to walk. It could have 1752 01:26:24.569 --> 01:26:27.510 been rescued if the fire up at the end had 1753 01:26:27.550 --> 01:26:30.449 been stronger. But I don't think she went far enough 1754 01:26:30.829 --> 01:26:33.140 with the fire and the passion at the end before 1755 01:26:33.229 --> 01:26:36.380 Liv came out and before she got beaten back down 1756 01:26:36.460 --> 01:26:39.220 again to show that there was any confidence there that 1757 01:26:39.260 --> 01:26:41.460 had built. And then when Liv came down and tore 1758 01:26:41.479 --> 01:26:46.109 her down again, it didn't just undo any of the positives. 1759 01:26:46.170 --> 01:26:48.970 It just made it feel worse. Liv, for her part, 1760 01:26:49.710 --> 01:26:51.590 seems to be getting worse every time I see her. 1761 01:26:52.149 --> 01:26:56.300 That felt so unnatural from her and so scripted. And 1762 01:26:56.340 --> 01:27:01.020 the forced all time thing is just, that was not 1763 01:27:01.100 --> 01:27:03.899 the promo for a catchphrase. If you're going to go 1764 01:27:03.939 --> 01:27:08.039 with a genuine self-doubt thing, Liv coming out and being 1765 01:27:08.100 --> 01:27:12.260 catchphrase McGee damages what you're trying to do there because 1766 01:27:12.279 --> 01:27:15.859 it doesn't feel genuine. I get what they were going for. 1767 01:27:15.960 --> 01:27:18.729 I just think one went too far. And then one 1768 01:27:18.750 --> 01:27:20.680 just didn't put enough genuine feeling into it. 1769 01:27:23.210 --> 01:27:23.909 Yeah. Okay. 1770 01:27:24.409 --> 01:27:27.229 I mean, I think that's a, you're, you're not critiquing 1771 01:27:27.529 --> 01:27:30.310 the story as much as the execution of the story. 1772 01:27:30.350 --> 01:27:30.750 Exactly. 1773 01:27:30.890 --> 01:27:31.369 Yeah. Yeah. 1774 01:27:31.470 --> 01:27:32.909 And I, and I can, cause I was mostly defending 1775 01:27:32.939 --> 01:27:36.699 the story. I can see that. I could see this, 1776 01:27:37.520 --> 01:27:41.060 that in retrospect, the segment would have benefited from Chelsea 1777 01:27:41.699 --> 01:27:43.640 having a moment that put a little bit of fear 1778 01:27:44.260 --> 01:27:47.640 in live or made fear had live go. Oh crap. 1779 01:27:48.739 --> 01:27:51.359 I have, you know, and then give people a little taste, 1780 01:27:51.760 --> 01:27:54.770 a little sample. And now I want to go watch 1781 01:27:54.779 --> 01:27:56.510 Crown Jewel to see Liv get what she knows she 1782 01:27:56.550 --> 01:27:58.630 has coming. I get that. I'm not as down on 1783 01:27:58.670 --> 01:28:02.770 Liv's character. I mean, I don't want to be overly 1784 01:28:02.810 --> 01:28:05.590 generous with this, but being really annoyed by a heel 1785 01:28:05.710 --> 01:28:08.989 is the job of a heel. And their catchphrase isn't 1786 01:28:09.090 --> 01:28:11.069 trying to be the next great thing that sells t-shirts 1787 01:28:11.109 --> 01:28:15.449 and gets people to communally chant it. Sometimes... saying something 1788 01:28:15.510 --> 01:28:18.130 is meant to be grating and unentertaining and, and. 1789 01:28:18.270 --> 01:28:18.850 And annoying. 1790 01:28:18.890 --> 01:28:21.770 And I, I, I feel like there's a self-awareness with that. 1791 01:28:21.789 --> 01:28:26.210 She's not trying to be cool. And I mean, I was, 1792 01:28:26.569 --> 01:28:30.210 I've been super hard on, on Liv and the fake laugh. And, 1793 01:28:30.609 --> 01:28:32.560 you know, I mean, I know they really believe in 1794 01:28:32.600 --> 01:28:34.779 her and they gave her, you know, multiple gimmick changes 1795 01:28:34.899 --> 01:28:36.739 and all these things. Cause they just like, we've got 1796 01:28:36.760 --> 01:28:39.800 to find something. There's something here. And I, I don't 1797 01:28:40.239 --> 01:28:42.840 think she's, I'm with you. I don't think she's the 1798 01:28:42.859 --> 01:28:44.500 best that WWE has to offer, but I understand kind 1799 01:28:44.520 --> 01:28:49.880 of rotating things. So things seem fresh again. But it feels, 1800 01:28:50.020 --> 01:28:51.760 it does feel like a third from the top feud 1801 01:28:51.819

--> 01:28:54.100 more than a main event between the two women's champions. 1802 01:28:54.180 --> 01:28:58.180 So I concede that. But I don't think the best 1803 01:28:58.319 --> 01:29:00.619 four women always need to be fighting for the world 1804 01:29:00.699 --> 01:29:02.859 titles at all times or it gets stale. 1805 01:29:03.420 --> 01:29:05.220 I think there's a couple of things that you can 1806 01:29:05.260 --> 01:29:07.180 give them some grace on. The fact that they've lost 1807 01:29:07.260 --> 01:29:11.880 Rhea and Stephanie Fakir unexpectedly. They've had more time to 1808 01:29:11.939 --> 01:29:14.420 adjust to Rhea, of course, but Stephanie they didn't see 1809 01:29:14.460 --> 01:29:18.739 being gone for this long. But when it comes to Liv... 1810 01:29:19.149 --> 01:29:21.550 I don't want to see her lose because of this heel. 1811 01:29:21.630 --> 01:29:23.470 I just don't want to see her. That's where she's 1812 01:29:23.510 --> 01:29:25.630 got to. It's got beyond the point where she's the 1813 01:29:25.649 --> 01:29:27.229 heel I want to see get beaten up. I just 1814 01:29:27.430 --> 01:29:28.369 don't really want to see her. 1815 01:29:28.310 --> 01:29:29.670 At the moment. Yeah. 1816 01:29:29.949 --> 01:29:32.010 And I don't feel that way, but I know others do. So, 1817 01:29:32.130 --> 01:29:34.449 you know, I acknowledge that. A couple of chat comments. 1818 01:29:34.470 --> 01:29:38.590 I'll throw it back to Darrell. Crofton says Chelsea has 1819 01:29:38.670 --> 01:29:42.000 to win. Derek Mitchell says, I like Chelsea in this 1820 01:29:42.039 --> 01:29:44.180 segment as well as heading into tomorrow's match. And her 1821 01:29:44.199 --> 01:29:48.819 vulnerability is enduring. endearing and she seems like she and 1822 01:29:48.840 --> 01:29:51.779 then it dropped off um oh he had a follow-up 1823 01:29:51.840 --> 01:29:53.649 let me do this i like chelsea in this segment 1824 01:29:53.670 --> 01:29:55.590 as well heading into tomorrow's match and her vulnerability is 1825 01:29:55.630 --> 01:29:58.050 endearing and she's enduring or endearing and she seems like 1826 01:29:58.069 --> 01:30:00.449 she's going to win crown jewel as live doesn't need 1827 01:30:00.850 --> 01:30:05.649 a second crown jewel title yes um okay so check 1828 01:30:05.689 --> 01:30:09.140 that uh standard aviation said somewhere a little girl out 1829 01:30:09.159 --> 01:30:12.119 there connected with chelsea's promo and potentially just became a 1830 01:30:12.159 --> 01:30:14.779 lifelong wrestling fan wasn't for everyone, but these are the 1831 01:30:14.819 --> 01:30:17.859 stories that hook certain people. And you were kind of 1832 01:30:17.960 --> 01:30:18.619 alluding to that, Chris. 1833 01:30:19.359 --> 01:30:21.869 Yes, exactly. That's the mental health angle, right? That's the 1834 01:30:21.890 --> 01:30:23.510 way of making it important. 1835 01:30:24.729 --> 01:30:30.470 Yeah. And I think there's a natural healthy self-doubt that 1836 01:30:30.489 --> 01:30:33.789 can be motivating and just ground you into not being delusional. 1837 01:30:34.340 --> 01:30:37.779 That isn't a mental health crisis, but there are people, 1838 01:30:38.640 --> 01:30:41.460 and I think she's entering that territory, Chris, as you 1839 01:30:41.520 --> 01:30:43.720 see it, which is, It is a mental health issue 1840 01:30:43.739 --> 01:30:47.760 when you doubt yourself so much that you're just consumed 1841 01:30:48.159 --> 01:30:52.000 by self-doubt, imposter syndrome. I'm not good enough. And she's, 1842 01:30:52.840 --> 01:30:56.100 I think, intentionally tapping into that with this arc, which 1843 01:30:56.180 --> 01:30:58.720 is I wear this mask of confidence, but it takes 1844 01:30:58.779 --> 01:31:00.180 all my energy to do it. And I just want 1845 01:31:00.199 --> 01:31:01.600 to prove I don't need the mask. I want to 1846 01:31:01.619 --> 01:31:02.739 just genuinely be confident. 1847 01:31:03.680 --> 01:31:05.619 I highly recommend it for those of you who haven't 1848 01:31:05.680 --> 01:31:10.199 heard of it to look up rejection sensitive dysphoria. which 1849 01:31:10.399 --> 01:31:15.310 is literally the worst mental health condition that I suffer from. 1850 01:31:15.430 --> 01:31:17.850 And a lot of my close friends do. And it 1851 01:31:17.869 --> 01:31:22.090 just sounds like similar to what Chelsea feels. It is awful. 1852 01:31:22.789 --> 01:31:26.029 And I would trade an amplification of every other issue 1853 01:31:26.090 --> 01:31:29.600 I deal with to get rid of that one. So yeah, 1854 01:31:29.680 --> 01:31:33.859 just that's what it feels like there. But that's a 1855 01:31:34.220 --> 01:31:36.260 slightly different topic. I don't want to get too tangential 1856 01:31:36.319 --> 01:31:36.779 on that. 1857 01:31:36.819 --> 01:31:37.239 Fair enough. 1858 01:31:37.520 --> 01:31:37.640 Yep. 1859 01:31:38.590 --> 01:31:40.609 A couple other chat comments. We're back to Darrell. Pallover 1860 01:31:40.649 --> 01:31:42.640 Pete says, now that Green has confessed her doubts, there 1861 01:31:42.659 --> 01:31:47.220 needs to be a catalyst to a confident champ. Crofton says, 1862 01:31:47.260 --> 01:31:49.220 I agree with standard deviation. This promo will mean a 1863 01:31:49.260 --> 01:31:55.140 lot to some people. And Crofton says, I think that 1864 01:31:55.279 --> 01:31:57.380 fire Chris is describing will come in the actual match. 1865 01:31:57.399 --> 01:31:59.930 I also thought Liz Ketchray's worked in this context to 1866 01:31:59.939 --> 01:32:03.449 serve as the overconfidence to Chelsea's doubt. And she's not 1867 01:32:03.470 --> 01:32:05.850 just overconfident. She's doing it to get under the skin 1868 01:32:05.890 --> 01:32:08.960 of people to just, be, just be like, I'm, I'm 1869 01:32:09.000 --> 01:32:12.800 just going to annoy you all time. She's not doing it. 1870 01:32:12.819 --> 01:32:14.800 She thinks she's clever. She's doing it because she knows 1871

01:32:14.859 --> 01:32:19.529 it's annoying the people she's saying that to. Um, yeah. 1872 01:32:19.829 --> 01:32:20.609 All right. 1873 01:32:21.930 --> 01:32:24.430 Three things coming out with what you guys said. Okay. 1874 01:32:25.130 --> 01:32:30.680 Um, first the live character, I think she had enough good, um, 1875 01:32:31.369 --> 01:32:35.609 competition or competitors to evolve her character into different things 1876 01:32:35.720 --> 01:32:39.020 and different levels. So she's been on that same one 1877 01:32:39.100 --> 01:32:42.239 note and annoying people to get the heat that she 1878 01:32:42.300 --> 01:32:45.159 needs because she haven't had the characters to push her 1879 01:32:45.439 --> 01:32:48.699 to evolve her character into different types of things. So 1880 01:32:48.840 --> 01:32:51.140 this is kind of the first story that she could 1881 01:32:51.239 --> 01:32:55.189 probably evolve her character, but it's a short story and 1882 01:32:55.270 --> 01:32:56.369 it's champ versus champ. 1883 01:32:56.449 --> 01:32:57.430 So that's one. 1884 01:32:57.949 --> 01:33:01.899 Two, I like what Chris said. And you can tell 1885 01:33:01.920 --> 01:33:06.210 that Chelsea didn't have a lot to talk about. She 1886 01:33:06.250 --> 01:33:08.750 wanted to get on that mental health type of thing, 1887 01:33:09.069 --> 01:33:11.090 but she needed a little bit more. If they would 1888 01:33:11.109 --> 01:33:14.270 have had Liv come out a little bit earlier before 1889 01:33:14.310 --> 01:33:19.010 she fired up and then allow Liv to break her 1890 01:33:19.050 --> 01:33:22.529 down like she did and then give Chelsea the point 1891 01:33:22.590 --> 01:33:24.689 to fire up. Even if you didn't want to give 1892 01:33:24.729 --> 01:33:26.850 her the last word, you still could have let her 1893 01:33:26.930 --> 01:33:29.170 fire it up and she could have used that, what 1894 01:33:29.590 --> 01:33:32.779 Liv said, plus that, what she said earlier. and that 1895 01:33:32.819 --> 01:33:35.539 probably would have increased the firing up, and she wouldn't 1896 01:33:35.560 --> 01:33:37.279 have had to stretch it for so long. 1897 01:33:37.659 --> 01:33:40.149 So that as a whole. 1898 01:33:40.890 --> 01:33:43.989 And the thing that you said, Wade, about these two 1899 01:33:44.050 --> 01:33:47.409 might not be, like, it's like third to the top 1900 01:33:47.470 --> 01:33:49.770 or something like that, where you talk about the women 1901 01:33:50.149 --> 01:33:53.140 facing each other. I feel like this, though, as of 1902 01:33:53.199 --> 01:33:57.579 right now, Chelsea fits the role of somebody that could 1903 01:33:57.600 --> 01:34:02.409 be champion because she's different than Rhea Williams, And Bianca, 1904 01:34:02.609 --> 01:34:06.170 who they can tell more stories with the in-ring ability 1905 01:34:06.729 --> 01:34:14.470 and the character bravado that they've given them as, you know, megastars, confident, 1906 01:34:14.550 --> 01:34:16.649 can

go out there, kick it in the ring and 1907 01:34:16.670 --> 01:34:19.939 stuff like that. She fits because you can tell, get 1908 01:34:20.020 --> 01:34:23.220 in depth with the story that you can tell with her, 1909 01:34:23.239 --> 01:34:25.199 something that they ain't had in a while. where you 1910 01:34:25.239 --> 01:34:29.000 can tell multiple stories with the confidence, with the losing 1911 01:34:29.020 --> 01:34:29.600 the confidence. 1912 01:34:29.689 --> 01:34:33.109 With the faking it till you make it. Because I 1913 01:34:33.350 --> 01:34:34.390 used to hear that all the time. 1914 01:34:34.409 --> 01:34:37.130 Fake it until you make it into the place. And 1915 01:34:37.189 --> 01:34:39.310 you can tell all these stories with her. That's how 1916 01:34:39.409 --> 01:34:42.180 she fits along. And it's just something different. 1917 01:34:49.899 --> 01:34:52.899 Are you a fan of AEW looking to sit back, relax, 1918 01:34:53.020 --> 01:34:55.970 and listen to some like-minded podcasters who share your passion? 1919 01:34:56.569 --> 01:34:58.390 Do you want to be talked off the ledge after 1920 01:34:58.409 --> 01:35:00.630 a segment that has you wondering what the heck are 1921 01:35:00.649 --> 01:35:01.170 they thinking? 1922 01:35:01.789 --> 01:35:04.229 Do you want to join a discussion on what AEW 1923 01:35:04.310 --> 01:35:06.760 is doing right and what they could do to improve? 1924 01:35:07.140 --> 01:35:08.199 Then join me, Joel. 1925 01:35:08.539 --> 01:35:11.279 And me, Greg, for the All Elite Conversation Club every 1926 01:35:11.319 --> 01:35:15.710 Friday on the PWTorch Livecast feed. Search PWTorch in your 1927 01:35:15.750 --> 01:35:19.569 podcast app and subscribe to PWTorch Dailycast or stream our 1928 01:35:19.609 --> 01:35:23.930 shows directly from PWTorch.com. Find full details on the PWTorch 1929 01:35:23.949 --> 01:35:27.630 Dailycast lineup at PWTorchDailycast.com. 1930 01:35:36.600 --> 01:35:38.939 Going back to your point about both your point about 1931 01:35:38.960 --> 01:35:41.520 showing fire at the end to get her fans just 1932 01:35:41.539 --> 01:35:45.189 kind of, you know, riled up and excited. it's possible 1933 01:35:45.210 --> 01:35:47.850 they just don't think or genuinely she doesn't think she's 1934 01:35:47.989 --> 01:35:51.609 good at that. Like they might've thought like you're pulling 1935 01:35:51.640 --> 01:35:54.350 all this off, but when you get fired up, it 1936 01:35:54.479 --> 01:35:56.020 actually isn't the note we want to end on. It's 1937 01:35:56.060 --> 01:36:00.840 not your strength. And maybe, I mean, I'm not even, 1938 01:36:01.060 --> 01:36:03.319 I'm not even, I haven't thought long enough to think, 1939 01:36:03.359 --> 01:36:04.640 have I seen her do it? Would she be good? 1940 01:36:04.899 --> 01:36:06.680 But I'm just thrown out there. Like occasionally they don't 1941 01:36:06.760 --> 01:36:09.380 do something because it's just not the strength of the rest. 1942 01:36:09.460 --> 01:36:12.430 Even though they'd ask, most other wrestlers to do that, 1943 01:36:12.869 --> 01:36:16.270 they might think that actually will seem phony or performative 1944 01:36:16.329 --> 01:36:18.970 or undercut what the message of the promo was because 1945 01:36:19.050 --> 01:36:22.029 she won't seem genuine and to be fired up, she 1946 01:36:22.100 --> 01:36:24.079 actually has to beat Liv first and they could have 1947 01:36:24.100 --> 01:36:24.920 made that creative decision. 1948 01:36:26.939 --> 01:36:29.279 Or to make it so her fans are the ones 1949 01:36:29.300 --> 01:36:31.399 who fire her up in the match like most of 1950 01:36:31.439 --> 01:36:34.840 her matches have been. That the people get behind her 1951 01:36:34.880 --> 01:36:38.350 so much and fire her up and carry her over 1952 01:36:38.390 --> 01:36:41.149 the finish line and give her the belief And maybe 1953 01:36:41.170 --> 01:36:43.590 that's part of the story as well. And this is 1954 01:36:43.649 --> 01:36:47.210 a continuation because we know where the future of her 1955 01:36:47.289 --> 01:36:51.060 is heading per se is with Tiffany and the betrayal 1956 01:36:51.500 --> 01:36:53.960 and stuff like that. So you might get to see, 1957 01:36:54.020 --> 01:36:56.359 we probably finally get to see that fire up when 1958 01:36:56.380 --> 01:36:58.000 you get to that portion of the story. 1959 01:36:58.260 --> 01:36:59.880 So this is just a chapter in the. 1960 01:36:59.880 --> 01:37:02.670 Building of, and we call it the book of building 1961 01:37:02.729 --> 01:37:06.590 Chelsea Green into someone, into a champion we can believe in. 1962 01:37:06.949 --> 01:37:07.149 Yeah. 1963 01:37:07.550 --> 01:37:09.770 Daryl, let's be kind of fast with the other points 1964 01:37:09.789 --> 01:37:12.079 just because I got, We're 12 hours away from the 1965 01:37:12.100 --> 01:37:13.939 start of the show, and I want to actually produce 1966 01:37:13.960 --> 01:37:15.119 it and give people a chance to listen to it 1967 01:37:15.140 --> 01:37:16.039 before the match, too. 1968 01:37:16.260 --> 01:37:18.880 Oh, we're good. 1969 01:37:19.039 --> 01:37:22.310 That was the only two things that really was big 1970 01:37:22.350 --> 01:37:24.029 for me that I really wanted to talk about was 1971 01:37:24.090 --> 01:37:25.470 those two things right there. 1972 01:37:26.109 --> 01:37:29.270 Yeah, I was aiming to record about 90 minutes and 1973 01:37:29.289 --> 01:37:29.590 clock out. 1974 01:37:29.630 --> 01:37:29.930 We're there. 1975 01:37:31.090 --> 01:37:31.930 I mean, I know Chris. 1976 01:37:32.170 --> 01:37:35.029 You got the wrong co-host, bro. 1977 01:37:35.220 --> 01:37:37.439 And I'm not trying to cut people off. I'm just 1978 01:37:37.479 --> 01:37:40.560 saying I'm not settling in at this point for– another 1979 01:37:40.600 --> 01:37:43.140 half hour. I kind of want to do hit our points. 1980 01:37:44.560 --> 01:37:45.720 I want to cover the points we've got to

cover, 1981 01:37:45.760 --> 01:37:47.399 but do so without it being sort of the long 1982 01:37:47.460 --> 01:37:49.739 form of them. Um, there's times for that, but this 1983 01:37:49.789 --> 01:37:51.729 isn't the night with the PLE starting at 12 hours. 1984 01:37:51.789 --> 01:37:53.529 So draw, if you got nothing else, we'll let you 1985 01:37:53.569 --> 01:37:54.810 go and look forward to next time. 1986 01:37:55.590 --> 01:37:57.529 All right. Nice talking to you. Great. Yep. 1987 01:37:57.689 --> 01:37:57.869 Yep. 1988 01:37:57.890 --> 01:37:58.609 Appreciate you, my man. 1989 01:37:59.329 --> 01:38:01.829 Glad we saved the, uh, Chelsea live discussion for heaven 1990 01:38:02.109 --> 01:38:05.409 when I was on. Um, so rapid fire here, anything 1991 01:38:05.600 --> 01:38:07.920 to say about how Damien Priest, Nathan Frazier was handled 1992 01:38:08.300 --> 01:38:12.380 the way the match finished. um you know just uh 1993 01:38:12.439 --> 01:38:15.140 the refs determining he couldn't continue i mean like why 1994 01:38:15.159 --> 01:38:17.659 is that the rest decision either count him out or 1995 01:38:17.699 --> 01:38:19.060 let the opponent throw him in the ring and pin 1996 01:38:19.100 --> 01:38:22.710 him unless you know his arm is you know dislocated 1997 01:38:22.770 --> 01:38:24.689 or something what how does this work for you. 1998 01:38:25.029 --> 01:38:26.930 I don't think did the bell even ring to start 1999 01:38:26.970 --> 01:38:29.130 the match on that one so i think that was 2000 01:38:29.149 --> 01:38:31.149 more of a there isn't going to be a match 2001 01:38:31.170 --> 01:38:34.329 because he's too injured to start you know you're always saying. 2002 01:38:34.069 --> 01:38:36.229 I thought it did check and in my note i 2003 01:38:36.270 --> 01:38:37.989 said the ref called for the bell 20 minutes into 2004 01:38:38.020 --> 01:38:41.409 the hour after they because frazier leaped on priest at 2005 01:38:41.479 --> 01:38:45.840 ringside then threw him into the ring um or priest 2006 01:38:45.880 --> 01:38:47.739 charged into the ring afterwards and i think that's when 2007 01:38:47.760 --> 01:38:49.380 the ref called for the bell i think it did ring. 2008 01:38:49.520 --> 01:38:52.449 Okay I mean, refs should be stopping the match if 2009 01:38:52.470 --> 01:38:54.649 they think someone is too injured to continue. If there's 2010 01:38:54.710 --> 01:38:57.529 a health concern, if you're worried that somebody might be 2011 01:38:57.569 --> 01:38:59.310 seriously injured if you carry on. 2012 01:38:59.750 --> 01:39:00.350 Was that enough? 2013 01:39:01.789 --> 01:39:03.529 No. We've seen way worse. 2014 01:39:03.550 --> 01:39:04.310 That's my point. 2015 01:39:04.369 --> 01:39:05.010 Yeah. Yeah. 2016 01:39:05.109 --> 01:39:07.149 That's my point. That's why I said if you have 2017 01:39:07.170 --> 01:39:09.789 a Sid Vicious injury where the leg just snaps, the 2018 01:39:09.810 --> 01:39:13.050 bone snaps, or someone is paralyzed, obviously, if you tell 2019 01:39:13.090 --> 01:39:14.250 that story, but you don't really want to tell that 2020 01:39:14.270 --> 01:39:16.789 story because then people get really worried, you know, about paralysis. So, 2021 01:39:17.609 --> 01:39:19.029 understandably so. So, anyway. 2022 01:39:19.529 --> 01:39:19.949 Yeah. 2023 01:39:20.609 --> 01:39:22.039 This is just a small, you know, it's just such 2024 01:39:22.060 --> 01:39:24.899 a small part of the show anyway. Uh, then, uh, 2025 01:39:26.819 --> 01:39:30.359 let's see, we had the Meechan and B-Fab against Laney 2026 01:39:30.399 --> 01:39:34.199 Reed and Fallon Henley that led to a lot of 2027 01:39:34.220 --> 01:39:36.319 other things, a lot of other things setting up war 2028 01:39:36.340 --> 01:39:39.880 games with the promo afterwards where, um, Bailey Bliss, Charlotte 2029 01:39:39.899 --> 01:39:44.720 Pack and Paxley, um, we're talking about, you know, that, uh, 2030 01:39:44.899 --> 01:39:47.699 we're going to war. Um, is that right? Bailey, Charlotte 2031 01:39:47.729 --> 01:39:49.250 live in Paxley. Yeah. And they're like, we're ready to 2032 01:39:49.289 --> 01:39:52.119 go to war, you know, a lesson on a war 2033 01:39:52.140 --> 01:39:52.560 game thing. 2034 01:39:52.579 --> 01:39:52.819 Yeah. 2035 01:39:52.939 --> 01:39:54.739 I was going to say maybe some sort of game, 2036 01:39:55.619 --> 01:39:59.529 but that whole thing from the promo, the fatal influence cut, 2037 01:39:59.550 --> 01:40:02.850 like did they cut that promo in a posh department store? 2038 01:40:03.050 --> 01:40:06.229 Like where the heck were they? Is that just a backstage? 2039 01:40:06.250 --> 01:40:09.109 I know. I was wondering the same thing. 2040 01:40:09.439 --> 01:40:11.739 Like, I'm planning to go to New York City once 2041 01:40:11.779 --> 01:40:13.739 I'm actually allowed to come to your country again. And 2042 01:40:13.779 --> 01:40:15.449 I'm like, I was going to go to Madison Square 2043 01:40:15.470 --> 01:40:17.069 Garden for a ballgame. I think I need to go 2044 01:40:17.130 --> 01:40:20.109 to the Barclays Center. But that match, like, you had 2045 01:40:20.550 --> 01:40:22.109 two heel teams. It was never going to come to 2046 01:40:22.130 --> 01:40:24.069 a finish. I'm surprised it went as long as it did. 2047 01:40:24.829 --> 01:40:28.720 But that whole run-in schmoz, it made no sense. And 2048 01:40:28.739 --> 01:40:32.039 it was such a transparent setup for war games that 2049 01:40:32.300 --> 01:40:35.279 it's just whatever. I'm sure you could have found a 2050 01:40:35.300 --> 01:40:39.529 better way to get to this. yeah it was what it. 2051 01:40:39.520 --> 01:40:43.189 Was yeah it fell into the category of it was 2052 01:40:43.289 --> 01:40:47.329 what it was too for me let's see we also 2053 01:40:47.369 --> 01:40:53.680 had Gunther following up on the Danhausen Finn Balor stuff 2054 01:40:53.689 --> 01:40:58.460 I thought it was a good performance of Gunther

I'm. 2055 01:40:57.300 --> 01:41:01.420 Glad they transitioned away from Danhausen I never need to 2056 01:41:01.460 --> 01:41:06.510 hear Gunther called Gunner again ever and I think this 2057 01:41:06.590 --> 01:41:09.130 is going to be interesting because they might use Gunther 2058 01:41:09.149 --> 01:41:15.399 to retire Demon Balor, but keep Finn still active. I'd 2059 01:41:15.439 --> 01:41:17.640 be okay if they did that. Match is going to 2060 01:41:17.649 --> 01:41:19.920 be great. Neither one of those is capable of a 2061 01:41:20.020 --> 01:41:23.439 bad match. And it was a nice use of Dan 2062 01:41:23.460 --> 01:41:26.979 Housen to transition into that feud. They need to keep 2063 01:41:27.020 --> 01:41:29.239 him off TV for a little while, though. I love 2064 01:41:29.279 --> 01:41:33.020 the guy. I think he's got a great niche that 2065 01:41:33.060 --> 01:41:36.380 he's found. He's just been a little overused. It's just 2066 01:41:36.420 --> 01:41:38.180 coming off Halloween. Give us a break from him for 2067 01:41:38.199 --> 01:41:40.600 a few weeks. Let him come back and do a 2068 01:41:40.619 --> 01:41:42.789 little bit less each week and still be a prominent 2069 01:41:42.810 --> 01:41:45.109 part of the show. 2070 01:41:45.130 --> 01:41:48.729 We had a super chat. I'll actually do Derek's first here. 2071 01:41:49.170 --> 01:41:51.189 Thank you, Derek, for the super chat. It's always very 2072 01:41:51.210 --> 01:41:54.229 much appreciated. For those wondering, the last time Punk lost 2073 01:41:54.289 --> 01:41:57.329 twice in one week on TV was 2000. Good research here. 2074 01:41:57.689 --> 01:41:59.229 Was on TV in 2009. Once against Taker on the 2075 01:41:59.270 --> 01:42:03.939 October 23rd, 2009 SmackDown. And then two days later at 2076 01:42:03.979 --> 01:42:07.850 bragging rights in a fatal four-way with Taker Batista and Mysterio. Yeah, 2077 01:42:07.859 --> 01:42:10.430 two losses in one week for CM Punk. That's what 2078 01:42:10.449 --> 01:42:11.930 you do when you're about to retire. 2079 01:42:11.949 --> 01:42:14.729 For the first time anyway. 2080 01:42:14.829 --> 01:42:19.609 Yeah, really. There you go. So Zach Barber says, I 2081 01:42:19.630 --> 01:42:21.170 didn't watch SmackDown, but I had to drop in and 2082 01:42:21.210 --> 01:42:23.310 say the idea that WWE values Michael Cole's life more 2083 01:42:23.350 --> 01:42:28.109 than Roman Reigns is mind-boggling. Well, you can do a 2084 01:42:28.250 --> 01:42:31.850 show without Michael Cole at ringside. 2085 01:42:32.970 --> 01:42:33.329 Easily. 2086 01:42:34.109 --> 01:42:37.109 And Roman Reigns wants to go there. I mean, he agreed. 2087 01:42:37.149 --> 01:42:40.250 He has a clout to not he, he, from my understanding, 2088 01:42:40.289 --> 01:42:43.010 he greenlighted it. So I don't know, Zach, that this 2089 01:42:43.090 --> 01:42:46.939 is a gotcha moment. I think there's a broader gotcha moment. Um, Chris, 2090 01:42:47.220 --> 01:42:48.539 how do you feel? I think we'd have heard by 2091 01:42:48.579 --> 01:42:50.279 now if they were going to not do the show 2092 01:42:50.399 --> 01:42:53.220 or if there was a, uh, uh, incident that led 2093 01:42:53.260 --> 01:42:55.560 to the show having to be canceled or delayed. So 2094 01:42:55.899 --> 01:42:58.600 they're going forward with it. Um, I don't know. 2095 01:42:58.640 --> 01:42:59.020 Yeah. 2096 01:42:59.579 --> 01:42:59.899 I don't know. 2097 01:42:59.920 --> 01:43:03.079 That's what, uh, I don't know when the planes are 2098 01:43:03.100 --> 01:43:06.079 landing or if they have is my point, but, um, 2099 01:43:06.340 --> 01:43:09.239 you know, fingers crossed, nothing bad happens to anybody, not 2100 01:43:09.260 --> 01:43:13.130 just WWE wrestlers. I, everybody, anybody who's landing or taking 2101 01:43:13.229 --> 01:43:16.470 off at an airport or in a public gathering. I don't, 2102 01:43:17.270 --> 01:43:19.170 obviously I know the wrestlers more and it would have 2103 01:43:19.210 --> 01:43:21.510 more of an effect on what we're talking about here. 2104 01:43:22.050 --> 01:43:24.460 I don't want the, I don't want to say I 2105 01:43:24.500 --> 01:43:26.939 value any famous person's life more than every, any regular 2106 01:43:26.960 --> 01:43:29.739 person's life. So, um, obviously we're just rooting for nothing 2107 01:43:29.760 --> 01:43:32.250 bad happened to anybody. but it just happens to be 2108 01:43:32.270 --> 01:43:34.390 we're in the window where the wrestlers are being put 2109 01:43:34.430 --> 01:43:36.130 in that position and some crew members too. There are 2110 01:43:36.149 --> 01:43:40.220 reports that they were offering like a few thousand dollars 2111 01:43:40.279 --> 01:43:43.619 to crew as hazard pay, which to me, once that's done, 2112 01:43:43.640 --> 01:43:47.359 you're like, wait, you agree it's a hazard? I mean, 2113 01:43:47.380 --> 01:43:50.960 then don't go. I think the policy should be there 2114 01:43:51.060 --> 01:43:54.279 is no danger. That's why we're going and paying you 2115 01:43:54.359 --> 01:43:57.829 extra for a regular everyday non-dangerous situation would be silly 2116 01:43:57.850 --> 01:44:00.300 because That's what I'd rather hear than we're paying you 2117 01:44:00.340 --> 01:44:02.180 to risk your life, which is how it comes across, 2118 01:44:02.500 --> 01:44:07.060 so that we can make 50 million extra dollars so 2119 01:44:07.079 --> 01:44:11.420 that our quarter four statement looks proper. And what was 2120 01:44:11.500 --> 01:44:12.720 all this for if we don't have a quarter four 2121 01:44:12.739 --> 01:44:13.880 that we can be proud of? I mean, what a 2122 01:44:14.560 --> 01:44:18.619 just tone deaf, bad optic thing to say if you're 2123 01:44:18.640 --> 01:44:24.489 a top executive. So this, oh, here's $ 3, 000 so that 2124 01:44:24.510 --> 01:44:27.630 we can make our tens of millions just is kind 2125 01:44:27.670 --> 01:44:28.229 of gross too. 2126 01:44:29.729 -->

01:44:32.189 The big difference between Michael Cole and Roman Reigns is 2127 01:44:32.270 --> 01:44:33.750 one of them is an employer and the other is 2128 01:44:33.770 --> 01:44:37.289 an independent contractor. And WWE is required by law to 2129 01:44:37.630 --> 01:44:40.489 care about their employees and not about their independent contractors. 2130 01:44:41.369 --> 01:44:43.869 I think John Panette puts it best when he used 2131 01:44:43.890 --> 01:44:46.890 to talk about things like roller coasters with safety harnesses 2132 01:44:46.949 --> 01:44:50.069 and safety bars. They have those because it ain't safe. 2133 01:44:50.449 --> 01:44:53.670 So I say, nay, nay, I ain't going. And that's 2134 01:44:53.710 --> 01:44:56.689 where I would be. I'm surprised at some of the 2135 01:44:56.729 --> 01:45:02.460 people who will be there. It's just a perfect dichotomy 2136 01:45:02.680 --> 01:45:05.800 of society these days. Like, no, but there's money, so 2137 01:45:05.819 --> 01:45:09.399 we're going. And there might be bombs, but there's definitely money. 2138 01:45:10.390 --> 01:45:15.770 I can't care about it. And it's sad. It really is. 2139 01:45:16.090 --> 01:45:17.529 I hope there's nothing that goes wrong. 2140 01:45:18.310 --> 01:45:22.149 Of course, yeah. Crofton says, Crown Jewel announcing. Do you 2141 01:45:22.170 --> 01:45:24.350 think they will promote Saudi Arabia as usual? Perhaps they 2142 01:45:24.369 --> 01:45:26.949 talk about a delicate situation there. Do they ignore the 2143 01:45:26.989 --> 01:45:29.729 location entirely? They still haven't said Saudi Arabia or Riyadh. 2144 01:45:30.649 --> 01:45:32.369 Did they tonight say Riyadh or Saudi Arabia? 2145 01:45:32.390 --> 01:45:35.170 I don't remember hearing it, no. 2146 01:45:35.289 --> 01:45:36.649 I don't remember hearing it either. They might have during 2147 01:45:36.670 --> 01:45:38.390 the preview of the show if I tuned it out 2148 01:45:38.409 --> 01:45:41.909 or something. But it's on the graphic. It'd be weird 2149 01:45:41.939 --> 01:45:44.300 not to have it on the graphic. It'd be newsworthy 2150 01:45:44.359 --> 01:45:46.140 and indicative of something that's not true, which is that 2151 01:45:46.159 --> 01:45:48.979 they were moving it. But in the past, I think 2152 01:45:49.000 --> 01:45:52.380 they've always said Riyadh season, Saudi Arabia. 2153 01:45:52.760 --> 01:45:55.300 Oh, we would have had video packages of how beautiful 2154 01:45:55.340 --> 01:45:56.270 the city is by now. 2155 01:45:56.810 --> 01:45:58.550 I think they've toned down on that except during the 2156 01:45:58.590 --> 01:46:02.109 actual PLEs. So I'm, and that's what Crofton's asking is, 2157 01:46:02.130 --> 01:46:06.310 do they do that? I won't rule it out just generically. 2158 01:46:06.350 --> 01:46:08.979 It's Riyadh season. It's an annual event. Talk generically about 2159 01:46:09.020 --> 01:46:14.600 what it is, what it means. They might soften the, 2160 01:46:14.640 --> 01:46:16.640 you should bring your family here for vacation. Not because 2161 01:46:17.399 --> 01:46:19.500 they don't genuinely believe there'll be a point where it's 2162 01:46:19.520 --> 01:46:21.140 safe to do so. And that's the business they're in, 2163 01:46:21.180 --> 01:46:23.329 but that it would come across as, you know, tone 2164 01:46:23.350 --> 01:46:26.430 deaf to, to say it at this point and inflame, 2165 01:46:27.670 --> 01:46:30.750 it would create a sense of obliviousness to why if, 2166 01:46:31.130 --> 01:46:33.729 you know, the United States government's saying all non-essential people 2167 01:46:33.750 --> 01:46:37.270 should leave that region or that country or that area, 2168 01:46:37.850 --> 01:46:39.590 you don't want to tell people fly with your family 2169 01:46:39.630 --> 01:46:41.810 and kids for fun with the choice of a whole 2170 01:46:41.850 --> 01:46:42.649 world to go visit. 2171 01:46:43.850 --> 01:46:46.850 I will take back all of my criticism if the 2172 01:46:46.899 --> 01:46:49.880 show is opened by Triple H, Ari Emanuel, and Nick 2173 01:46:49.920 --> 01:46:52.399 Khan in the middle of the ring, welcoming everybody to 2174 01:46:52.439 --> 01:46:55.899 crown jewel and beautiful Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. So in other words, 2175 01:46:55.960 --> 01:46:56.180 I won't. 2176 01:46:57.439 --> 01:46:59.260 Yes, and I will add to that, if they do that, 2177 01:46:59.739 --> 01:47:03.100 I need to know they're on the same plane with 2178 01:47:03.119 --> 01:47:04.119 the wrestlers and the crew. 2179 01:47:04.659 --> 01:47:05.600 And staying in the same hotel. 2180 01:47:06.039 --> 01:47:07.689 And staying in the same hotel, yep. I mean, you 2181 01:47:07.699 --> 01:47:09.310 don't get, oh, look, we went, but you're on some 2182 01:47:09.670 --> 01:47:13.630 private plane that landed in some private airport when you 2183 01:47:13.670 --> 01:47:18.449 had military, you know, flights protecting the area and all that. 2184 01:47:18.529 --> 01:47:21.449 It's so unfortunate. And as I've said, I did this 2185 01:47:21.470 --> 01:47:23.109 for VIP, I talked about this on the Wake Elder Hotline, 2186 01:47:23.149 --> 01:47:26.300 I think on the flagship too, I The fact that 2187 01:47:26.319 --> 01:47:28.180 we don't know if the show would have been canceled 2188 01:47:28.439 --> 01:47:31.960 if the pay, if the guaranteed money for it wasn't 2189 01:47:32.000 --> 01:47:34.239 so out of proportion to the actual value of the show. 2190 01:47:34.659 --> 01:47:38.220 Because Saudi Arabia is paying for the propaganda that comes 2191 01:47:38.279 --> 01:47:40.939 from the brand WWE that fans who have bought WrestleMania 2192 01:47:40.960 --> 01:47:43.470 tickets and supported them for decades, they've built it into 2193 01:47:43.510 --> 01:47:47.810 something that then is part of, you know, sort of 2194 01:47:47.989 --> 01:47:56.829 sane-washing this insane situation. They're buying... acceptance instead of earning it. 2195

01:47:57.479 --> 01:47:59.970 And they're overpaying for a show. So if they were 2196 01:48:00.010 --> 01:48:02.189 just getting the ticket revenue from the show, they just 2197 01:48:02.229 --> 01:48:07.409 move it to Ireland or, you know, Toronto. But there's 2198 01:48:07.470 --> 01:48:09.069 such a drop off in revenue. Why is there a 2199 01:48:09.069 --> 01:48:10.750 drop off in revenue? It's the same show, same wrestlers, 2200 01:48:10.770 --> 01:48:14.170 there's wrestling fans because Saudi Arabia is paying above a 2201 01:48:14.229 --> 01:48:17.409 premium price, way above its actual market value for the 2202 01:48:17.489 --> 01:48:24.350 propaganda that it's is in essence so WWE I don't 2203 01:48:24.390 --> 01:48:25.689 know if they would have moved the show or not 2204 01:48:25.770 --> 01:48:30.729 if they were just selling tickets for $ 300 and $ 100 2205 01:48:29.880 --> 01:48:31.989 I don't think they'd go there right now that's the 2206 01:48:32.060 --> 01:48:34.579 part they are willing to go somewhere that's dangerous because 2207 01:48:34.619 --> 01:48:37.500 the money is big enough and they kind of admitted 2208 01:48:37.539 --> 01:48:41.970 that in that reported town hall meeting for TKL people. 2209 01:48:42.689 --> 01:48:44.420 I think it's important to point out that when I 2210 01:48:44.460 --> 01:48:47.539 talk about the money not being enough, that's speaking as 2211 01:48:47.579 --> 01:48:50.560 somebody who is not choosing to watch it. If I 2212 01:48:50.619 --> 01:48:52.859 were a wrestler and they just kept adding zeros to 2213 01:48:52.880 --> 01:48:54.819 the end of the check until I said yes, I 2214 01:48:54.880 --> 01:48:57.149 doubt I'd be able to say no for very long. 2215 01:48:57.369 --> 01:48:59.229 Everybody has a price. It's just a question of what 2216 01:48:59.270 --> 01:49:00.050 that price is. 2217 01:49:01.529 --> 01:49:05.310 But the idea is, do the executives make more money 2218 01:49:06.720 --> 01:49:09.579 By not going and the wrestlers don't make much more money? 2219 01:49:11.159 --> 01:49:13.920 Is TKO and the executive bonuses and all that out 2220 01:49:13.939 --> 01:49:16.159 of proportion going to them and they don't have to 2221 01:49:16.180 --> 01:49:17.840 go or they don't go or they get special treatment 2222 01:49:17.859 --> 01:49:21.159 when they go as opposed to the wrestlers being offered 2223 01:49:21.180 --> 01:49:22.880 an extra zero at the end of their check? So 2224 01:49:22.899 --> 01:49:26.989 the $ 500, 000 payment goes to $ 5 million or the $ 125, 000 2225 01:49:26.430 --> 01:49:31.789 payday turns to $ 1. 25 million and the actual executives are 2226 01:49:31.890 --> 01:49:34.930 really giving up a lot. But then why would they 2227 01:49:35.050 --> 01:49:38.689 just cancel the damn show or move it? You know 2228 01:49:38.710 --> 01:49:40.850 that last segment you're just listening to and the next 2229 01:49:40.970 --> 01:49:42.970 one that you're waiting to listen to? Those can be 2230 01:49:43.229 --> 01:49:45.569 one second apart with a VIP membership. You can unlock 2231 01:49:45.689 --> 01:49:50.380 our commercial-free versions of our shows. PWTorch.com slash GoVIP tells 2232 01:49:50.420 --> 01:49:54.640 you how to do it. That's PWTorch.com slash GoVIP. Options 2233 01:49:54.680 --> 01:49:58.060 exist within the Apple Podcast app using your Apple account, 2234 01:49:58.199 --> 01:50:00.140 through Patreon, which, by the way, you can sync up 2235 01:50:00.180 --> 01:50:03.350 with Spotify, or just about any iOS or Android app 2236 01:50:03.510 --> 01:50:06.340 with a full VIP membership. You can customize the feed 2237 01:50:06.380 --> 01:50:09.720 for individual shows and clusters of shows and themes. Go 2238 01:50:09.739 --> 01:50:13.300 to pwtorch.com slash go VIP for full details on all 2239 01:50:13.319 --> 01:50:16.979 the options to listen commercial free and with upper tier options, 2240 01:50:17.319 --> 01:50:20.420 unlock our VIP exclusive podcasts that run throughout the week 2241 01:50:20.460 --> 01:50:20.819 every week. 2242 01:50:23.060 --> 01:50:26.319 I think as well, what frustrates me is they've actually 2243 01:50:26.439 --> 01:50:30.220 done some good work. WWE has made progress with these shows. 2244 01:50:30.579 --> 01:50:34.199 When they first went, Renee Paquette couldn't even go to 2245 01:50:34.220 --> 01:50:38.220 the show to do her normal backstage interviewer gig. And 2246 01:50:38.260 --> 01:50:41.579 now there are women wrestling on these shows regularly. That 2247 01:50:41.659 --> 01:50:45.979 is progress. And it's something that nobody can stand to 2248 01:50:46.020 --> 01:50:48.569 give credit to WWE for because of all the other 2249 01:50:48.590 --> 01:50:52.569 horrible stuff. And I get it. But it's not right 2250 01:50:52.609 --> 01:50:54.869 to say that nothing good has come of it. It's 2251 01:50:54.949 --> 01:50:55.949 just still not worth it. 2252 01:50:58.430 --> 01:51:01.800 And in Saudi Arabia, there isn't a free media platform 2253 01:51:02.899 --> 01:51:08.130 that can lead to a blue tsunami that essentially, through 2254 01:51:08.170 --> 01:51:14.310 legitimate means, ousts or overthrows a fascist-leaning government that was 2255 01:51:14.970 --> 01:51:17.649 perhaps or perhaps not legitimately elected into power. And we 2256 01:51:17.689 --> 01:51:20.729 can look at all kinds of what qualifies a billionaire 2257 01:51:20.750 --> 01:51:25.449 spending $ 500 million, the billionaire owning the main social media 2258 01:51:25.489 --> 01:51:29.039 that sent out bots and propaganda to trick and deceive 2259 01:51:29.079 --> 01:51:30.979 people into voting against their better interests and thinking things 2260 01:51:31.000 --> 01:51:34.079 that aren't true are true and to... suppress real information 2261 01:51:35.319 --> 01:51:37.640 but we have you can go to other social media 2262 01:51:37.659 --> 01:51:39.180 outlets you have a choice of all kinds of news 2263

01:51:39.260 --> 01:51:42.159 outlets that's not the case over there that's not the 2264 01:51:42.180 --> 01:51:46.739 case in a lot of countries and so you can 2265 01:51:46.779 --> 01:51:49.829 go well you know like cory gray's infamously said oh 2266 01:51:49.890 --> 01:51:52.229 the service is friendly and the restaurants are clean it's 2267 01:51:52.250 --> 01:51:55.130 like yeah but you work with people who can't be 2268 01:51:55.149 --> 01:51:58.869 there with their partner without being jailed or or being 2269 01:51:58.890 --> 01:52:02.340 killed like worse yeah yeah yeah or worse so the 2270 01:52:02.420 --> 01:52:06.220 idea is whatever shine and gloss they want to put 2271 01:52:06.420 --> 01:52:08.939 on that. It's different than America because what we just 2272 01:52:08.970 --> 01:52:12.350 saw happen on Tuesday night, you can vote out a 2273 01:52:12.409 --> 01:52:17.050 regime and that's, that's that there aren't mechanisms in place 2274 01:52:17.609 --> 01:52:20.930 in Saudi Arabia and other places for that. And, you know, 2275 01:52:20.989 --> 01:52:24.800 I do believe in what Canada and America and many 2276 01:52:24.840 --> 01:52:26.520 other countries have, which is, and we saw it in 2277 01:52:26.539 --> 01:52:31.229 Hungary and, you know, like there's, there are, and Brazil, 2278 01:52:31.449 --> 01:52:38.060 like you can actually overthrow through a legitimate enough election 2279 01:52:38.300 --> 01:52:43.640 where the people's voice can be determinative. Um, and those are, 2280 01:52:43.939 --> 01:52:46.460 those are countries you, you don't want to support and 2281 01:52:46.479 --> 01:52:47.000 go to more. 2282 01:52:48.199 --> 01:52:48.479 Yeah. 2283 01:52:48.659 --> 01:52:48.819 Yeah. 2284 01:52:48.840 --> 01:52:49.199 For sure. 2285 01:52:49.680 --> 01:52:49.819 Yeah. 2286 01:52:49.880 --> 01:52:51.720 For all the, for all the flaws and imperfections, my God, 2287 01:52:51.739 --> 01:52:54.880 this is not, it's like, is it perfection is not 2288 01:52:54.899 --> 01:52:57.060 what anyone's claiming, but you, you need to have a 2289 01:52:57.100 --> 01:53:01.340 mechanism like we saw Tuesday where a bunch of, individual 2290 01:53:01.800 --> 01:53:05.340 state run, you know, elections that are independent of the 2291 01:53:05.359 --> 01:53:09.520 federal government that are not controllable and manipulatable in a 2292 01:53:09.539 --> 01:53:12.239 way that is able to offset something that massive, the 2293 01:53:12.279 --> 01:53:15.810 people speaking up. And that seems to be what happened Tuesday. 2294 01:53:15.819 --> 01:53:20.409 You know, I mean, it obviously was. So anyway, cool. Uh, Chris, 2295 01:53:20.430 --> 01:53:21.569 anything else you want to add? 2296 01:53:21.590 --> 01:53:25.569 Uh, the only other thing I had written down was the, uh, 2297 01:53:25.810 --> 01:53:30.770 the match with, uh, Shinsuke and, um, I'm glad they 2298 01:53:30.789 --> 01:53:34.810 kept Tamatanga around because he can actually go

in the ring. Kiyoki, 2299 01:53:35.840 --> 01:53:39.340 I would not square up to Haku now or ever. 2300 01:53:39.539 --> 01:53:42.199 I'm surprised Kiyoki did. That was quite amusing to me. 2301 01:53:42.760 --> 01:53:48.890 But that match was just, it kind of really drove 2302 01:53:48.989 --> 01:53:53.550 home that Shinsuke is just so checked out. He just 2303 01:53:53.609 --> 01:53:55.550 did not seem to be trying at all. And I 2304 01:53:55.609 --> 01:53:59.590 really hope Kiyoki doesn't catch that from Shinsuke. and continues 2305 01:53:59.630 --> 01:54:02.210 to be the entertaining character he was in New Japan. 2306 01:54:02.529 --> 01:54:06.310 I think his character suits the WWE environment really, really well. 2307 01:54:06.729 --> 01:54:09.149 And if he's allowed to continue showing that, I think 2308 01:54:09.189 --> 01:54:12.029 he's got a really good future ahead of him. I 2309 01:54:12.069 --> 01:54:14.260 was reminded while watching the match of an interview I 2310 01:54:14.279 --> 01:54:17.899 saw with JC Mateo earlier this week, where he said 2311 01:54:17.939 --> 01:54:20.520 that WWE told him when he got there, oh, you'll 2312 01:54:20.539 --> 01:54:23.800 be wearing face paint just like you did in Japan. Meanwhile, 2313 01:54:23.840 --> 01:54:27.039 he never had face paint in Japan. And I don't 2314 01:54:27.079 --> 01:54:29.609 know who they thought they were hiring, But it wasn't him. 2315 01:54:30.239 --> 01:54:32.239 I thought. 2316 01:54:32.359 --> 01:54:32.560 Oops. 2317 01:54:34.760 --> 01:54:37.760 That whole scenario with bringing in JC Mateo, bringing in 2318 01:54:37.920 --> 01:54:42.779 Tanga Loa, and then just having the whole thing completely flop, 2319 01:54:42.840 --> 01:54:45.729 and now they're trying to rescue it by bringing Haku 2320 01:54:45.770 --> 01:54:49.609 in to manage them. Tala Tonga hasn't been bad. When 2321 01:54:49.649 --> 01:54:51.729 he was leaving New Japan, he was just starting to 2322 01:54:51.770 --> 01:54:54.470 show some improvement and being a pretty good big man. 2323 01:54:54.489 --> 01:54:58.529 I just wish Shinsuke cared a bit more. 2324 01:55:00.859 --> 01:55:03.260 I wrote that, you know, in my report that Shinsuke 2325 01:55:03.279 --> 01:55:04.979 just feels like he's going through the motions now. It's 2326 01:55:05.020 --> 01:55:08.020 kind of sad watching it. And I mean, you know, 2327 01:55:08.060 --> 01:55:10.340 like when he's on the stage afterwards, he's like, yeah, 2328 01:55:10.380 --> 01:55:12.939 making that facial expression. There was a time when they 2329 01:55:12.960 --> 01:55:13.659 would give you chills. 2330 01:55:14.340 --> 01:55:14.539 Yeah. 2331 01:55:15.159 --> 01:55:16.979 And it's just gone. You know, he's just a guy 2332 01:55:17.619 --> 01:55:22.060 going through the motions. And in a way, maybe he 2333 01:55:22.140 --> 01:55:23.659 doesn't want that to be the case. 2334 01:55:23.699 --> 01:55:24.180 It just is. 2335 01:55:24.220 --> 01:55:26.640 He's aged out. You know, there's a language barrier. There's 2336 01:55:27.000 --> 01:55:29.039 other stars coming up they've you know tried to renew 2337 01:55:29.100 --> 01:55:31.899 his push a couple times in recent years and gotten 2338 01:55:31.960 --> 01:55:33.439 something out of him but he isn't the same as 2339 01:55:33.479 --> 01:55:35.819 he once was in the ring um but when he 2340 01:55:35.840 --> 01:55:37.720 first showed up in nxt i mean you got chills 2341 01:55:37.760 --> 01:55:39.979 during when you heard that music and he was you 2342 01:55:40.020 --> 01:55:43.710 know michael jackson meets david bowie meets mick jagger um 2343 01:55:44.109 --> 01:55:45.789 when it came to what he brought to his ring 2344 01:55:45.829 --> 01:55:48.050 entrance in his in his in his character and it 2345 01:55:48.069 --> 01:55:49.869 was so exciting to see him reach a whole new 2346 01:55:49.989 --> 01:55:52.149 audience and now he's just kind of that that guy 2347 01:55:52.510 --> 01:55:55.289 haku is number one paul jones now he's just uh 2348 01:55:55.890 --> 01:55:58.470 the veteran wrestler who stands at ringside getting a check 2349 01:55:58.489 --> 01:56:01.529 because he's respected for something he did decades ago when 2350 01:56:01.550 --> 01:56:05.390 he's walking around with a cane, that whole match was 2351 01:56:05.409 --> 01:56:09.560 just sort of like, yeah, just flat mid-card stuff. It 2352 01:56:09.600 --> 01:56:11.859 wasn't awful to watch. I'm not saying it was embarrassing. 2353 01:56:11.880 --> 01:56:14.380 It's just kind of sad. It's just like, do we 2354 01:56:14.420 --> 01:56:16.319 need to dedicate TV time to this? Can we get 2355 01:56:16.380 --> 01:56:17.439 Ilya Dragunov back, please? 2356 01:56:18.439 --> 01:56:20.199 Or even just some of the people that are sitting 2357 01:56:20.239 --> 01:56:22.939 out back doing nothing, just put him in the ring. Yeah, 2358 01:56:23.199 --> 01:56:25.399 it wasn't, like you said, it wasn't bad. It's just, 2359 01:56:25.909 --> 01:56:28.399 I know that it could have been much more. And 2360 01:56:28.460 --> 01:56:30.819 even in the mid card, something I've been hopping on 2361 01:56:30.880 --> 01:56:32.880 recently is when you're in the mid card, you need 2362 01:56:32.899 --> 01:56:35.060 to have a mid card match and you shouldn't be 2363 01:56:35.100 --> 01:56:37.399 trying to have a main event match in the mid card. 2364 01:56:38.300 --> 01:56:40.439 And they did that fine. It's just, it's hard to 2365 01:56:40.479 --> 01:56:43.470 watch knowing that that is basically peak Shinsuke right now. 2366 01:56:44.130 --> 01:56:48.170 Yeah. Derek Mitchell says when Shinsuke debuted in NXT Dallas 2367 01:56:48.189 --> 01:56:50.149 versus Sami Zayn at such high hopes and 10 years later, 2368 01:56:50.210 --> 01:56:52.039 I'm saddened. He had a good, he had some good 2369 01:56:52.079 --> 01:56:54.659 run though. I mean, Shinsuke, I mean, it's not at 2370 01:56:54.689 --> 01:56:56.729 the

top of what people's hopes and expectations were, but 2371 01:56:57.170 --> 01:56:59.270 he had some good matches and good moments on the 2372 01:56:59.289 --> 01:56:59.789 main roster. 2373 01:57:00.710 --> 01:57:03.489 I think the biggest issue is that he's capable, good 2374 01:57:03.529 --> 01:57:06.489 matches were his baseline before, and he's never really hit 2375 01:57:06.529 --> 01:57:09.300 that upper gear. There were high hopes for me when 2376 01:57:09.340 --> 01:57:11.159 he had the feud with AJ Styles, and then that 2377 01:57:11.199 --> 01:57:14.979 just evolved into a low blow storyline. But the matches 2378 01:57:15.000 --> 01:57:17.859 those two had in New Japan would blow people's minds 2379 01:57:18.079 --> 01:57:20.449 if they hadn't seen him. And then they come and 2380 01:57:20.510 --> 01:57:22.720 do it on a bigger stage and they don't even 2381 01:57:22.770 --> 01:57:24.260 try to replicate it in any way. 2382 01:57:25.539 --> 01:57:28.140 Do you think there's any, any, there's another rev up 2383 01:57:28.319 --> 01:57:30.380 in Nakamura so they can rev them up and get 2384 01:57:30.699 --> 01:57:34.260 one more, one more match that feels like a TV 2385 01:57:34.279 --> 01:57:36.479 main event where he's motivated and can deliver and it 2386 01:57:36.619 --> 01:57:37.180 feels worthy. 2387 01:57:37.199 --> 01:57:39.800 So you'd have to find the right opponent who brings 2388 01:57:39.840 --> 01:57:42.180 it out of him. I think physically he can do it. 2389 01:57:42.560 --> 01:57:45.710 It's just a question of whether he can motivate himself. 2390 01:57:46.529 --> 01:57:48.939 There's this thing in New Japan, which a lot of 2391 01:57:48.960 --> 01:57:52.060 people wouldn't realize if you don't watch like people like 2392 01:57:52.079 --> 01:57:53.699 Kelly Wells and I watch where we watch all the 2393 01:57:53.739 --> 01:57:57.100 prelim matches as well. Once you pass a certain stage 2394 01:57:57.140 --> 01:57:59.239 in your career in Japan, it's not like you retire. 2395 01:57:59.680 --> 01:58:03.130 You start wrestling on the prelim card as a tag 2396 01:58:03.149 --> 01:58:06.850 team partner for people who are feuding. I like to 2397 01:58:06.899 --> 01:58:09.119 call it the angry dad circuit because it's basically these 2398 01:58:09.140 --> 01:58:11.880 people in the late 40s and 50s who are there 2399 01:58:11.899 --> 01:58:14.199 as names that people will recognize. They come in, they 2400 01:58:14.220 --> 01:58:16.640 do their spots, they tag out, and one of them 2401 01:58:16.680 --> 01:58:18.739 normally takes the fall. And that's kind of where Shinsuke 2402 01:58:18.760 --> 01:58:20.779 is in his career right now, but he's in a 2403 01:58:20.800 --> 01:58:24.130 place that doesn't have that. And he's got that sort 2404 01:58:24.170 --> 01:58:27.729 of weird dichotomy that he needs to have somebody in 2405 01:58:27.789 --> 01:58:30.550 the ring who can bring something out of him. I'd 2406 01:58:30.729 --> 01:58:33.970 love to see maybe CM Punk would be an interesting one. 2407 01:58:34.010 --> 01:58:36.289 I think that could drag it out of him. Kevin 2408 01:58:36.350 --> 01:58:39.810 Owens probably could as well. The other option would be 2409 01:58:39.850 --> 01:58:43.180 if somebody came over from New Japan who he has 2410 01:58:43.199 --> 01:58:45.460 a history with. There aren't very many of them still active. 2411 01:58:45.939 --> 01:58:50.319 AJ's retired. Obviously, he's not in New Japan. Another good 2412 01:58:50.399 --> 01:58:52.359 one would have been if Tanahashi, if they could have 2413 01:58:52.380 --> 01:58:54.869 figured out something there before Tanahashi retired, that would have 2414 01:58:54.890 --> 01:59:00.850 been huge. But it's looking increasingly unlikely that it happens. 2415 01:59:01.569 --> 01:59:04.630 I could see them sending Nakamura to lose to Grayson 2416 01:59:04.670 --> 01:59:07.350 Waller in like a return to NXT type thing if 2417 01:59:07.369 --> 01:59:13.840 they want to give. I'm being neutral in just saying 2418 01:59:13.859 --> 01:59:15.199 I could see them doing that. I'm not in the 2419 01:59:15.220 --> 01:59:17.859 same line as you saying this would be what would 2420 01:59:18.319 --> 01:59:21.060 get them revved up again. The idea of somebody, like 2421 01:59:21.079 --> 01:59:22.960 I don't think, You watch NXT and go, oh, Shiloh 2422 01:59:22.979 --> 01:59:24.680 Hill against Shinsuke. That's going to be a great main 2423 01:59:24.720 --> 01:59:28.739 roster match. It doesn't give that off. Who is in 2424 01:59:28.899 --> 01:59:32.890 NXT where you would be like, that's something that I 2425 01:59:32.899 --> 01:59:35.270 would like to see Shinsuke be a gatekeeper and give 2426 01:59:35.289 --> 01:59:35.909 a rub to them? 2427 01:59:36.449 --> 01:59:37.250 Mason Rook. 2428 01:59:38.270 --> 01:59:40.189 Okay, yeah. 2429 01:59:40.409 --> 01:59:43.770 Or, I mean, Naraku, but they know each other. They 2430 01:59:45.609 --> 01:59:47.380 sort of were ships in the night in New Japan, 2431 01:59:47.399 --> 01:59:51.350 but I think that would work. But Mason Rook and Shinsuke, yeah, 2432 01:59:51.510 --> 01:59:52.130 I'd pay for that. 2433 01:59:53.229 --> 01:59:55.630 I think having two Japanese wrestlers against each other is 2434 01:59:55.930 --> 01:59:58.050 sort of like, here's a showcase of something else. But 2435 01:59:58.170 --> 02:00:01.010 my idea is, how do you have Shinsuke, regardless of 2436 02:00:02.149 --> 02:00:05.810 coming from the Japan wrestling scene and making his name there, 2437 02:00:06.510 --> 02:00:08.609 how does he give a rub based on his Mick 2438 02:00:08.750 --> 02:00:14.149 Jagger charisma to somebody else with a strong style match 2439 02:00:14.210 --> 02:00:16.189 that looks like this wrestler has to beat him? And 2440 02:00:16.210 --> 02:00:18.989 it can be someone who says I look up to 2441 02:00:19.029 --> 02:00:20.949 you or I've studied your work or whatever, and I,

2442 02:00:20.989 --> 02:00:23.189 to beat you will mean the world to me. And 2443 02:00:23.789 --> 02:00:25.560 so I think there's some stories they can tell. It's 2444 02:00:25.569 --> 02:00:28.020 not main event, but I think that's the type of 2445 02:00:28.060 --> 02:00:33.220 thing that would get Nakamura excited, you know, to, to 2446 02:00:33.260 --> 02:00:36.720 turn it up. Uh, Sather says the lack of ability 2447 02:00:36.760 --> 02:00:38.460 to cut English promos really hurt Shinsuke. Some of the 2448 02:00:38.479 --> 02:00:40.810 Japanese stars have been able to do it. Asuka and Io, 2449 02:00:40.890 --> 02:00:45.079 some haven't, Shin and Kairi. So, um, I feel for them, 2450 02:00:45.140 --> 02:00:47.960 it's got to be tough cutting English promos for them. 2451 02:00:49.310 --> 02:00:52.369 For sure, yeah. All right, cool. Chris, anything else you 2452 02:00:52.390 --> 02:00:53.869 want to sneak in before we sign off here? 2453 02:00:54.510 --> 02:00:57.909 No, just keep an eye on the site. My recap 2454 02:00:58.069 --> 02:01:00.380 of Super Junior Tag League is up. I'm writing a 2455 02:01:00.439 --> 02:01:02.779 preview right now for the World Tag League, which starts 2456 02:01:02.819 --> 02:01:07.359 November 23rd in New Japan. Some really interesting teams in there. 2457 02:01:07.439 --> 02:01:11.090 Monster Sauce is back there, favorites of mine. That's a, 2458 02:01:11.189 --> 02:01:13.789 it's an interesting, I love tag team wrestling. So I'm 2459 02:01:13.810 --> 02:01:16.189 looking forward to watching the tournament and that preview should 2460 02:01:16.220 --> 02:01:17.029 be up in a couple of days. 2461 02:01:18.079 --> 02:01:18.340 Awesome. 2462 02:01:18.359 --> 02:01:19.699 Chris, thanks. Always great talking to wrestling with you. 2463 02:01:20.140 --> 02:01:21.069 Yeah. Pleasure to be here, man. 2464 02:01:23.340 --> 02:01:25.840 Uh, PW torch VIP info.com go VIP here, the way 2465 02:01:25.859 --> 02:01:30.510 color news updates and, uh, the way color news hotlines and, uh, 2466 02:01:30.609 --> 02:01:33.409 all the VIP exclusive shows. You can evaluate whether we 2467 02:01:33.510 --> 02:01:36.489 overhyped or underhyped or got it just right in talking about, 2468 02:01:36.510 --> 02:01:39.970 can they get along, uh, with, uh, um, Adam Kidd 2469 02:01:40.069 --> 02:01:42.130 and Joshua White running through the week in wrestling. Just 2470 02:01:42.229 --> 02:01:44.270 kick off your week of wrestling podcast every Sunday night 2471 02:01:44.310 --> 02:01:48.189 or Monday and dive into those back issues. It's fascinating. 2472 02:01:49.899 --> 02:01:50.699 Just, yeah. 2473 02:01:51.159 --> 02:01:54.880 I mean, it's just, it's crazy. The door that opens 2474 02:01:54.939 --> 02:01:58.960 when you get the key and unlock the door to VIP, 2475 02:01:59.340 --> 02:02:01.279 all the different content there, just an unmatched library of 2476 02:02:01.340 --> 02:02:05.189 insider information and written information and audio format. So check 2477 02:02:05.220 --> 02:02:08.840 it out. Check out my coverage of Crown Jewel tomorrow, 2478 02:02:08.960 --> 02:02:14.119 live on PWTorch or PWTorchVIP.com for our VIP members or PWTorch.com 2479 02:02:14.319 --> 02:02:16.960 for the public site. And we will talk to you 2480 02:02:17.020 --> 02:02:19.050 next time. Thanks everybody for your continued support. Please like 2481 02:02:19.069 --> 02:02:21.789 the show if you're on YouTube and comment and please 2482 02:02:21.810 --> 02:02:23.949 give us a five-star rating on your podcast app. Do 2483 02:02:23.970 --> 02:02:59.680 us a favor on the podcast app next. Your time 2484 02:02:59.880 --> 02:03:03.390 is valuable. Go VIP and listen to our shows commercial-free. 2485 02:03:03.750 --> 02:03:08.770 A nice streamlined listening experience. pwtorch.com slash govip for full 2486 02:03:08.789 --> 02:03:11.710 details on a commercial-free listening experience. And with a full 2487 02:03:11.729 --> 02:03:15.189 VIP membership, you can create custom feeds for individual shows 2488 02:03:15.310 --> 02:03:18.100 or groups of shows by theme and also unlock nearly 2489 02:03:18.180 --> 02:03:21.899 four decades of archives and access our ad-free website with 2490 02:03:21.960 --> 02:03:26.739 VIP exclusive content. pwtorch.com slash govip. Your time is valuable, 2491 02:03:26.779 --> 02:03:30.310 and that's one of the reasons we offer VIP membership, pwtorch.com 2492 02:03:30.319 --> 02:03:34.229 slash govip. You can participate in the Wade Keller Pro 2493 02:03:34.270 --> 02:03:39.289 Wrestling Podcast by emailing your question or topic to wadekellerpodcast 2494 02:03:39.590 --> 02:03:42.300 at gmail.com. You can also participate in the Wade Keller 2495 02:03:42.399 --> 02:03:47.199 Post Shows by emailing wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com during or right 2496 02:03:47.380 --> 02:03:50.319 after Raw, Dynamite, or SmackDown. Let your voice, let your 2497 02:03:50.340 --> 02:03:54.699 opinions be heard on our shows via email, wadekellerpodcast at gmail.com 2498 02:03:54.720 --> 02:03:58.739 for the flagship and wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com for our post shows. 2499 02:04:00.189 --> 02:04:02.369 It's next-level coverage that you come to expect from the 2500 02:04:02.430 --> 02:04:07.609 PW Torch brand. No AI, no rookie perspectives, no unfounded rumors, 2501 02:04:07.970 --> 02:04:12.300 no clickbait, no deceptive headlines, just high-quality writing, breaking news, 2502 02:04:12.489 --> 02:04:16.739 and fascinating flashbacks every day at pwtorch.com. Pull yourself away 2503 02:04:16.840 --> 02:04:19.079 from the vacuous social media experience that I know many 2504 02:04:19.100 --> 02:04:21.979 of you regret once you get lost in it for minutes, 2505 02:04:22.039 --> 02:04:24.319 if not hours at a time, and settle in for 2506 02:04:24.520 --> 02:04:29.119 high-quality PW Torch-branded wrestling coverage. Admit it, you love Nick 2507 02:04:29.140 --> 02:04:31.149 Barbatti when he

co-hosts with me on the Wade Keller 2508 02:04:31.189 --> 02:04:33.170 Post Shows. Well, now you can listen to him every 2509 02:04:33.229 --> 02:04:36.470 week on the Nicky's Club, a VIP exclusive podcast. Here's 2510 02:04:36.550 --> 02:04:37.569 Nick to tell you more. 2511 02:04:37.710 --> 02:04:40.130 Hey, wrestling fans. It's Nick Barbatti, and I'm back with 2512 02:04:40.149 --> 02:04:42.229 the Nicky's Club, the place where the family of Nicky's 2513 02:04:42.300 --> 02:04:45.220 comes together for big laughs and sharp takes on WWE. 2514 02:04:45.300 --> 02:04:48.199 From WrestleMania rumors to surprise returns, I got you covered. 2515 02:04:48.359 --> 02:04:50.560 The Nicky's Club, where the wrestling feels like the coolest 2516 02:04:50.600 --> 02:04:51.159 club in town. 2517 02:04:51.380 --> 02:04:53.180 Nick Barbatti wants to be part of your pro wrestling 2518 02:04:53.220 --> 02:04:57.529 life every week, so... Why not let him? GoVIP. PWTorch.com 2519 02:04:57.810 --> 02:05:00.729 slash GoVIP for full details on signing up. We're compatible 2520 02:05:00.750 --> 02:05:04.050 with Patreon, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and just about any other 2521 02:05:04.210 --> 02:05:06.210 iOS or Android app out there. You can also stream 2522 02:05:06.229 --> 02:05:09.229 directly from our ad-free VIP website. The Nicky's Club, waiting 2523 02:05:09.250 --> 02:05:13.949 for you every week at PWTorch VIP. Did you know 2524 02:05:13.989 --> 02:05:17.350 that you can enjoy commercial-free versions of all of your 2525 02:05:17.390 --> 02:05:21.380 favorite Wade Keller podcasts and PWTorch Daily Casts? Just go 2526 02:05:21.439 --> 02:05:26.850 to patreon.com, search PWTorch, and subscribe to a VIP membership tier. 2527 02:05:26.890 --> 02:05:28.869 You get a seven-day free trial, by the way, to 2528 02:05:28.909 --> 02:05:30.329 kick the tires a bit and see if you like 2529 02:05:30.350 --> 02:05:32.960 the service. And then sync it with Spotify, and you 2530 02:05:33.000 --> 02:05:35.779 can listen to commercial-free versions of our free shows like 2531 02:05:35.800 --> 02:05:38.119 the Wade Keller Post Shows, the Wade Keller Podcast Flagship, 2532 02:05:38.479 --> 02:05:42.550 our flashbacks, and also the PWTorch DataCast lineup. Again, all commercial-free, 2533 02:05:42.590 --> 02:05:45.609 a nice streamlined listening experience. But with third-tier membership, you 2534 02:05:45.649 --> 02:05:49.069 can also unlock all the VIP podcasts, including Everything with 2535 02:05:49.109 --> 02:05:50.729 Rich and Wade, The Fix with Todd Martin that I 2536 02:05:50.750 --> 02:05:53.430 host with Todd every week, the Wade Keller News Bulletin's 2537 02:05:53.569 --> 02:05:58.340 post-pay-per-view roundtables, and an array of other VIP-exclusive podcasts with 2538 02:05:58.380 --> 02:06:01.779 different hosts and different themes. Check out the lineup. Go 2539 02:06:01.819 --> 02:06:06.140 to Patreon and search PWTorch and subscribe and sync it 2540 02:06:06.159 --> 02:06:09.470 up with Spotify or stay within the Patreon ecosystem. Either 2541 02:06:09.489 --> 02:06:13.220 way works, go to Patreon and start your seven-day free trial. 2542 02:06:14.880 --> 02:06:16.659 If you're listening to us on the Apple Podcast app, 2543 02:06:16.739 --> 02:06:18.779 on Spotify, or any other app that allows you to 2544 02:06:18.859 --> 02:06:20.619 rate our podcast, please take a moment to give us 2545 02:06:20.699 --> 02:06:23.569 a five-star rating. It really helps us in the algorithm 2546 02:06:23.609 --> 02:06:26.810 and helps them know that you recommend us to others. 2547 02:06:26.970 --> 02:06:28.829 Just look for a place to rate the show on Spotify, 2548 02:06:28.850 --> 02:06:30.989 on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to our shows, 2549 02:06:31.189 --> 02:06:33.449 and please click that five-star rating. And of course, thank 2550 02:06:33.470 --> 02:06:37.829 you so much for listening. A PWTorch VIP membership doesn't 2551 02:06:37.850 --> 02:06:39.750 just give you ad-free access to these shows and a 2552 02:06:39.770 --> 02:06:42.479 ton of other VIP-exclusive podcasts throughout the week, but you 2553 02:06:42.489 --> 02:06:46.100 also gain access to our unmatched, vast library of wrestling history, 2554 02:06:46.439 --> 02:06:49.539 our contemporaneous week-to-week coverage through our Pro Wrestling Torch weekly 2555 02:06:49.579 --> 02:06:52.680 newsletters dating back to the late 1980s, along with streaming 2556 02:06:52.699 --> 02:06:55.960 and download access to hundreds of retro radio shows from 2557 02:06:55.979 --> 02:06:59.399 the 1990s, including some of my interviews with wrestling's top 2558 02:06:59.500 --> 02:07:03.239 newsmakers in the 90s. And also our podcast library dating 2559 02:07:03.279 --> 02:07:07.289 back to the year 2003. There's no larger, longer-spanning pro 2560 02:07:07.350 --> 02:07:10.850 wrestling podcast library than that that comes with a PWTorch 2561 02:07:10.869 --> 02:07:15.350 VIP membership. Now approaching 20 years of podcasting. Go VIP 2562 02:07:15.390 --> 02:07:18.250 and dive into our post-pay-per-view roundtables, our coverage of some 2563 02:07:18.289 --> 02:07:22.529 of your favorite eras of wrestling, top-name long-form interviews, and 2564 02:07:22.609 --> 02:07:27.130 special format podcasts that we've done throughout the years. PWTorch.com 2565 02:07:27.229 --> 02:07:30.659 slash govip. We have a streamlined sign-up form, and you 2566 02:07:30.680 --> 02:07:32.960 can pay with PayPal or directly with your credit card 2567 02:07:33.079 --> 02:07:35.710 or debit card in one or two minutes. From right now, 2568 02:07:35.789 --> 02:07:39.409 you can be a VIP member and diving into our library, pwtorch.com 2569 02:07:39.470 --> 02:07:40.479 slash govip.