บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ 5 YRS AGO RAW POST-SHOW: Becky gets cheered after turning heel, Austin Theory's potential push, Big E attacking Owens, Belair's future, more

--> 00:02:05.489 Blue Logo Show. And Zach was joined by Nate Lindberg 36 00:02:05.530 --> 00:02:09.509 from PWT Talks NXT. They discussed with live callers and 37 00:02:09.550 --> 00:02:12.990 an on-site correspondent and reacted to emails the future of 38 00:02:13.009 --> 00:02:15.270 Becky Lynch as a heel. After a positive crowd reaction 39 00:02:15.289 --> 00:02:18.069 during her title defense, Becky leading into crowd results, where 40 00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:22.030 Bianca Belair goes moving forward, Seth Rollins' first night as 41 00:02:22.069 --> 00:02:24.199 number one contender, the pros and cons of Big E 42 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:27.759 attacking Kevin Owens, the potential elevation of Damian Priest and 43 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:31.599 Austin Theory, T-Bar's strong match, remember him, and more. So 44 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:33.699 let's get to it. Again, this originally live streamed on 45 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.710 November 1st, 2021. It's today's Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Show. 46 00:02:38.030 --> 00:02:41.909 Five years ago, raw flashback for Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026. 47 00:02:43.449 --> 00:02:48.689 So, Nate, the WWE Championship picture is coming into focus, 48 00:02:48.870 --> 00:02:51.979 I'd say, with the new Raw roster. We've got Big E. 49 00:02:52.349 --> 00:02:55.509 He's firmly and definitively at the top of the show 50 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:58.439 and at the top of the men's division as WWE. 51 00:02:58.770 --> 00:03:02.129 wwe champion we know seth rollins is going to challenge 52 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:06.159 him for the wwe championship soon enough after winning uh 53 00:03:06.180 --> 00:03:09.139 the ladder match last week but he tried to to 54 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:11.120 get a match out of him tonight but rollins said 55 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:13.719 he wasn't fit to wrestle and then and then we 56 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.090 have you know kevin owens who's been hovering around uh 57 00:03:17.099 --> 00:03:23.310 you know the the the picture, if you will. Tonight, 58 00:03:23.409 --> 00:03:26.310 he wrestled Big E in kind of a very baby-faced way. 59 00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:30.250 The match came together with Kevin Owens basically walking out 60 00:03:30.310 --> 00:03:32.449 during the Big E and Seth promo and saying, hey, 61 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:35.229 if you two aren't going to fight Big E, I'll 62 00:03:35.270 --> 00:03:39.169 take a chance. But then with the show and how 63 00:03:39.189 --> 00:03:42.110 everything went down, you kind of had Kevin Owens go 64 00:03:42.150 --> 00:03:44.330 back on his word a little bit, although he said 65 00:03:44.370 --> 00:03:46.740 that he'd Didn't do it on purpose, kind of took 66 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:49.560 Seth's help. Seth gets involved in the match, kind of 67 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.219 punches Big E in the face, and Kevin Owens kind 68 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.400 of uses that to try to get a win. He 69 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:59.319 doesn't get it, but

kind of shades of a potential, 70 00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:03.949 you know, whose side is Kevin Owens really on story tonight, Nate? 71 00:04:04.610 --> 00:04:06.389 we'll talk about Biggie and Seth in a minute here, 72 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:08.699 but just, I wanted to get your thoughts on Kevin 73 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:10.939 Owens in particular. I mean, you're, what'd you think of 74 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:13.590 his presentation tonight? What did you think of the willy 75 00:04:13.629 --> 00:04:14.909 or won't he with, with Seth? 76 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:20.110 All right, so with all of that said, as I 77 00:04:20.170 --> 00:04:21.730 said to you right before we went on the air, 78 00:04:21.829 --> 00:04:23.750 I did miss the last two minutes of the show. 79 00:04:23.810 --> 00:04:27.990 I switched to Sling TV this week, and I cut 80 00:04:28.069 --> 00:04:32.649 off right before Kevin Owens started talking. So I don't 81 00:04:32.709 --> 00:04:37.139 exactly know his body language and stuff during that. However, 82 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:41.720 throughout the rest of it, there were little hints to 83 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:46.389 me that there might be– Maybe like a Kevin Owens 84 00:04:46.410 --> 00:04:50.529 heel turn or something where he might not necessarily be 85 00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:53.939 in Big E's corner. One of the things that really 86 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:58.439 stood out to me tonight was during that initial promo 87 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:02.209 with Kevin Owens and Kevin Owens, Big E and Seth Rollins. 88 00:05:03.139 --> 00:05:05.459 kevin owens said something along the lines of he was 89 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:09.439 a man of integrity right and i'm like really integrity 90 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:13.199 integrity you okay and all i could think of was 91 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:16.170 you know the sammy zane's turn the the festival of 92 00:05:16.209 --> 00:05:19.310 friendship and you know all of that stuff and i'm 93 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:21.449 like yeah man of integrity and there were just kind 94 00:05:21.490 --> 00:05:23.649 of little things like that uh that was the biggest 95 00:05:23.750 --> 00:05:25.449 one but there were just little things like that kind 96 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:30.279 of sprinkled like through that story um so i i 97 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.129 don't know maybe that's kind of like what i'm thinking 98 00:05:33.170 --> 00:05:36.160 and kevin owens he's been he's been kind of leaning 99 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:40.759 babyface lately and kind of I want to say a 100 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:43.699 realist type of a gimmick where he's kind of coming out, 101 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:46.220 like just spewing facts and stuff and, and kind of 102 00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:49.250 letting the people naturally get behind him. And I kind 103 00:05:49.290 --> 00:05:51.850 of think that maybe potentially with some of those breadcrumbs 104 00:05:51.889 --> 00:05:53.769 that they're throwing in tonight, we might

see a little 105 00:05:53.790 --> 00:05:56.269 bit of a turn for him or, or a full 106 00:05:56.310 --> 00:05:59.379 blown turn for him throughout the course of this feud. 107 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:01.579 But that, that's just my first impression anyway. Yeah. 108 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:02.139 Yeah. 109 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:05.879 I'm really curious to get, you know, obviously, you know, 110 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:08.100 the caller's taste on this too, because I think you 111 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:09.970 could have taken it both ways. Like at the, at 112 00:06:10.009 --> 00:06:12.769 the end of the, the, the show, cause, cause you 113 00:06:12.790 --> 00:06:14.490 kind of, like you said, you, you miss part of it. Well, 114 00:06:15.029 --> 00:06:17.189 Kevin Owens is kind of pleading his case to Biggie 115 00:06:17.209 --> 00:06:19.449 that he didn't, he didn't do it on purpose. He got, 116 00:06:19.569 --> 00:06:21.319 you know, they bumped heads and they were kind of 117 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:24.569 knocked out. Like he was just feeling fuzzy. And I, 118 00:06:25.980 --> 00:06:28.959 you know, There is some sympathy in that if you 119 00:06:29.300 --> 00:06:32.379 are on Kevin Owens' side and you're kind of taking 120 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:35.750 him at face value because Big E does drop him 121 00:06:35.819 --> 00:06:38.050 with the big ending as the show went off the air. 122 00:06:38.129 --> 00:06:40.790 And so I'm curious as to what the overall take 123 00:06:40.910 --> 00:06:42.910 is as far as the callers go in terms of 124 00:06:43.170 --> 00:06:44.750 how they viewed that because I think you can look 125 00:06:44.769 --> 00:06:47.970 at that and go, wow. All right. Biggie serious to 126 00:06:48.009 --> 00:06:51.000 the point. Biggie, he knows that he's being a smart 127 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:51.500 baby face. 128 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:51.720 Right. 129 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:53.980 He knows the history of Kevin Owens. He knows not 130 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.259 to not to trust what he what Kevin Owens says. 131 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.000 All right. I'm going to drop him before before he 132 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.889 drops me. On the other hand, you know. you know, 133 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:05.050 there was a part of that. I think you could 134 00:07:05.129 --> 00:07:07.870 analyze as like, wow, Biggie, that's, that was kind of mean. 135 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:10.110 He was kind of apologizing to you and, and, and, 136 00:07:10.209 --> 00:07:12.149 and openly, you know, saying he was sorry. And so 137 00:07:12.550 --> 00:07:14.629 I'm with you, Nate. I think that there is some, 138 00:07:15.029 --> 00:07:19.290 some baggage there. And, you know, usually Vince McMahon and 139 00:07:19.629 --> 00:07:24.370 WWE booking don't do something just to do it. There's typically, 140 00:07:24.490 --> 00:07:26.509 you know, a reason for it. And then they beat 141 00:07:26.529 --> 00:07:29.750 you over the head with that reason after week after week. So, um, 142 00:07:30.649 --> 00:07:33.560 I think there's something more to this and we'll have 143 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.579 to see. But I don't but I don't hate it, though, Nate. 144 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:38.819 I don't hate, you know, presenting Kevin Owens as a 145 00:07:38.860 --> 00:07:43.019 potential up and coming challenger. Biggie needs strong heel opponents 146 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:46.589 to face like he needs, you know, guys to defend 147 00:07:46.629 --> 00:07:49.069 his championship against. I think Seth Rollins is a good 148 00:07:49.370 --> 00:07:51.430 first opponent right out of the gate. But then you 149 00:07:51.449 --> 00:07:53.709 got to pivot somewhere. And so setting the table like 150 00:07:53.750 --> 00:07:57.149 this with Owens, whether he's with Seth or not, Owens 151 00:07:57.209 --> 00:07:58.740 is a heel, I think makes sense long term. 152 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:04.300 Absolutely. Owens is an amazing heel. Everything he's done as 153 00:08:04.339 --> 00:08:07.000 a heel, I think, has stuck, at least in my mind, 154 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:15.790 much more so than things he's done. you know, uh, actually, 155 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:17.189 I guess one of the big, one of the coolest 156 00:08:17.230 --> 00:08:18.850 things he's ever done as a face was show up 157 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:22.060 at war games. That was really cool. But, um, you know, 158 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:25.800 but that aside, um, you know, he, he, in my opinion, 159 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:29.160 he plays the best, he is the best character of 160 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.259 himself when he is heel. Um, and I think he 161 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:36.019 would be a fantastic foil for, uh, for biggie. Um, 162 00:08:37.389 --> 00:08:41.610 uh kevin he obviously he's former universal champion i think 163 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:44.509 he probably could have another you know universal or wwe 164 00:08:44.549 --> 00:08:46.590 title run in him uh at least i hope he 165 00:08:46.610 --> 00:08:49.220 does before he his time with the company is over 166 00:08:49.269 --> 00:08:51.820 whenever that will be um but i i do i 167 00:08:51.820 --> 00:08:53.620 i agree with you i think this is uh this 168 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:56.320 is a great first couple feuds for biggie with this 169 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.960 new raw roster uh and kind of the whole new 170 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:04.169 uh just kind of So I like it. 171 00:09:04.850 --> 00:09:06.929 What did you make of the promo segment with, with 172 00:09:06.970 --> 00:09:09.629 Biggie and Seth Rollins? This is the first time, you know, 173 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:12.399 they're kind of in the ring together. Obviously they're building 174 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:14.980 towards a match. We don't know when it's, when it's 175 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:17.700 coming because they've got, they've got survivor series on the horizon. 176 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:20.059 So I don't, depending on

what the format is for 177 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:24.330 that show, who knows if they'll be wrestling each other. But, 178 00:09:24.769 --> 00:09:27.490 you know, I thought it was a good like first interaction. 179 00:09:27.549 --> 00:09:31.629 I thought Big E really he's, he's really finding that 180 00:09:31.710 --> 00:09:36.950 balance of being himself and showcasing his personality, but showcasing 181 00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:39.799 it in a way that's serious. And that shows that 182 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.679 he wants to win matches and, and stay the champion. 183 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:47.480 And I thought that just, kind of contrasted seth well 184 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:50.620 and sets obnoxious over the top you know the laugh 185 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.480 i i i thought that they the two of them 186 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:55.330 had some chemistry there and i think obviously they can 187 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:57.309 have a good match together but the question for me 188 00:09:57.350 --> 00:09:59.830 was can they can they hype this thing up can 189 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:03.379 they can they, can they talk? And you know, I 190 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:06.419 thought they, they succeeded in that, in that tonight. 191 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:06.799 What'd you think? 192 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:11.590 I would certainly agree with you. I like the chemistry 193 00:10:11.610 --> 00:10:15.429 the two of them had together. Big E is– and 194 00:10:15.470 --> 00:10:18.389 this is something we were talking about back when he 195 00:10:18.429 --> 00:10:20.750 was the Intercontinental Champion, what, like a year ago or 196 00:10:20.830 --> 00:10:23.909 however long ago that was, when they were first starting 197 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:27.250 to push him as a singles competitor. And he just– 198 00:10:27.269 --> 00:10:30.460 he kind of– it just felt like something was missing. 199 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:33.669 He felt like he couldn't quite– Um, hold his own 200 00:10:33.710 --> 00:10:35.710 as a singles competitor, at least in my mind. Um, 201 00:10:35.970 --> 00:10:40.429 he eventually did obviously, and he came to, but at first, anyway, he, he, 202 00:10:41.389 --> 00:10:43.149 he was kind of just lacking a little something. I 203 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:44.809 think a lot of that was in his promo skills 204 00:10:44.830 --> 00:10:46.669 and he was just trying to find his way as 205 00:10:46.700 --> 00:10:49.220 a singles competitor and not a member of that wacky 206 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:53.360 zany new day stable. Um, which I did. I don't 207 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:55.269 say that in a bad way. I love the new day. 208 00:10:55.769 --> 00:10:58.029 I say that with all the respect in the world. Um, 209 00:10:58.570 --> 00:10:59.950 but I think he was trying to find his own. 210 00:10:59.990 --> 00:11:02.750 And tonight I, I got that. I feel like he 211 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:06.080 has come into his own. He's, he's certainly presenting himself 212

00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.059 as a serious champion, but certainly still has those shades 213 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:13.960 of comedy and a new day in him. Um, I 214 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.460 like that. I like the fact that he stood up 215 00:11:16.820 --> 00:11:21.070 for both Kofi and Woods when Seth Rollins kind of 216 00:11:21.529 --> 00:11:24.690 started to– he called Kofi Manny a joke and he 217 00:11:24.950 --> 00:11:28.330 called King Woods a joke. I forget exactly what he 218 00:11:28.370 --> 00:11:31.690 called them, but he essentially insulted both of them. And 219 00:11:31.950 --> 00:11:35.850 Big E would not allow his friends to be bad-mouthed. 220 00:11:35.889 --> 00:11:39.009 I thought that was great. That is a man of 221 00:11:39.049 --> 00:11:43.009 integrity right there, my friends. um so yeah i'm all 222 00:11:43.029 --> 00:11:46.309 for that seth rollins uh yeah seth rollins he's from 223 00:11:46.490 --> 00:11:50.230 the obnoxious suits every week which i absolutely adore i 224 00:11:50.250 --> 00:11:52.350 thought they were stupid at first but man every week 225 00:11:52.389 --> 00:11:55.929 they like they're fantastic they just get zanier and weirder 226 00:11:55.970 --> 00:11:58.269 i love them um but he's playing he is he's 227 00:11:58.289 --> 00:12:03.129 playing an absolutely fantastic obnoxious heel the laugh um everything 228 00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:06.179 is is is great so i think Just a simple 229 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:09.259 fact that these two haven't really ever had any sort 230 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:12.919 of singles interaction before. That certainly adds some intrigue to 231 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:15.659 the match for me as well. And I am I'm 232 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:17.519 looking forward to seeing where this where this kind of 233 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.480 plays out and see how how Big E can overcome 234 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.080 Seth Rollins. I don't think I don't think Big E 235 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:24.799 is going to lose a belt this early in his run. 236 00:12:25.710 --> 00:12:27.789 So it'd be cool to see how how he overcomes 237 00:12:28.009 --> 00:12:30.769 Seth Rollins and where this feud actually goes. 238 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:34.470 Yeah, absolutely. Well said. All right, let's pause there for 239 00:12:34.490 --> 00:12:36.669 a quick second and set the table for the show, 240 00:12:36.710 --> 00:12:39.450 and then we'll start taking calls here, open up the 241 00:12:39.490 --> 00:12:42.929 phone lines. This is the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post 242 00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:47.610 Show covering the November 1st, 2021 edition of Monday Night Raw. Yes, folks, 243 00:12:47.830 --> 00:12:51.769 it's already November. Crazy to say. I'm PW Torts Assistant 244 00:12:51.830 --> 00:12:56.620 Editor Zach Haydorn filling in for Wade. side of things 245 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:59.059 a little bit later on tonight running down the show 246 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:02.470 on the Wade Keller hotline it's for VIP members every 247 00:13:02.509 --> 00:13:06.309 single day and you can go VIP by heading to pwtorch.com 248 00:13:06.450 --> 00:13:11.620 slash go VIP that's pwtorch.com slash go VIP and check 249 00:13:11.659 --> 00:13:15.059 out the Wade Keller hotline and a multitude of other 250 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:19.889 really really great podcasts from Very, very talented host. It's 251 00:13:20.009 --> 00:13:24.080 all there for you at PWTorch.com slash GoVIP. The other 252 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.519 voice you hear with me tonight is that of Nate 253 00:13:27.580 --> 00:13:32.129 Lindberg from the PWTorch Daily Cast PWT Talks NXT show. Nate, 254 00:13:32.610 --> 00:13:35.309 great to have you back, man. Always fun to talk 255 00:13:35.330 --> 00:13:36.169 a little wrestling with you. 256 00:13:37.299 --> 00:13:40.590 Absolutely. Good to be here. Glad to be talking something 257 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:44.970 a little bit different than NXT 2.0 because I haven't 258 00:13:44.990 --> 00:13:47.330 been super high on it as of 2.0. So it's 259 00:13:47.350 --> 00:13:48.850 kind of nice to get out of that. And I 260 00:13:48.929 --> 00:13:51.580 actually really enjoyed the show tonight, which is something I 261 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:53.860 haven't been able to say about Raw recently either. So 262 00:13:54.259 --> 00:13:56.360 glad to be here and glad to be talking about it. 263 00:13:56.899 --> 00:13:59.200 Yeah, fantastic. And maybe a little bit later we can 264 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:04.370 get a little teaser analysis of NXT 2.0 coming out 265 00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:08.830 of Halloween Havoc just to get you out in the 266 00:14:08.909 --> 00:14:13.330 open and running on what you do best. A challenging show, 267 00:14:13.370 --> 00:14:15.649 I would imagine, to analyze these days. I think it's 268 00:14:15.909 --> 00:14:19.230 just hard to look at that, knowing what they're putting 269 00:14:19.289 --> 00:14:23.549 out there. You can't really look at it the same 270 00:14:23.620 --> 00:14:25.759 way that you've been watching NXT for so long. 271 00:14:26.590 --> 00:14:28.990 You absolutely can't. And it's like every week we're sitting 272 00:14:29.009 --> 00:14:31.549 there going, okay, you know, this could happen, but well, 273 00:14:31.570 --> 00:14:33.950 maybe not because we don't really know where they're going 274 00:14:34.009 --> 00:14:36.190 and they're kind of going a new direction. And, and 275 00:14:36.210 --> 00:14:38.549 it more often than not, it seems like the more 276 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:41.679 predictable outcome is the way they go. But, but still, 277 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.700 you know, they've kind of thrown us some curve balls. 278 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.899 So I'm, I'm, I'm not going to throw it away yet. I'm, I'm, 279 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:51.360 I'm still into NXT 2.0. And I'm just kind of 280 00:14:51.379 --> 00:14:53.019 hoping they can, they can suck me in a little 281 00:14:53.059 -->

00:14:53.919 bit more down the line. 282 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:56.750 Yeah, very good. Well, maybe we can do it a 283 00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:02.789 little bit later, but the phone lines are open. 347-215-8558. 284 00:15:02.809 --> 00:15:06.409 That's 347-215-8558. Press one. If you're in the caller queue 285 00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:08.009 and you want to get on the air, just press 286 00:15:08.129 --> 00:15:10.929 one flags you on the switchboard and lets me know 287 00:15:11.409 --> 00:15:14.600 that you want to talk. The email bag is open 288 00:15:14.629 --> 00:15:16.279 as well. You can send us an email. Wade Keller 289 00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:21.059 podcast at gmail.com. That's Wade Keller podcast at gmail.com. We'll 290 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:23.600 get to that a little bit later. Um, we're going 291 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:25.820 to get to our first call here, Nate, but, but 292 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:27.159 you've been to some of that. I wanted to kind 293 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.570 of get your high level thoughts on it and just said, Hey, 294 00:15:29.990 --> 00:15:32.250 this was, this was a good show tonight. And I 295 00:15:32.309 --> 00:15:35.169 thought so too. I thought it top to bottom. I 296 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:37.389 thought it flowed well. I thought there was some good wrestling. 297 00:15:37.429 --> 00:15:41.049 I thought that there. with some characters that got some 298 00:15:41.149 --> 00:15:46.049 clear elevation within some matches, Damien Priest, T-Bar in particular, 299 00:15:46.070 --> 00:15:48.929 never thought I'd say the, the, under the phrase, Hey, 300 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.129 T-Bar had a good match tonight, but man, he, he 301 00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:54.779 really did. And Priest too. So I, I also really 302 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:59.340 liked the formatting of how they got into Bianca Belair 303 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:01.539 versus Becky Lynch. I mean, that was the opening match 304 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.279 seems like an eternity ago, but they, they both had 305 00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:06.840 promo time right before to kind of like frame up 306 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:09.440 the match and, and, why it's important to them and 307 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:12.179 why they wanted to win. I thought that was really 308 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.610 smart to kind of hook viewers right out of the gate. 309 00:16:14.710 --> 00:16:16.809 It made it seem like it was a really big match, 310 00:16:16.870 --> 00:16:19.289 which it is on paper, but a lot of times 311 00:16:19.669 --> 00:16:22.110 WWE will trot those matches out and not give them 312 00:16:22.470 --> 00:16:25.129 proper context in the show to tell everybody that, hey, 313 00:16:25.190 --> 00:16:28.100 this is really important. I thought they did that here. 314 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.519 And same thing with Kevin Owens and Big E a 315 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:34.039 little bit later. You had segments backstage throughout the show 316 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.580 that built up to that main event so i i 317 00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:40.259 thought raw was more than serviceable tonight and and well 318 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:43.340 put together and feature some really good stuff um throughout 319 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.559 the three hours but but just your take on it 320 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:48.289 on the overall holistic show Sure. 321 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:50.360 So one of the things that you just said was 322 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:52.320 there were quite a few segments of the course of 323 00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:54.840 the show that kind of led up to Big E 324 00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:58.820 and Kevin Owens and just multiple stories throughout the show. 325 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:02.750 And one thing that I absolutely love in a wrestling 326 00:17:02.789 --> 00:17:06.589 show is one story, one or two stories that kind 327 00:17:06.630 --> 00:17:09.269 of weave themselves in throughout the course of the entire show. 328 00:17:09.869 --> 00:17:11.559 um you know something that might happen at the beginning 329 00:17:11.619 --> 00:17:13.960 and you know and you kind of get some some 330 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:16.539 of those bullet points and those plot points and they 331 00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:19.099 finally culminate at the end of the show uh that's 332 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:21.720 like my kind of personal favorite thing to happen and 333 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:24.809 you're absolutely right that's what happened here tonight uh with 334 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:26.410 with Big E and Kevin Owens so I thought that 335 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:28.890 was a great way to present that um right off 336 00:17:28.910 --> 00:17:31.250 the gate with that match with Becky and Bianca I 337 00:17:31.289 --> 00:17:33.269 don't remember I don't have I don't have a report 338 00:17:33.309 --> 00:17:34.970 up right now to get the exact match time but 339 00:17:35.490 --> 00:17:37.470 um I mean that was at least like 25 minutes 340 00:17:37.529 --> 00:17:40.630 or so how often do we start a raw just 341 00:17:40.809 --> 00:17:42.829 right with action like that right off the bat now 342 00:17:42.849 --> 00:17:44.910 great together with some promos and stuff with them to 343 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:47.759 kind of hype that up before we got into the 344 00:17:47.859 --> 00:17:51.339 action but still um we don't often just jump into 345 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:54.559 a major match like that um just to kick off 346 00:17:54.619 --> 00:17:56.559 raw i mean how many times we had you know 347 00:17:56.700 --> 00:17:59.559 stuck through a 15 minute well i was a triple 348 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:01.200 h promo that was a long time ago but you 349 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:02.920 know what i you know what i mean right yeah 350 00:18:03.339 --> 00:18:05.519 um And so I thought that was a great way 351 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:08.640 to start the show. Um, and I definitely, you, you, 352 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:10.759 you called it

out and I definitely wanted to call 353 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.269 out the match between Damien Priest and T-Bar as well. 354 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:16.349 And I'm going to say Dominic Dijakovic. I can't say T-Bar, man. 355 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:19.630 I can't, I can't do it. Uh, but I thought 356 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:22.069 like that was actually one of my more favorite matches 357 00:18:22.089 --> 00:18:24.910 of the night. Um, and I was, uh, uh, in 358 00:18:24.930 --> 00:18:27.440 a way surprised just because of the way they especially 359 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:31.119 presenting t-bar but and i'm also not surprised because die 360 00:18:31.140 --> 00:18:34.160 jack is an amazing amazing talent as is damian priest 361 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:36.279 um but i'm just glad they got the time in 362 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:38.680 there tonight to pull off uh pull off what they 363 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.160 did like i said overall i thought it was a 364 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:43.500 great show um and it did not actually feel like 365 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.759 a three-hour slug to me tonight which uh doesn't typically 366 00:18:46.819 --> 00:18:49.180 happen when i'm watching a monday night raw yeah. 367 00:18:50.460 --> 00:18:53.619 Your time is valuable. Go VIP and listen to our 368 00:18:53.660 --> 00:18:58.920 shows commercial free. A nice streamlined listening experience. pwtorch.com slash 369 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:02.319 go VIP for full details on a commercial free listening experience. 370 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:05.220 And with a full VIP membership, you can create custom 371 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:08.099 feeds for individual shows or groups of shows by theme 372 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:11.599 and also unlock nearly four decades of archives and access 373 00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:17.089 our ad free website with VIP exclusive content. pwtorch.com slash govip. 374 00:19:17.349 --> 00:19:18.970 Your time is valuable, and that's one of the reasons 375 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:22.660 we offer VIP membership, pwtorch.com slash govip. 376 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:29.819 Oh, absolutely. I definitely agree. And yeah, it'll be interesting 377 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:31.849 to see what the... I'm sure we'll talk about it 378 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:35.500 a little bit later with callers too, but what... If anything, 379 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:39.529 the match does for T-Bar. I think I think his 380 00:19:40.289 --> 00:19:44.549 the name, the look, just everything about the character and 381 00:19:44.589 --> 00:19:48.650 gimmick itself really is low card at best. But man, 382 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:51.539 you watch him in there. to have a match. I mean, 383 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:54.660 he still is a big guy. He still fits, you know, 384 00:19:54.700 --> 00:19:57.119 the mold of what Vince McMahon is looking for in 385 00:19:57.140 --> 00:19:59.539 terms of, in terms of that. And so you never 386 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:01.779 know what kind of a hard

hitting mass like this can, 387 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:05.240 can do for somebody and priests, um, you know, again, 388 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:09.490 I'm sure we'll get in to go along with this new, 389 00:20:09.990 --> 00:20:12.539 the new personality. And I thought, uh, both those guys 390 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:16.319 delivered and gave priest the performance that he needed to 391 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:20.019 kind of anchor the new, uh, the new gimmick. So more, 392 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:22.509 more on that later, Nate, but let's, um, let's, let's 393 00:20:22.569 --> 00:20:24.309 roll in with our, with our first call here. 394 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:24.670 All right. 395 00:20:24.910 --> 00:20:27.910 Um, four, four, three, we, we will, uh, we'll start 396 00:20:27.930 --> 00:20:30.349 with you four, four, three, go ahead and state your 397 00:20:30.369 --> 00:20:32.079 name and where you're calling us from tonight. 398 00:20:34.420 --> 00:20:35.309 Hey, it's Kyle from Baltimore. 399 00:20:35.329 --> 00:20:35.769 How are you doing? 400 00:20:36.230 --> 00:20:36.890 Hey, Kyle. 401 00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:39.970 Doing good. Thanks for calling. Always a pleasure to talk 402 00:20:39.990 --> 00:20:41.910 to you after these shows, man. What did you think 403 00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:42.450 of Raw tonight? 404 00:20:43.509 --> 00:20:45.109 Yeah. 405 00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:47.930 Yeah, again, it was a really good show. The three 406 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:50.910 hours kind of flew by, which rarely happens for me 407 00:20:50.930 --> 00:20:54.160 where I felt like it was really a good episode 408 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:56.299 and really a good roster. You know, as I said, 409 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:59.640 Raw has a lot of great people on this show 410 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:02.200 that they drafted, so that's why I expected to have 411 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:05.640 some issues, I feel like, but whatever. I always get 412 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.960 to the beginning of a year right from before it 413 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:10.740 already started off, really how Becky and Bianca was like, okay, 414 00:21:10.779 --> 00:21:12.839 here we go. We're going off already. And I kind 415 00:21:12.900 --> 00:21:14.660 of like it when it starts with a match and 416 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:19.539 I'm talking because I hate them talking. Because I get it, 417 00:21:19.589 --> 00:21:22.650 but it's repetitive. So just get to the rest of it. 418 00:21:22.730 --> 00:21:26.589 So glad I did that. The match was great. It was, 419 00:21:26.650 --> 00:21:30.210 you know, a great match. And throughout the, I think 420 00:21:30.269 --> 00:21:32.970 it's Becky's phone backstage saying that the fans were booing her. 421 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.019 To know, she still gets cheered. So where is the status? 422 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:38.579 She gets booed. 423 00:21:38.619 --> 00:21:40.940 I mean, maybe a little bit, but she mainly gets cheered. 424 00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:43.730

So that part I'll get, but the entire match is great. 425 00:21:44.009 --> 00:21:45.730 I don't know where Bianca goes from here at this point. 426 00:21:45.789 --> 00:21:47.450 At this point, I think Bianca needs. 427 00:21:47.349 --> 00:21:48.009 To move on. 428 00:21:48.730 --> 00:21:52.430 Clearly what they saw today with Liv Morgan, it was like, yes, 429 00:21:52.569 --> 00:21:54.960 thank you. Liv and Becky, they kind of are kind 430 00:21:55.019 --> 00:22:00.130 of I remember before Liz said before about an interview 431 00:22:00.150 --> 00:22:04.579 she said that she had with Becky when she hugged 432 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:08.160 her to congratulate her on being pregnant, said that she's 433 00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:09.720 going to be a champion one day, and she never did. 434 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:12.140 And so that's kind of something they can go off of, 435 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:12.720 something like that. 436 00:22:12.740 --> 00:22:13.400 I know people. 437 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:15.980 Probably know that part, but that's what I want to 438 00:22:16.009 --> 00:22:18.049 get behind. And where Bianca goes from here, I don't know. 439 00:22:18.109 --> 00:22:19.190 But we can think about all that. 440 00:22:20.089 --> 00:22:25.230 Yeah, great topics. Nate, so... A couple things. Let's first 441 00:22:25.250 --> 00:22:29.430 talk about Becky Lynch in particular because tonight, you know, 442 00:22:29.470 --> 00:22:32.180 she gets the win. I was glad that they didn't 443 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.220 do kind of like a– I mean, yes, they did 444 00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:36.039 a bit of a shenanigan finish, but at least it 445 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:38.980 was a finish, you know, for better or worse. I 446 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:42.869 think– I don't think, you know, Bianca loses– that much 447 00:22:44.470 --> 00:22:46.640 losing this match, losing to Becky Lynch. I think that the, 448 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.619 I think the journey now is back to the top. 449 00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:52.289 And when she gets that win, if presented the right way, 450 00:22:52.589 --> 00:22:54.109 it's going to be, it's going to be a really 451 00:22:54.130 --> 00:22:58.829 big deal, but it begs the question, you know, Obviously, 452 00:22:58.849 --> 00:23:01.069 they're going to pivot in the short term to something 453 00:23:01.089 --> 00:23:03.529 with Liv Morgan. I think you look at Survivor Series, 454 00:23:03.609 --> 00:23:05.950 depending on the format of that show, like I said, 455 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:09.150 you're looking at a potential Becky versus Charlotte match, which 456 00:23:09.170 --> 00:23:14.140 I think has added intrigue because of the backstage happenings 457 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:18.920 from a couple weeks ago. But she's in this position 458 00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:23.410 where she is getting cheered. I think clearly tonight, maybe 459 00:23:23.869 --> 00:23:25.650 for the first time ever, and correct me if I'm 460 00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:31.900 wrong on for sure he'll come out because it wasn't 461 00:23:31.940 --> 00:23:35.180 her just healing on her opponent she was talking about 462 00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:38.000 the fans you know that they they were with her 463 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:40.339 for her rise and then they abandoned her right like 464 00:23:40.380 --> 00:23:44.170 so she's now that's like classic WWE heel you know 465 00:23:44.369 --> 00:23:47.269 bells and whistles alarms going off hey she's definitely a 466 00:23:47.289 --> 00:23:50.029 heel now she's insulting the audience I think that's the 467 00:23:50.049 --> 00:23:53.009 first time she did that so she's firmly planted in 468 00:23:53.049 --> 00:23:54.950 that space and now is going to pivot to Liv 469 00:23:54.990 --> 00:23:59.039 Morgan I mean I It's going to come down to Nate. 470 00:23:59.099 --> 00:24:05.529 I think how just. these these cheers into into booze 471 00:24:05.569 --> 00:24:08.329 like how how talented can Becky Lynch be we know 472 00:24:08.609 --> 00:24:11.730 that she's super talented but sometimes you know it's it's 473 00:24:11.950 --> 00:24:15.490 you can't overcome that that tidal wave and WWE had 474 00:24:15.529 --> 00:24:17.509 to know this was coming with people wanting to cheer 475 00:24:17.529 --> 00:24:19.509 her after her being away for over a year so 476 00:24:20.029 --> 00:24:22.950 I throw to you Nate your thoughts on Becky can 477 00:24:22.990 --> 00:24:26.950 this heel turn thing actually work is Liv Morgan sympathetic 478 00:24:27.009 --> 00:24:28.960 enough to help bring it out of her. 479 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:33.309 So I think it certainly can work, but I think 480 00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:36.400 it's going to be an uphill battle. Um, yeah, like 481 00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:39.369 I know everything that Becky's doing right now. I mean, I'm, 482 00:24:39.650 --> 00:24:42.289 I'm cheering her. I think she's doing a fantastic job. 483 00:24:42.309 --> 00:24:44.990 And that's part of the problem too, is like, if 484 00:24:45.029 --> 00:24:47.750 a heel does a really good job being a heel, 485 00:24:47.890 --> 00:24:50.109 like sometimes you just want to cheer them cause they're 486 00:24:50.130 --> 00:24:53.470 doing such a great job. Um, you know, and obviously 487 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:55.990 if they're really doing their job, you know, you obviously 488 00:24:56.029 --> 00:24:59.890 want to boo them. But, um, I, uh, I think 489 00:24:59.950 --> 00:25:02.450 it can, it can work, but she's really going to 490 00:25:02.490 --> 00:25:05.289 have to put in some, some effort to get the 491 00:25:05.329 --> 00:25:09.069 crowd against her. You know, where she mentioned tonight, you know, 492 00:25:09.109 --> 00:25:10.970 half the crowd is booing. It was certainly was not 493 00:25:11.029 --> 00:25:12.490 half the crowd. It was a heck of a lot 494 00:25:12.529 --> 00:25:16.400 less than that. But I mean, that was, it was certainly, 495 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.579 if not

the first, one of the first times that 496 00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:21.380 she's kind of started to turn against the crowd. I 497 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:25.380 want to say she did it on SmackDown like before 498 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:28.099 the brand split, but don't quote me on that. Yeah. 499 00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:30.759 But so it's certainly one of the first times that 500 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:32.720 she's she's kind of gone up against the crowd here. 501 00:25:32.769 --> 00:25:36.390 But I think it certainly can work. A heel Becky 502 00:25:36.430 --> 00:25:39.910 Lynch's is I mean, obviously, it's kind of what started 503 00:25:39.950 --> 00:25:42.309 to rocket her into the man character. And so we 504 00:25:42.329 --> 00:25:43.819 know she can do it. We know she can do 505 00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:46.869 it well. I just don't know if the fan base 506 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:49.670 is going to want to see that, you know, and, 507 00:25:49.809 --> 00:25:53.289 and like you said, that title wave comes and WWE, 508 00:25:53.470 --> 00:25:55.990 they can present something as much as they want, but 509 00:25:56.009 --> 00:25:58.029 if the fans want to cheer for these people, they, 510 00:25:58.170 --> 00:26:01.990 they want to cheer for Becky, you know, that they 511 00:26:02.049 --> 00:26:03.170 may end up having to pivot. 512 00:26:03.190 --> 00:26:03.990 Yeah. 513 00:26:04.569 --> 00:26:07.269 And, but we'll, we'll obviously we'll see live Morgan, I 514 00:26:07.990 --> 00:26:11.619 think is going to be a good challenger for Becky. I'm, 515 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.599 I don't know if, If she's going to be sympathetic 516 00:26:14.660 --> 00:26:18.640 enough to get people to turn on Becky either, though, 517 00:26:19.220 --> 00:26:21.920 you live live to me. She's I think she's a 518 00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:24.819 great talent, but she doesn't seem main event level for me. 519 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:25.380 And. 520 00:26:27.109 --> 00:26:31.230 She just get me probably upper mid card. You could 521 00:26:31.250 --> 00:26:34.299 probably obviously dance with the main main event scene, as 522 00:26:34.539 --> 00:26:38.400 we're seeing here. But I don't see her as a credible, 523 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:44.279 credible threat. So unless something happens like really something happens 524 00:26:44.299 --> 00:26:47.309 in the next week or two that that really pivots 525 00:26:47.349 --> 00:26:51.319 Liv Morgan into being a credible threat for her. who's 526 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:53.859 arguably one of the most popular people in the company 527 00:26:53.900 --> 00:26:57.839 at Becky Lynch. Um, I don't know if she's going 528 00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:01.660 to be able to be that person to make Becky 529 00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:04.279 that much of a hated heel to get people to 530 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:06.460 boo her and get people kind of on the side 531 00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:10.440 that WB wants them on. Um, so, but with all 532 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:12.759 of that said, I, I get to admit, I, I'm 533 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:16.359 loving everything she's doing. I think she's doing a great job. Um, 534 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:19.089 but unfortunately it's just not getting the reaction that WB wants. 535 00:27:19.109 --> 00:27:24.279 Um, Honestly, I think Liv Morgan is going to have 536 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:29.609 some issues here. I like the idea to feature somebody 537 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:33.329 fresh in the title picture, I guess. There's nothing wrong 538 00:27:33.349 --> 00:27:36.450 with that. They're kind of trying it on SmackDown with 539 00:27:36.730 --> 00:27:41.690 Shotzi and her heel turn going up against Sasha. I 540 00:27:41.690 --> 00:27:44.529 have no problem with the attempt, but you know, Becky 541 00:27:45.029 --> 00:27:48.089 not being, I don't want to say she's not over 542 00:27:48.109 --> 00:27:53.119 because obviously she's over, but people aren't buying her, but 543 00:27:53.460 --> 00:27:56.359 universally buying the heel turn right now. And so you're 544 00:27:56.380 --> 00:27:59.220 going to have Liv Morgan, this baby face character who's 545 00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:02.960 fresh in that, on that level of the card going 546 00:28:03.019 --> 00:28:06.529 up against Becky Lynch, who's just not firmly planted as 547 00:28:06.569 --> 00:28:10.410 a heel yet. And I think that's going to hurt Liv. Now, 548 00:28:11.029 --> 00:28:13.789 maybe Becky can bring the best out of her. Maybe not, 549 00:28:13.849 --> 00:28:15.170 but I think it's going to be hard for Liv 550 00:28:15.190 --> 00:28:17.430 Morgan as a fresh face at the top of the 551 00:28:17.470 --> 00:28:20.049 women's division, at least for a little while here to, 552 00:28:20.250 --> 00:28:23.369 if Bianca Belair couldn't do it right. Like I think 553 00:28:24.109 --> 00:28:28.589 Liv Morgan, the expectations have to be lower, lower for her. 554 00:28:28.690 --> 00:28:32.849 So we'll see. But yeah, it kind of an interesting, 555 00:28:33.150 --> 00:28:35.490 an interesting thing to watch here and to back to 556 00:28:35.509 --> 00:28:38.519 your comment, Nate, about the gimmick, the man gimmick. It's like, 557 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:42.849 I almost feel like if Becky– because people like that 558 00:28:43.230 --> 00:28:46.849 stick so much. They like the bombasticity of her character. 559 00:28:46.890 --> 00:28:51.369 They like the confidence that borderlines almost arrogance. I mean 560 00:28:51.410 --> 00:28:54.799 that was rooted in her rise to the top, and 561 00:28:54.819 --> 00:28:58.440 I think that's synonymous with that time with the audience. 562 00:28:58.579 --> 00:29:01.559 It's almost like– if she really wants to be a heel, 563 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:05.220 she kind of has to stop it with, with that, 564 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:07.900 even though that's kind of like the tried and true 565 00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:12.410 heel characteristics and heel mannerisms within that act. I think 566

00:29:12.450 --> 00:29:16.130 people enjoy seeing her do it so, so much, especially 567 00:29:16.390 --> 00:29:18.430 because they haven't seen it in so long that it 568 00:29:18.490 --> 00:29:20.390 pops the audience. And I think if you shut that 569 00:29:20.430 --> 00:29:23.210 all down and just went a different direction with the 570 00:29:23.250 --> 00:29:27.170 character or like just a different tweak on the man act, um, 571 00:29:27.569 --> 00:29:30.880 That maybe that would hook more people into to actually 572 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:32.799 boo her, because right now I just think she's she 573 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.250 is enjoyable. And the man thing, while there's pieces of 574 00:29:36.309 --> 00:29:38.609 it that are heel in nature, she's always pulled it 575 00:29:38.750 --> 00:29:40.980 off in a baby face way. that people like to see. 576 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:42.819 So she could be, she could be in for a 577 00:29:42.859 --> 00:29:45.140 bit of a gimmick tweak too. If she really wants 578 00:29:45.180 --> 00:29:46.720 to put all her eggs in the heel basket. 579 00:29:49.390 --> 00:29:50.049 Hey everyone. 580 00:29:50.390 --> 00:29:53.289 Long time PW torch communist, Sean Radican here to let 581 00:29:53.309 --> 00:29:56.930 you know, I've revamped and renewed the Radican worldwide podcast 582 00:29:56.950 --> 00:30:01.599 for 2026. a weekly VIP exclusive. Every week, I break 583 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:04.319 down four or five of the biggest trending topics in 584 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:08.220 pro wrestling. I also present my analysis, providing insight that 585 00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:10.869 helps you understand the story better or see it another 586 00:30:10.900 --> 00:30:14.049 way than maybe is the controversial take out there. Then 587 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:16.130 I bring on a special guest for the second half 588 00:30:16.150 --> 00:30:19.230 of the podcast. Sometimes it's a wrestler or someone else 589 00:30:19.250 --> 00:30:21.569 who works in the business. Other times it's a guest 590 00:30:21.710 --> 00:30:24.509 analyst who brings their specialized point of view on a 591 00:30:24.549 --> 00:30:27.940 particular key topic in the news. Recent guests have included 592 00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:31.119 Bronson Reed from WWE and PCO. One of my areas 593 00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:33.890 of specialty is the Japan wrestling scene, so I often 594 00:30:33.930 --> 00:30:36.950 cover a big topic from Japan with PW Torch's own 595 00:30:37.089 --> 00:30:40.710 Alan Farrell, Kelly Wells, and Chris Lansdell. I don't just 596 00:30:40.789 --> 00:30:43.029 cover the news. I don't just riff on the news 597 00:30:43.130 --> 00:30:45.559 or give a standard hot take. I'll bring my decades 598 00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:49.200 of studying this industry and talking one-on-one with dozens of 599 00:30:49.259 --> 00:30:52.619 wrestling promoters to each week's show so you understand not 600 00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:55.720 just what's happening, but the

context of why. Get ahead 601 00:30:55.740 --> 00:30:58.230 of the news. Get ahead of the pack with Ratican 602 00:30:58.250 --> 00:31:01.720 Worldwide only at PWTorch VIP. 603 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:08.579 Absolutely. And, you know, one of the one of the 604 00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:11.859 things that's come to mind and in just what you 605 00:31:11.900 --> 00:31:13.819 were saying, but it's also come it came to mind 606 00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:18.940 even tonight watching, watching that second promo that she had backstage. 607 00:31:19.160 --> 00:31:22.009 She put on the glasses and that really cool shirt 608 00:31:22.069 --> 00:31:24.529 with the shoulder pads or whatever she was wearing. I 609 00:31:24.569 --> 00:31:26.829 thought that was pretty sweet. She must be shopping at 610 00:31:26.849 --> 00:31:31.059 the same place Seth's shopping at. But what really came 611 00:31:31.099 --> 00:31:33.220 to mind was Stone Cold when they tried to turn 612 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:36.289 him heel doing the two-man power trip with Triple H. 613 00:31:36.809 --> 00:31:41.710 And the defining moment there is he's a heel. He's 614 00:31:41.730 --> 00:31:45.339 got him and Triple H and Lita in the ring, 615 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:47.079 and they start beating Lita with the chair, and the 616 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:50.519 crowd starts cheering because Stone Cold is– you know, stone 617 00:31:50.539 --> 00:31:53.619 cold and he's doing heel things and he's always done 618 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:57.559 heel things. And he became, you know, an anti-hero essentially. 619 00:31:57.640 --> 00:31:59.259 And I feel like that was kind of the same 620 00:31:59.299 --> 00:32:02.000 way in a, in a, a little bit of a 621 00:32:02.049 --> 00:32:05.410 different way, but it with the man character it was 622 00:32:05.450 --> 00:32:08.859 a bit of an anti-hero character um you know and 623 00:32:09.619 --> 00:32:13.079 so she could play that arrogant um and and kind 624 00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:15.980 of heelish character but in a in a baby face 625 00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:18.420 way now you're trying to pivot it in a heel 626 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:21.039 a heel way this kind of unconventional character in a 627 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:23.779 heel way and people just want to continue to cheer 628 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:26.720 it because it's very similar to what they had Or 629 00:32:26.740 --> 00:32:29.619 what she was doing as a babyface. So, yeah, I 630 00:32:29.660 --> 00:32:32.109 definitely I definitely agree with you there. If she wants 631 00:32:32.140 --> 00:32:36.529 to really you get the people against her, it's got 632 00:32:36.549 --> 00:32:39.910 to be a real big pivot. And by doing that 633 00:32:39.970 --> 00:32:42.750 big pivot, you've run that risk of like, you know, 634 00:32:43.130 --> 00:32:45.730 losing losing people behind you, losing the fans behind you 635 00:32:45.750 --> 00:32:48.730 because they want to see. what they want to see, 636 00:32:48.809 --> 00:32:52.069 you know, if WWE, hopefully WWE would let her go 637 00:32:52.109 --> 00:32:55.079 back to doing that eventually. But, uh, but yeah, I 638 00:32:55.240 --> 00:32:57.500 don't know. We'll see obviously where that goes, but, um, 639 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:00.180 you know, I would worry about it if they did 640 00:33:00.220 --> 00:33:02.700 do a huge pivot like that, if fans would start 641 00:33:02.740 --> 00:33:05.869 to maybe kind of, uh, care less about her. 642 00:33:06.660 --> 00:33:08.910 Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, it's a risk for sure. 643 00:33:08.930 --> 00:33:10.750 You know, they know the man thing works. And so, 644 00:33:11.309 --> 00:33:14.170 you know, it's, uh, it's, it's, yeah, it's almost like 645 00:33:14.190 --> 00:33:18.890 kind of like, Becky's a good enough performer, like you said, 646 00:33:18.930 --> 00:33:20.509 to pull this off. I mean, I don't think there's 647 00:33:20.549 --> 00:33:24.089 any doubt about her abilities to do that. It's just 648 00:33:24.109 --> 00:33:26.130 that is she going to be able to bring the 649 00:33:26.259 --> 00:33:29.480 audience with them? And that's why I think it was 650 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:32.220 kind of– I still go back to that SummerSlam turn 651 00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:35.920 where it's like, man, you have to– Give the fans 652 00:33:35.960 --> 00:33:37.740 at least a little bit of time to live with 653 00:33:37.769 --> 00:33:40.549 the returning Becky Lynch character as a babyface, just so 654 00:33:40.569 --> 00:33:43.009 they can, at the very least, even if turning her heels, 655 00:33:43.069 --> 00:33:47.210 the ultimate plan, let them get this kind of cheering 656 00:33:47.269 --> 00:33:49.210 for her out of their system a bit, you know, 657 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:51.400 and then and then. do the pivot but to have 658 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:53.339 it all come at once you know obviously I think 659 00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:55.980 they they rushed it maybe some circumstances changed that but 660 00:33:56.019 --> 00:33:58.319 now now they have to live they have to live 661 00:33:58.339 --> 00:34:02.000 in the world they created so um so we're stuck 662 00:34:02.019 --> 00:34:04.200 with with with what we have here and it's on 663 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:06.680 it's on Becky really to to try and pull off 664 00:34:06.779 --> 00:34:08.619 and live too to try to you know pull that 665 00:34:08.659 --> 00:34:12.429 heel that heel persona out of her um Bianca Belair 666 00:34:12.530 --> 00:34:13.690 and then we'll get back to Kyle here in a 667 00:34:13.710 --> 00:34:18.510 second so Belair Moves over to Raw. She kind of 668 00:34:18.769 --> 00:34:23.090 loses this opportunity. Obviously, it wasn't it was not clean 669 00:34:23.130 --> 00:34:28.210 because she ran to the the uncovered ring post and 670 00:34:28.230 --> 00:34:33.059 gets rolled up. So Nate, where does Bianca go from here? 671 00:34:33.500 --> 00:34:36.000 I'm kind of with Kyle on this on the surface that, hey,

672 00:34:36.099 --> 00:34:38.900 I think it's time for her to... You can't keep 673 00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:41.409 going back to Bianca versus Becky over and over and 674 00:34:41.449 --> 00:34:44.130 over again. I think now is a good time to 675 00:34:44.150 --> 00:34:48.130 pivot her away from that with Survivor Series coming into focus. 676 00:34:48.190 --> 00:34:52.340 Maybe she... you know, leads team raw or something into, 677 00:34:52.659 --> 00:34:55.420 into survivor series as the captain for the women's team 678 00:34:55.500 --> 00:34:59.139 on raw, it gives her a prominent, prominent positioning. She's 679 00:34:59.179 --> 00:35:02.119 still featured as a face of the brand, but not 680 00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:04.679 in the title picture. And then, you know, come Royal 681 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:07.260 rumble time, you can kind of get her back there. 682 00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.019 But I think it was a good showing for her 683 00:35:10.059 --> 00:35:12.760 in the ring. She certainly still is somebody that's going 684 00:35:12.780 --> 00:35:16.030 to be is featured. I mean, that match was, Like, yes, 685 00:35:16.090 --> 00:35:18.090 Becky won it. But man, a lot of it was 686 00:35:18.269 --> 00:35:21.070 for Bianca Belair. She had her moments and her time 687 00:35:21.110 --> 00:35:24.230 to show off her athleticism and all the lifts that 688 00:35:24.269 --> 00:35:28.469 she did. And like just just, you know, the way 689 00:35:28.489 --> 00:35:31.030 that Becky sold for her and bump for her. Like 690 00:35:31.929 --> 00:35:34.650 it's still, I think, very much about Bianca Belair, at 691 00:35:34.690 --> 00:35:38.489 least at this point. But a rest from the title picture, 692 00:35:38.570 --> 00:35:41.489 especially after losing it, I think is not not the 693 00:35:41.530 --> 00:35:43.690 worst thing in the world. But where does Bianca go, Nate? 694 00:35:44.980 --> 00:35:48.500 So that's a good question I've actually got the list 695 00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:52.070 of the female roster for Raw up on my screen 696 00:35:52.110 --> 00:35:54.670 right now and I'm going up and down this very 697 00:35:55.090 --> 00:35:59.210 small list of female wrestlers and I'm kind of thinking 698 00:35:59.230 --> 00:36:02.849 to myself like I don't know you know so Asuka 699 00:36:02.869 --> 00:36:04.250 was one of the first people that came to mind 700 00:36:04.269 --> 00:36:06.460 and I know she's out right now with an injury 701 00:36:07.579 --> 00:36:10.059 the other person that came to mind she's been kind 702 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:12.320 of absent for a while but she was drafted to 703 00:36:12.360 --> 00:36:15.130 Raw and I don't think we've seen her on raw. 704 00:36:15.230 --> 00:36:18.199 I could be wrong. Cause I haven't watched every single 705 00:36:18.260 --> 00:36:22.559 episode of Ross since the draft, but I around um 706 00:36:22.780 --> 00:36:25.239 and i would i would love to see mia yim 707 00:36:25.820 --> 00:36:29.000 debut on the main roster as mia yim not reckoning 708 00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:32.239 but as mia yim um and i think that could 709 00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:35.260 be that could be a great uh opponent for bianca 710 00:36:35.280 --> 00:36:38.300 belair in kind of like a rebuilding story if you 711 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:41.590 will like um because like i don't necessarily think bianca 712 00:36:41.610 --> 00:36:43.130 belair is going to come out and be like you 713 00:36:43.150 --> 00:36:45.969 know what i i I lost and kind of be 714 00:36:46.030 --> 00:36:47.789 dejected and everything. I think she's going to try and 715 00:36:47.909 --> 00:36:51.329 spin it as a positive that– because that's just the 716 00:36:51.349 --> 00:36:55.110 nature of her character. She's a fighter, right? So she 717 00:36:55.130 --> 00:36:57.610 always fights from underneath and tries to do her best 718 00:36:57.679 --> 00:37:00.280 and come out victorious, and I feel like she's probably 719 00:37:00.300 --> 00:37:03.019 going to try and– she's probably going to spin– these 720 00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:06.889 losses into a positive and try to build herself back up, um, 721 00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:09.539 you know, to get back into the title picture down 722 00:37:09.579 --> 00:37:11.920 the road. Um, but she's going to need some competitors 723 00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:14.099 to do that. Like I said, Mia Yim sounds, uh, 724 00:37:14.179 --> 00:37:17.639 sounds good to me. Um, cause like everybody else that's 725 00:37:17.699 --> 00:37:20.420 on the roster here, they were all involved in other 726 00:37:20.460 --> 00:37:22.300 things throughout the course of the night with the exception 727 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:24.500 of Alexa bliss. So it was, is not on, uh, 728 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:27.409 not on the show. Um, but on the Raw women's roster. 729 00:37:28.329 --> 00:37:33.679 But everybody else, Zelina Vega, Carmella, Doudrop, Dana Brooke, Liv Morgan, 730 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:39.079 Nikki Ash, Tamina, they were all all involved in other 731 00:37:39.179 --> 00:37:41.780 things throughout the course of the show so that's a 732 00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:45.309 good question where does Bianca Belair go from here um 733 00:37:45.869 --> 00:37:49.170 and to be honest with you I don't uh I 734 00:37:49.369 --> 00:37:52.230 don't know exactly who her next opponent would be um 735 00:37:52.389 --> 00:37:54.849 but I I would like to see her kind of 736 00:37:54.929 --> 00:37:59.389 go into a um uh like a I keep, I 737 00:37:59.409 --> 00:38:01.349 keep calling it a rebuilding phase and it's not really 738 00:38:01.369 --> 00:38:04.110 what I mean, but, um, you know, kind of recognize 739 00:38:04.130 --> 00:38:06.570 the fact that she lost these, these high profile matches. 740 00:38:06.610 --> 00:38:09.039 She lost her belt. Even if this was a little 741 00:38:09.079 --> 00:38:11.239 bit of a small schmoz finish here where she got 742 00:38:11.659 --> 00:38:15.320 her face, you know, uh, right

into the, uh, exposed turnbuckle, 743 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:18.360 which by the way, why isn't that a DQ? That's, 744 00:38:18.400 --> 00:38:20.800 I feel like that should be a DQ, but it, 745 00:38:21.510 --> 00:38:23.469 it is what it is. And, uh, well, I'll get 746 00:38:23.510 --> 00:38:28.309 into that when we get into Austin theory versus Ray. Um, but, uh, um, 747 00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:32.219 But yeah, you know, so where she did lose in 748 00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:33.920 a bit of a schmoz, like she can still kind 749 00:38:33.940 --> 00:38:34.820 of hold her head up high. 750 00:38:34.909 --> 00:38:35.070 No. 751 00:38:35.110 --> 00:38:40.369 And hey, you know, I didn't lose clean. But but yeah, 752 00:38:40.389 --> 00:38:42.210 I'm not 100 percent sure where she's going to go 753 00:38:42.269 --> 00:38:44.500 from here. Just looking up and down the roster as 754 00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:45.880 it is, as it stands right now. 755 00:38:47.300 --> 00:38:49.500 It's next-level coverage that you come to expect from the 756 00:38:49.539 --> 00:38:54.719 PW Torch brand. No AI, no rookie perspectives, no unfounded rumors, 757 00:38:55.110 --> 00:38:59.429 no clickbait, no deceptive headlines, just high-quality writing, breaking news, 758 00:38:59.630 --> 00:39:03.869 and fascinating flashbacks every day at pwtorch.com. Pull yourself away 759 00:39:03.969 --> 00:39:06.190 from the vacuous social media experience that I know many 760 00:39:06.210 --> 00:39:09.110 of you regret once you get lost in it for minutes, 761 00:39:09.179 --> 00:39:11.460 if not hours at a time, and settle in for 762 00:39:11.659 --> 00:39:13.739 high-quality PW Torch-branded wrestling coverage. 763 00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:22.079 Yeah, I think it is tough to see that. I mean, 764 00:39:23.050 --> 00:39:26.329 there's some options out there. I mean, Asuka and Bianca Belair, 765 00:39:27.170 --> 00:39:31.039 that would certainly be interesting as a holdover future. I think, obviously, 766 00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:34.380 Survivor Series, you know, you kind of have a one-month buffer, right? 767 00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:36.559 Because if you're going to do some kind of elimination match, 768 00:39:36.659 --> 00:39:39.059 you know, you can keep her in that. And I 769 00:39:39.099 --> 00:39:42.730 think that works, like I mentioned. Alexa Bliss is an 770 00:39:42.789 --> 00:39:46.489 interesting choice, regardless of how she comes back, whether it's 771 00:39:46.530 --> 00:39:49.489 with this, you know, kind of fiend-esque gimmick or not. 772 00:39:49.909 --> 00:39:53.150 I think that she's got... Equity as a as a 773 00:39:53.219 --> 00:39:56.000 star and it could be a good kind of second 774 00:39:56.500 --> 00:39:59.219 top program with the women's division on Raw. But ultimately, 775 00:39:59.239 --> 00:40:03.480 I think you want to build to Becky versus Bianca 776 00:40:03.559 --> 00:40:06.090 again down the road. I mean, I think that's that's 777 00:40:06.150 --> 00:40:08.210 the

match. I think when you look at the roster 778 00:40:08.250 --> 00:40:11.969 and go, OK, like that's. Who's on the journey towards 779 00:40:11.989 --> 00:40:17.199 the championship? Well, that's Bianca Belair. I think you can 780 00:40:17.739 --> 00:40:21.039 ride that all the way until WrestleMania next year and 781 00:40:21.079 --> 00:40:25.710 do Bianca versus Becky on a really big stage and 782 00:40:25.750 --> 00:40:29.190 get Bianca that signature win over Becky, the one that 783 00:40:29.210 --> 00:40:32.150 she's been... been, been looking for, for, for a handful 784 00:40:32.170 --> 00:40:34.340 of months. And that's a, that's a decent long-term story 785 00:40:34.389 --> 00:40:36.539 if they, if they, if they tell it the right way. 786 00:40:36.679 --> 00:40:39.019 So I think that's on the, on the horizon is 787 00:40:39.079 --> 00:40:41.460 that's my guess along the way who she wrestles. Like 788 00:40:41.480 --> 00:40:43.500 you said, it's nobody's guess, but I think you threw 789 00:40:43.539 --> 00:40:47.059 out some, some good names. Nate, let's get to our, 790 00:40:47.199 --> 00:40:49.860 what I think is who I think, not what, who 791 00:40:49.909 --> 00:40:55.480 I think is our, our onsite correspondent. Paul, let's go 792 00:40:55.519 --> 00:40:57.480 to Paul right now and check in with him on 793 00:40:57.539 --> 00:41:00.679 how things were in the building tonight. Paul, is this you, 860? 794 00:41:00.659 --> 00:41:04.260 That's correct. Yeah. 795 00:41:04.280 --> 00:41:05.659 How are you doing, Zach? 796 00:41:06.179 --> 00:41:09.809 Doing good, Paul. Thanks so much for joining us tonight 797 00:41:09.889 --> 00:41:14.099 and giving us the in-perspective. or your perspective on what 798 00:41:14.139 --> 00:41:17.239 happened in the building. We all thought we already kind 799 00:41:17.300 --> 00:41:22.269 of tackled our thoughts holistically and overall and said, you know, 800 00:41:22.329 --> 00:41:25.389 thumbs up on the show tonight. Was that, what was 801 00:41:25.409 --> 00:41:28.550 the vibe in the building in regards to everybody walking out? 802 00:41:28.570 --> 00:41:30.230 Did it seem like everybody had a good time and 803 00:41:30.750 --> 00:41:31.570 got their money's worth? 804 00:41:34.769 --> 00:41:36.739 Yeah, I think so. You know, people were excited to 805 00:41:36.760 --> 00:41:38.639 have been there. It's been a long time since people 806 00:41:38.659 --> 00:41:43.590 have seen wrestling. The place was packed. And people were enthusiastic. 807 00:41:43.690 --> 00:41:46.829 So a long show, you know, but I think everyone 808 00:41:46.849 --> 00:41:47.429 had a good time. 809 00:41:47.449 --> 00:41:49.949 Yeah, yeah. So was it sold out? 810 00:41:53.989 --> 00:41:56.110 It was as close to sold out as a building 811 00:41:56.139 --> 00:41:59.480 I've ever been in. Even the hard cam side, there 812 00:41:59.500 --> 00:42:03.900 was very, very few open seats. So, yeah, the place 813 00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:07.239 holds 12,000, so not a huge arena, but it was 814 00:42:07.320 --> 00:42:08.079 close to jammed. 815 00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:15.239 Wow, that's great. What was the audience like? Was it family-oriented? 816 00:42:15.300 --> 00:42:18.760 Were there strong male-female one way or the other? Just 817 00:42:18.780 --> 00:42:22.889 give a sense of who was in the crowd watching 818 00:42:22.909 --> 00:42:23.239 this one. 819 00:42:25.590 --> 00:42:27.409 Yeah, I guess it was a mix. There was a 820 00:42:27.449 --> 00:42:30.909 lot of families and a lot of men in their 821 00:42:30.929 --> 00:42:35.730 20s to 40s, some with wives and girlfriends, I think. 822 00:42:36.130 --> 00:42:38.730 But yeah, a lot of families. 823 00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:42.460 Okay, and did you get the sense that the audience 824 00:42:42.539 --> 00:42:46.380 was kind of up on the product and kind of 825 00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:50.059 going with the flow of who WWE wanted them to 826 00:42:50.099 --> 00:42:53.050 be cheering? We'll get into specific reactions and stuff to 827 00:42:53.070 --> 00:42:55.070 the stars and angles here in a minute, but were 828 00:42:55.090 --> 00:42:58.150 they a WWE-friendly crowd in terms of going with the 829 00:42:58.230 --> 00:43:03.070 flow or pushing back on what WWE was trying to do? 830 00:43:05.570 --> 00:43:07.250 No, I think for the most part they were lapping 831 00:43:07.329 --> 00:43:11.230 it up. They were a very appreciative group. And the 832 00:43:11.269 --> 00:43:13.650 only thing was I felt like that they refused to 833 00:43:13.690 --> 00:43:16.849 boo Becky, where I feel like some other crowd has 834 00:43:16.869 --> 00:43:20.449 done that unless WWE has been piping in noise. They 835 00:43:20.489 --> 00:43:26.280 certainly didn't boo Bianca, but they did boo Becky. And 836 00:43:26.320 --> 00:43:31.400 they also booed Jackson Ryker. They were not having him. 837 00:43:31.599 --> 00:43:36.000 They cheered for the Hurt Business over him in one 838 00:43:36.019 --> 00:43:37.699 of the opening bouts. I suppose that was a main 839 00:43:37.739 --> 00:43:38.219 event match. 840 00:43:39.260 --> 00:43:42.829 I'll tell you, Paul, I'm truly shocked to my core 841 00:43:42.869 --> 00:43:47.010 that a baby-faced Jackson Ryker is not over with the audience. 842 00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:47.260 Exactly. 843 00:43:48.909 --> 00:43:49.789 Shocked. Shocked. 844 00:43:49.829 --> 00:43:50.469 Go figure. 845 00:43:50.650 --> 00:43:56.809 You're right. Go figure. Interesting. Very interesting. So let's start there. 846 00:43:56.909 --> 00:43:59.250 You talked about Becky Lynch a little bit. I mean, 847 00:43:59.349 --> 00:44:02.650 I think on the show, you know, from an interview 848 00:44:02.710 --> 00:44:06.139 perspective and how she won the match against Bianca Belair, 849 00:44:06.179 --> 00:44:09.780 I mean, WWE is clearly going for her as a heel. 850 00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:12.639 You said that they didn't want to boo her. Was 851

00:44:12.920 --> 00:44:14.940 there any portion of the audience that was giving her 852 00:44:14.960 --> 00:44:19.059 a negative reaction? Or was it, you know, split babyface 853 00:44:19.099 --> 00:44:20.559 pops for her and Bianca? 854 00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:25.679 Yeah, it was split babyface pops. I really tried to 855 00:44:25.719 --> 00:44:27.780 get a boo going, but there was, you know, out 856 00:44:27.820 --> 00:44:28.360 of respect. 857 00:44:29.039 --> 00:44:29.949 But there was nothing. 858 00:44:30.050 --> 00:44:32.809 There was nothing there. I think if the match went on, 859 00:44:32.829 --> 00:44:36.710 she got a much bigger, I think, star reaction than Bianca. 860 00:44:36.730 --> 00:44:38.489 But if the match went on, I think as many 861 00:44:38.530 --> 00:44:40.429 people were cheering for Bianca. I don't know if that 862 00:44:40.469 --> 00:44:41.409 came off on TV. 863 00:44:42.389 --> 00:44:45.960 So Bianca still got a strong reaction opposite her? 864 00:44:48.940 --> 00:44:52.199 Yeah, I thought so, especially as the match wore on. 865 00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:56.900 I think people were more vocal and cheering for Bianca. 866 00:44:57.420 --> 00:45:00.019 It is hard to hate Becky. Even as a heel, 867 00:45:00.059 --> 00:45:06.750 she's such a giving heel. I think about Charlotte in 868 00:45:06.809 --> 00:45:11.429 contrast to when she was feuding with Alexa, really kind 869 00:45:11.469 --> 00:45:15.260 of ripped her gimmick to shreds. as opposed to Becky 870 00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:19.360 who seems to sell so well for her face. 871 00:45:20.039 --> 00:45:22.889 Yeah, she really did help. I mean, obviously Bianca does 872 00:45:22.929 --> 00:45:26.130 her part with the athleticism, and it seemed like the 873 00:45:26.190 --> 00:45:28.909 audience really reacted to some of those power moves that 874 00:45:29.190 --> 00:45:32.610 Belair did, but Becky just bumps so well for her 875 00:45:32.710 --> 00:45:35.909 and sells so well for her, really emphasizes those moves. 876 00:45:35.949 --> 00:45:38.650 Was that the most over part of Bianca's act tonight, 877 00:45:38.690 --> 00:45:40.610 those big power moves in the ring during the matchup? 878 00:45:43.030 --> 00:45:48.480 Yeah, yeah. I mean, she really is so impressive. And 879 00:45:48.539 --> 00:45:51.239 clearly some of the audience that was not really prepared 880 00:45:51.320 --> 00:45:53.099 wasn't that up on the product. They had seen all 881 00:45:53.139 --> 00:45:57.190 her moves. So there was definitely a few gasps with 882 00:45:57.210 --> 00:45:59.010 some of her feats. 883 00:45:59.409 --> 00:46:03.889 Yeah, great. Interesting. Nate, over to you for some questions 884 00:46:03.969 --> 00:46:05.670 for Paul here. Sure, sure. 885 00:46:05.710 --> 00:46:10.170 So let's actually pivot over to Big E versus Seth Rollins, 886 00:46:10.210 --> 00:46:12.760 or the Big E and Seth Rollins in-ring interaction there. 887 00:46:13.260 --> 00:46:16.820 What was the crowd interaction like in person? It seemed like, 888 00:46:17.159 --> 00:46:18.889 at least on TV, it seemed like the crowd was 889 00:46:19.010 --> 00:46:21.829 into it, but there were few times where I think 890 00:46:21.849 --> 00:46:24.269 like Big E was, uh, he mentioned something like, uh, 891 00:46:24.309 --> 00:46:26.309 you know, for example, when he said, he said, don't 892 00:46:26.369 --> 00:46:30.159 disrespect Kofi mania, don't disrespect, uh, woods, uh, you know, 893 00:46:30.199 --> 00:46:32.900 King woods. I think he was expecting a bit more 894 00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:34.460 of a pop than what came through on TV. So 895 00:46:34.579 --> 00:46:36.760 I'm just kind of curious how that, how that segment 896 00:46:36.780 --> 00:46:39.639 came across on TV. And if, if everybody seems to 897 00:46:39.679 --> 00:46:43.190 be behind Big E as a WWE champion, um, as, 898 00:46:43.409 --> 00:46:44.869 as it stood in Providence tonight. 899 00:46:46.989 --> 00:46:49.070 Yeah, so, I mean, I have to say, I was 900 00:46:49.190 --> 00:46:51.449 a little disappointed. Everyone likes Big E. I don't think 901 00:46:51.510 --> 00:46:53.449 anyone was unhappy to see him or unhappy to see 902 00:46:53.469 --> 00:46:56.260 him as champ. But there wasn't, he didn't quite get 903 00:46:56.300 --> 00:46:59.559 that star pop. And to be honest, I think that 904 00:46:59.800 --> 00:47:02.679 Seth got a bigger sort of star pop than Big 905 00:47:02.800 --> 00:47:06.420 E did, which surprised me. You know, I think kind 906 00:47:06.460 --> 00:47:10.159 of like Becky, that people, even though, you know, he 907 00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:13.440 was certainly doing his best, Um, you know, people really 908 00:47:13.460 --> 00:47:15.800 want to like Seth. The only time that he really, 909 00:47:16.159 --> 00:47:18.780 he really got a negative reaction, uh, in the building 910 00:47:18.820 --> 00:47:21.510 that I recall is when he, uh, he pooh-poohed the 911 00:47:21.570 --> 00:47:25.130 idea of having, uh, having a biggie Seth match, uh, 912 00:47:25.170 --> 00:47:26.989 you know, in the building. That, that certainly worked. 913 00:47:29.269 --> 00:47:32.590 Yeah, for sure. For sure. Um, and then what about, um, uh, 914 00:47:33.409 --> 00:47:37.389 what was I going to say? The, um, Oh, there 915 00:47:37.429 --> 00:47:39.300 was one other match I wanted to talk about, and 916 00:47:39.760 --> 00:47:42.500 it escaped me as we were... Zach, I'll throw it 917 00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:44.099 back to you for a minute, and I'll think about that. 918 00:47:44.119 --> 00:47:47.739 I have a couple more in regards to the Big E, Seth, 919 00:47:47.840 --> 00:47:50.579 Kevin Owens stuff. So at the end of the show. 920 00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:52.480 Mike, if you don't. 921 00:47:52.389 --> 00:47:54.610 Mind, I just wanted to interject. I wonder if you're 922 00:47:54.650 --> 00:47:57.909 wondering about what I'm wondering about is the match with 923 00:47:57.929 --> 00:48:00.670 the

Street Profits and the Dirty Dogs, where the crowd 924 00:48:00.690 --> 00:48:03.730 kind of rebelled on that one. Okay. And they chanted 925 00:48:03.789 --> 00:48:08.260 for Randy and for... I don't know if that came 926 00:48:08.340 --> 00:48:11.389 off on TV, but it seemed in the building the 927 00:48:11.409 --> 00:48:13.789 crowd was being a little bit disrespectful. 928 00:48:13.309 --> 00:48:16.389 To the match. So that's interesting. Yeah, talk a little 929 00:48:16.409 --> 00:48:18.389 bit more about that, because I did have this in 930 00:48:18.429 --> 00:48:20.989 my notes, but it's not the exact topic that you're 931 00:48:21.030 --> 00:48:25.429 talking about. So did the crowd openly rebel loudly? I 932 00:48:25.690 --> 00:48:27.150 didn't catch that, Nate. 933 00:48:27.170 --> 00:48:27.469 Did you? 934 00:48:28.329 --> 00:48:29.570 No, I didn't necessarily either. 935 00:48:29.590 --> 00:48:31.530 Yeah, so tell us more about that, Paul. 936 00:48:31.590 --> 00:48:32.699 Huh, that's interesting. 937 00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:33.170 Yeah, so. 938 00:48:33.769 --> 00:48:37.150 It was kind of deafening. I'm really surprised. So, you know, 939 00:48:37.170 --> 00:48:39.329 the match starts, and just as the match starts, the 940 00:48:39.369 --> 00:48:42.250 crowd is chanting for Randy Orton. You know, he's a 941 00:48:42.250 --> 00:48:46.630 big star or whatever. And Riddle kind of, like, reacted. 942 00:48:46.670 --> 00:48:48.730 I guess he was in character or whatever, but he 943 00:48:48.769 --> 00:48:53.070 was kind of, like, stoking the crowd on. And it 944 00:48:53.199 --> 00:48:54.940 really kind of drowned out everything that was going on 945 00:48:54.960 --> 00:48:57.500 in the ring. So that dies out. Then the crowd 946 00:48:57.579 --> 00:49:03.170 starts chanting. There was actually, we want Randy. And then 947 00:49:03.210 --> 00:49:06.199 later on, it was RKO, and later on, it was 948 00:49:06.219 --> 00:49:11.199 We Want Riddle, and really, it seemed like, I think 949 00:49:11.219 --> 00:49:12.360 it was a little late in the show, and the 950 00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:15.050 crowd was fatigued, but there was a great match going on, 951 00:49:15.090 --> 00:49:17.750 I thought. I thought Montez Ford was on fire, and 952 00:49:17.809 --> 00:49:21.489 Dolph looked great, and the the crowd was not paying 953 00:49:21.570 --> 00:49:22.960 any mind Yeah. 954 00:49:23.099 --> 00:49:25.489 So, okay, so we did get, so they did react 955 00:49:25.530 --> 00:49:29.650 to the Randy chants a little bit. I think on commentary, 956 00:49:29.710 --> 00:49:31.369 Riddle kind of addressed it and said something to the 957 00:49:31.389 --> 00:49:35.130 effect of like, man, Randy, these fans really, really love you, 958 00:49:35.190 --> 00:49:40.150 or bro, or something in a classic Riddle tone. But 959 00:49:40.210 --> 00:49:42.440 so they did address it a little bit, but like 960 00:49:42.460 --> 00:49:43.840 you said, it would have been hard not to if 961 00:49:43.900 --> 00:49:47.320 the audience was that, was kind of taking over that much. 962 00:49:50.360 --> 00:49:53.360 Searching for more great pro wrestling talk? Then join me, 963 00:49:53.420 --> 00:49:56.980 Jason Powell, host of the free weekly Pro Wrestling Boom podcast. 964 00:49:57.460 --> 00:49:59.670 Each week, you'll hear the latest news and analysis from 965 00:49:59.710 --> 00:50:02.389 me and my team at ProWrestling.net, along with other Pro 966 00:50:02.409 --> 00:50:05.849 Wrestling Media members. Plus, the Pro Wrestling Boom podcast features 967 00:50:05.909 --> 00:50:09.269 long-form interviews with notable names in the pro wrestling industry. 968 00:50:09.550 --> 00:50:13.369 Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Downcast, and all your favorite secondary apps, 969 00:50:13.869 --> 00:50:19.400 or visit us directly at PWBoom.com. Once again, that's PWBoom.com. 970 00:50:24.260 --> 00:50:26.869 The question I had about that segment, though, Paul, was so. 971 00:50:28.219 --> 00:50:31.559 When Omos comes out and they do the little angle, 972 00:50:31.820 --> 00:50:35.000 Riddle runs over and he kind of attacks Omos. And 973 00:50:35.019 --> 00:50:39.460 then the audience really wants Randy Orton to go after Omos. 974 00:50:39.500 --> 00:50:42.050 They're chanting for him. He like rips off his shirt 975 00:50:42.329 --> 00:50:47.030 and they show him like start moving towards Omos if 976 00:50:47.070 --> 00:50:49.289 he's going to fight with him. And then they cut 977 00:50:49.349 --> 00:50:52.099 to a video package right in the middle of it. 978 00:50:52.130 --> 00:50:54.289 Did anything happen there in front of the live crowd 979 00:50:54.329 --> 00:50:54.610 or no? 980 00:50:54.679 --> 00:50:54.800 No. 981 00:50:56.980 --> 00:50:59.639 Yeah, it was like the air being let out of 982 00:50:59.699 --> 00:51:02.360 a balloon, all the excitement of a crowd draining because 983 00:51:02.420 --> 00:51:07.019 it just goes to black and Randy sort of, you know, 984 00:51:07.599 --> 00:51:11.019 everyone just sort of slinks off. And I think he 985 00:51:11.059 --> 00:51:14.510 was responding, you know, somewhat to the energy in the room. 986 00:51:14.750 --> 00:51:16.170 I think the crowd was just, they were trying to 987 00:51:16.230 --> 00:51:20.989 entertain themselves a little bit, you know, with the Randy stuff. 988 00:51:21.570 --> 00:51:23.929 But I do want to say that Riddle does take 989 00:51:23.969 --> 00:51:26.869 some responsibility. Maybe it didn't come off on TV. But 990 00:51:26.909 --> 00:51:29.309 he several times got up out of his seat and 991 00:51:29.329 --> 00:51:32.139 stoked the flames for people to chant for Randy, which 992 00:51:32.360 --> 00:51:35.360 certainly was in character, but didn't do the Street Profits 993 00:51:35.420 --> 00:51:35.760 any favors. 994 00:51:36.460 --> 00:51:37.460 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 995 00:51:37.539 --> 00:51:39.860 So I just want to confirm, though. So there was 996 00:51:39.920

--> 00:51:44.269 no kind of showdown between Omos and Orton off TV. 997 00:51:45.590 --> 00:51:47.369 nope okay okay now. 998 00:51:47.360 --> 00:51:50.699 Um fade to black and everybody uh everybody in the shower. 999 00:51:50.699 --> 00:51:53.679 That's so bizarre that was such a weird transition it 1000 00:51:53.719 --> 00:51:54.579 really was it. 1001 00:51:54.559 --> 00:51:57.059 Was yeah it was super i thought like at first 1002 00:51:57.079 --> 00:51:59.550 like it was something wrong with like my feed or 1003 00:51:59.619 --> 00:52:01.809 like my uh you know youtube tv or something like 1004 00:52:01.849 --> 00:52:03.789 that because it just kind of cut and i was 1005 00:52:03.809 --> 00:52:05.789 like that's weird why would they build that up and 1006 00:52:05.829 --> 00:52:09.329 then not not go with it but that's uh that's 1007 00:52:09.349 --> 00:52:13.059 bizarre um another question for you here pivoting back to. 1008 00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:15.219 I really think that randy was reacting to the the 1009 00:52:15.239 --> 00:52:17.760 feeling in the room you know the the crowd was 1010 00:52:17.820 --> 00:52:20.789 just just egging him on and he felt like he 1011 00:52:20.829 --> 00:52:22.969 had something uh that maybe wasn't in. 1012 00:52:22.929 --> 00:52:28.070 The script yeah it makes sense yeah Interesting. What did 1013 00:52:28.090 --> 00:52:31.380 the audience make of the angle at the end with 1014 00:52:31.420 --> 00:52:35.039 Kevin Owens kind of apologizing to Big E and then 1015 00:52:35.079 --> 00:52:38.920 Big E just dropping him with the big ending instead 1016 00:52:38.960 --> 00:52:41.260 of kind of accepting his apology? Nate and I were 1017 00:52:41.300 --> 00:52:43.519 talking at the beginning of the show that you could 1018 00:52:43.539 --> 00:52:45.099 take that one of two ways. You could take that 1019 00:52:45.159 --> 00:52:48.690 as Big E being a smart baby face and not 1020 00:52:48.730 --> 00:52:51.650 buying Kevin Owens because of his history. Or you could 1021 00:52:51.670 --> 00:52:53.469 look at that and go, man, Big E's being kind 1022 00:52:53.489 --> 00:52:56.360 of mean. Kevin Owens, I think he meant that apology, 1023 00:52:56.389 --> 00:52:58.900 and that was mean to treat him that way. What 1024 00:52:58.940 --> 00:53:02.260 was the sense in the building? Is it pro-Big E 1025 00:53:02.360 --> 00:53:04.340 or Big E? Wow, come on, man. He was trying 1026 00:53:04.360 --> 00:53:05.710 to apologize to you there. 1027 00:53:05.869 --> 00:53:06.090 Yeah. 1028 00:53:08.570 --> 00:53:12.079 Yeah, it was kind of split. You know, I feel 1029 00:53:12.119 --> 00:53:15.239 like if you've watched wrestling enough, you know that no 1030 00:53:15.280 --> 00:53:20.139 wrestler ever accepts an apology from another wrestler without hitting 1031 00:53:20.219 --> 00:53:23.739 a finisher. But there was a lot of people that 1032 00:53:23.780 --> 00:53:26.599 kind of reacted negatively, but I think most people just 1033 00:53:26.679 --> 00:53:30.000 went with it. I really, I do have to say 1034 00:53:30.059 --> 00:53:33.639 that I think Kevin Owens is just so pitch perfect 1035 00:53:34.179 --> 00:53:38.019 on the mic. I mean, he He just– he really– 1036 00:53:38.170 --> 00:53:41.929 for a guy with no momentum, he really got the 1037 00:53:41.949 --> 00:53:42.780 crowd invested. 1038 00:53:44.019 --> 00:53:44.400 Interesting. 1039 00:53:45.519 --> 00:53:47.420 The last thing, and Nate, maybe you're– or not the 1040 00:53:47.440 --> 00:53:49.039 last thing. I have a couple more questions. But the 1041 00:53:49.079 --> 00:53:51.840 match you're thinking of maybe, Nate, is the T-Bar versus 1042 00:53:51.880 --> 00:53:57.110 Damian Priest match. That was a– really strong match on TV. 1043 00:53:57.239 --> 00:54:02.230 What was the in-person experience like watching Priest and T-Bar 1044 00:54:02.250 --> 00:54:04.130 go at it? I mean, it was pretty hard hitting. 1045 00:54:04.429 --> 00:54:06.230 It seemed like you guys were into it and loud, 1046 00:54:06.809 --> 00:54:08.239 but talk to us a little bit about that match. 1047 00:54:10.619 --> 00:54:13.659 Yeah, so I think it's great that it came off 1048 00:54:14.019 --> 00:54:16.659 as well as it did on TV. To be honest, 1049 00:54:16.820 --> 00:54:19.610 in the building, it felt like the crowd was a 1050 00:54:19.639 --> 00:54:22.869 little bit, they were a little bit a little bit bored. 1051 00:54:22.889 --> 00:54:26.110 It was late in the show, and I didn't get 1052 00:54:26.150 --> 00:54:28.210 the sense of that much excitement. However, I got to 1053 00:54:28.250 --> 00:54:33.219 say that when the crowd predictably started chanting for tables, 1054 00:54:33.300 --> 00:54:37.019 Damian Priest was ready. He went right for that table, 1055 00:54:37.559 --> 00:54:42.219 and that really did prop up interest in the match. 1056 00:54:42.300 --> 00:54:45.059 I think people were almost more interested in the table 1057 00:54:45.099 --> 00:54:45.900 than they were the match. 1058 00:54:46.949 --> 00:54:50.389 Interesting. And so did Damien Priest get a kind of 1059 00:54:50.429 --> 00:54:53.909 a big star pop? Or how did he compare to 1060 00:54:53.949 --> 00:54:55.929 like the other top babyfaces on the show? 1061 00:54:58.010 --> 00:55:03.630 Yeah, not so much. Not so much. I would say 1062 00:55:03.710 --> 00:55:07.210 one of the least, and people like him, nobody booed him. 1063 00:55:07.809 --> 00:55:10.650 But yeah, not as much as excitement. Like compared to 1064 00:55:10.670 --> 00:55:13.750 Finn Balor, like a fraction. 1065 00:55:14.929 --> 00:55:16.820 That was actually the match I was going to ask about. 1066 00:55:16.840 --> 00:55:17.860 There you go. 1067 00:55:17.880 --> 00:55:23.449 Go ahead. Was Finn Balor versus Chad Gable. Now, on paper, 1068 00:55:23.690 --> 00:55:27.780 it doesn't necessarily scream like this. I know on paper 1069 00:55:27.800 --> 00:55:28.739 you're thinking, okay, this is going to

be. 1070 00:55:33.750 --> 00:55:35.610 Here, you know, Finn Balor just a couple of weeks 1071 00:55:35.650 --> 00:55:38.469 ago was challenging for the universal title. And Chad Gable, 1072 00:55:38.550 --> 00:55:41.090 as much I love him as Chad Gable. How did 1073 00:55:41.610 --> 00:55:44.210 how did the crowd come across with this match? And 1074 00:55:44.269 --> 00:55:46.550 did they get into it? Personally, I loved it. I 1075 00:55:46.570 --> 00:55:47.570 thought this was a great match. 1076 00:55:49.849 --> 00:55:53.969 Yeah, I agree with you. I really loved it. I 1077 00:55:54.030 --> 00:55:57.590 think the crowd was confused as to why Finn Balor 1078 00:55:57.630 --> 00:56:02.230 wasn't squatting this annoying bug in the ring with him. Yeah. 1079 00:56:02.369 --> 00:56:06.389 And we're sort of going toe for toe with a 1080 00:56:06.409 --> 00:56:12.070 guy who has not won a singles match in years. So, yeah, 1081 00:56:12.230 --> 00:56:14.130 I didn't get the sense they were that into it. 1082 00:56:14.309 --> 00:56:16.889 They really did get a– they enjoyed kind of cheering 1083 00:56:16.929 --> 00:56:22.619 for Finn and booing– Gable and his sidekick, but they 1084 00:56:22.659 --> 00:56:27.050 didn't seem to appreciate what we were seeing in the ring, 1085 00:56:27.070 --> 00:56:28.550 which I agree with you. I thought it was excellent. 1086 00:56:29.130 --> 00:56:31.590 Sure. And that's kind of what I was wondering, because 1087 00:56:33.269 --> 00:56:36.030 I wrote this down in my notes, not anything up 1088 00:56:36.090 --> 00:56:37.929 on the torch, just my notes for the show here tonight. 1089 00:56:38.670 --> 00:56:40.429 But I wrote down in the notes that it just 1090 00:56:40.489 --> 00:56:46.380 seemed like If you think about it in terms of kayfabe, because, again, 1091 00:56:46.400 --> 00:56:48.260 like I said, he was just up against Roman Reigns 1092 00:56:48.320 --> 00:56:50.820 fighting for the universal title. And like and then like 1093 00:56:50.840 --> 00:56:52.679 you said, here he is up against Chad Gable, who 1094 00:56:52.760 --> 00:56:55.199 hasn't had a singles win in God knows how long. 1095 00:56:56.340 --> 00:56:58.489 So I was wondering if it kind of came across 1096 00:56:58.510 --> 00:57:05.070 that way, especially where it it. Um, Finn, Finn lost with, um, uh, 1097 00:57:05.130 --> 00:57:08.219 you know, just kind of coming across sympathetic with the 1098 00:57:08.360 --> 00:57:11.000 one leg injury, um, and having to finish the match 1099 00:57:11.039 --> 00:57:12.860 on one leg, there was something in the commentary really 1100 00:57:12.920 --> 00:57:15.300 put over. That was what I was kind of thinking 1101 00:57:15.360 --> 00:57:17.699 as well as like, why is he having so much 1102 00:57:17.739 --> 00:57:21.829 trouble putting away Chad Gable? Even though I'm in a bubble, 1103 00:57:21.869 --> 00:57:25.630 I'm watching this match going, Oh God, The technical wrestling 1104 00:57:25.789 --> 00:57:28.420

lover in me is eating this up. But in terms 1105 00:57:28.440 --> 00:57:30.320 of the story, yeah, I was kind of right there 1106 00:57:30.360 --> 00:57:31.659 with the rest of the audience. 1107 00:57:32.380 --> 00:57:34.090 Yeah, I thought the same thing too. I was like, 1108 00:57:34.110 --> 00:57:36.289 this is a good match, but I don't know whether 1109 00:57:36.309 --> 00:57:38.849 it's– that's a good thing. You know what I mean? 1110 00:57:38.869 --> 00:57:41.679 Like it's entertaining to watch, but it's like what does– 1111 00:57:42.090 --> 00:57:45.969 What does this mean for Finn Balor? Is that how 1112 00:57:46.010 --> 00:57:49.670 they see him on Gable's level? Nothing against Gable, but 1113 00:57:50.030 --> 00:57:53.119 he's at a certain level. And I think Balor is 1114 00:57:53.179 --> 00:57:57.019 certainly not there. So good match, no doubt. But it's like... 1115 00:57:57.480 --> 00:58:00.519 is that telling of a, of a bigger story for him? 1116 00:58:00.739 --> 00:58:02.320 I don't think it is. I think it's one of 1117 00:58:02.360 --> 00:58:03.940 those things where it's like, Hey, we got to fill 1118 00:58:03.960 --> 00:58:06.260 three hours of TV time. These guys can have a 1119 00:58:06.280 --> 00:58:08.320 heck of a match, go out there and do it. 1120 00:58:08.679 --> 00:58:11.969 But there is the residual effect of that, of, you know, 1121 00:58:11.989 --> 00:58:14.670 the perception that, wow, Finn Balor just, he can't handle 1122 00:58:14.710 --> 00:58:17.329 business against Chad Gable. You know, this is a, this 1123 00:58:17.349 --> 00:58:21.369 is a problem. Um, uh, Paul, so who, who had 1124 00:58:21.409 --> 00:58:24.070 the biggest baby face reaction of the night? Was it 1125 00:58:24.110 --> 00:58:24.909 Becky or somebody else? 1126 00:58:28.440 --> 00:58:31.389 Oh, yeah, I guess it just had to be Becky, 1127 00:58:31.409 --> 00:58:34.630 didn't it? Yeah, I mean, I guess I would call 1128 00:58:34.650 --> 00:58:38.530 it a star reaction, but yeah, she was head and shoulders. 1129 00:58:39.550 --> 00:58:40.389 And what about. 1130 00:58:40.409 --> 00:58:42.750 Oh, I gotta say, Ray got an amazing pop. 1131 00:58:43.090 --> 00:58:45.989 Yeah, sorry. No, no, no, go ahead. Go talk about Ray. 1132 00:58:46.039 --> 00:58:46.820 That's interesting. 1133 00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:48.159 Yeah. 1134 00:58:49.500 --> 00:58:51.170 And I just got to say while we're on it, 1135 00:58:51.440 --> 00:58:57.610 biggest heel heat was definitely Austin Perry, which was amazing 1136 00:58:57.670 --> 00:58:59.670 to me. But I don't know if it's just the 1137 00:58:59.750 --> 00:59:04.590 crowd loves Ray so much and didn't, you know. But, yeah, 1138 00:59:05.210 --> 00:59:07.630 he was really– he got a ton of heat. I 1139 00:59:07.630 --> 00:59:09.909 don't know if that came off on TV, but it worked. 1140 00:59:09.920 --> 00:59:11.960 It did. It definitely came across. 1141 00:59:12.920 --> 00:59:17.239 Yeah, it definitely did. Interesting.

So I don't know if 1142 00:59:17.260 --> 00:59:19.420 you can dig into that a little bit. I'm just curious. Like, 1143 00:59:20.719 --> 00:59:24.340 Could you sense in there that, hey, it's like anybody 1144 00:59:24.440 --> 00:59:27.050 opposite Ray would have gotten that kind of heat? Or 1145 00:59:27.090 --> 00:59:30.889 was there something about his performance specifically that was able 1146 00:59:30.909 --> 00:59:33.190 to kind of drum up more than usual? Were you 1147 00:59:33.230 --> 00:59:34.530 able to gauge that at all? 1148 00:59:37.159 --> 00:59:39.219 Yeah, I mean, I guess it's kind of a mix. 1149 00:59:39.380 --> 00:59:41.840 I mean, people were super excited to see Ray. He's 1150 00:59:41.860 --> 00:59:45.070 a big star. And a lot of people did not know, 1151 00:59:45.090 --> 00:59:47.510 you know, who Austin was. You know, I, I gotta 1152 00:59:47.550 --> 00:59:50.570 say just real quick, I loved him in the way 1153 00:59:50.670 --> 00:59:53.309 and the whole family dynamic stuff was just, I thought 1154 00:59:53.329 --> 00:59:56.469 was amazing. Um, but it wasn't like he was putting 1155 00:59:56.570 --> 01:00:00.760 on this great, like Sammy Zane type heat generating. It 1156 01:00:00.800 --> 01:00:03.639 was just the fact that he, you know, he, he 1157 01:00:03.699 --> 01:00:05.820 kind of, kind of seemed like he, he thought he 1158 01:00:05.860 --> 01:00:08.599 belonged in the ring with great Mysterio and, and, uh, 1159 01:00:09.829 --> 01:00:13.130 And people were kind of, you know, people were kind 1160 01:00:13.309 --> 01:00:15.690 of reacting to that. Plus the guy looks like some 1161 01:00:15.730 --> 01:00:20.820 like beast up NSYNC member, you know. So he has 1162 01:00:20.880 --> 01:00:23.500 that against him, you know, easy face to hate. 1163 01:00:24.739 --> 01:00:26.900 Wow. I love it. I love it. I'm going to 1164 01:00:26.920 --> 01:00:27.239 use that. 1165 01:00:27.260 --> 01:00:27.719 So do I. 1166 01:00:27.760 --> 01:00:29.280 That's good. That's good. 1167 01:00:30.539 --> 01:00:33.570 Did you know that you can enjoy commercial free versions 1168 01:00:33.769 --> 01:00:36.050 of all of your favorite Wade Keller podcasts and PW 1169 01:00:36.070 --> 01:00:41.440 Torch Daily Casts? Just go to patreon.com, search PWTorch, and 1170 01:00:41.480 --> 01:00:44.530 subscribe to a VIP membership tier. You get a seven-day 1171 01:00:44.570 --> 01:00:46.530 free trial, by the way, to kick the tires a 1172 01:00:46.550 --> 01:00:48.789 bit and see if you like the service. And then 1173 01:00:48.889 --> 01:00:51.130 sync it with Spotify, and you can listen to commercial-free 1174 01:00:51.170 --> 01:00:53.789 versions of our free shows, like the Wade Keller Post Shows, 1175 01:00:53.829 --> 01:00:56.679 the Wade Keller Podcast Flagship, our flashbacks, and also the 1176 01:00:56.699 --> 01:01:00.360 PWTorch DataCast lineup online. Again, all commercial-free, a nice streamlined 1177 01:01:00.380 --> 01:01:03.539 listening experience. But with third-tier membership, you can also unlock 1178 01:01:03.739 --> 01:01:06.599 all the VIP podcasts, including Everything with Rich and Wade, 1179 01:01:06.639 --> 01:01:08.219 The Fix with Todd Martin that I host with Todd 1180 01:01:08.260 --> 01:01:12.650 every week, the Wade Keller News Bulletin's post-pay-per-view roundtables, and 1181 01:01:12.670 --> 01:01:16.230 an array of other VIP-exclusive podcasts with different hosts and 1182 01:01:16.289 --> 01:01:20.230 different themes. Check out the lineup. Go to Patreon and 1183 01:01:20.309 --> 01:01:23.849 search PWTorch and subscribe and sync it up with Spotify 1184 01:01:23.989 --> 01:01:27.269 or stay within the Patreon ecosystem. Either way works, go 1185 01:01:27.309 --> 01:01:30.250 to Patreon and start your seven-day free trial. 1186 01:01:35.860 --> 01:01:40.219 So, and then last thing on my end, what was 1187 01:01:41.119 --> 01:01:46.260 the reaction to the Dominic-Ray Mysterio kind of interaction? I mean, did... 1188 01:01:47.199 --> 01:01:48.860 Was there any kind of reaction to that in the 1189 01:01:48.960 --> 01:01:51.380 audience where you're like, OK, we think we're thinking there's 1190 01:01:51.400 --> 01:01:54.239 something here with Dominic. Maybe he's going to turn. Was 1191 01:01:54.280 --> 01:01:56.260 there any drama there in the audience because of the 1192 01:01:56.300 --> 01:01:58.389 way that finish went down or did it kind of 1193 01:01:58.449 --> 01:02:00.769 fly under the radar? Because they didn't linger too much 1194 01:02:00.849 --> 01:02:01.610 on it on TV. 1195 01:02:04.429 --> 01:02:08.170 No, I think that that kind of subtlety was lost 1196 01:02:08.190 --> 01:02:11.070 in this crowd. We were having a big debate on 1197 01:02:11.099 --> 01:02:14.400 whether Dominic was a punk or not. You know, half 1198 01:02:14.440 --> 01:02:17.500 the crowd was really down on Dominic, and some of 1199 01:02:17.559 --> 01:02:19.340 us were trying to defend him. 1200 01:02:20.800 --> 01:02:21.400 Got it, got it. 1201 01:02:21.420 --> 01:02:23.840 But, yeah, no, that kind of subtlety, like the whole 1202 01:02:23.980 --> 01:02:28.099 Kevin Owens going for the pin, like I thought that 1203 01:02:28.139 --> 01:02:31.090 was a great moment, like, Like, did he see, you know, 1204 01:02:31.130 --> 01:02:33.619 did he, is he taking advantage or did he not notice? 1205 01:02:33.960 --> 01:02:35.679 But I think the crowd is just sort of, I 1206 01:02:35.739 --> 01:02:37.559 didn't get the sense that the crowd had any of 1207 01:02:37.579 --> 01:02:40.820 that mixed feeling. They were just excited, you know, excited 1208 01:02:40.860 --> 01:02:42.780 to see something that looked like a finish. 1209 01:02:43.360 --> 01:02:43.619 Yeah. 1210 01:02:43.739 --> 01:02:49.260 Yeah. Nate, back over to you for any other finishing questions. Sure. 1211 01:02:49.539 --> 01:02:52.900 This is a question that I'm sure probably nobody else 1212 01:02:52.940 --> 01:02:55.710

but me actually even cares about, but I'm actually just 1213 01:02:55.750 --> 01:02:59.829 kind of curious. So I'm not that far from Providence myself, right? 1214 01:02:59.849 --> 01:03:02.090 I've made it down to Providence for a couple shows 1215 01:03:02.730 --> 01:03:05.590 here and there over the years. And every time I 1216 01:03:05.639 --> 01:03:09.559 make it down there, it almost seems like it's half 1217 01:03:09.599 --> 01:03:12.159 of a Boston crowd and half of a family crowd. 1218 01:03:12.739 --> 01:03:14.099 And I know we talked a little bit about the 1219 01:03:14.139 --> 01:03:16.500 crowd earlier tonight, but I'm just kind of curious if 1220 01:03:16.780 --> 01:03:20.420 you've ever made it to Boston for a show and 1221 01:03:21.119 --> 01:03:25.739 what– like your experience between the two, between the two 1222 01:03:25.760 --> 01:03:27.489 different venues and the two different types of crowds. I 1223 01:03:27.510 --> 01:03:31.469 know– Boston is at least every time I've gone has 1224 01:03:31.510 --> 01:03:33.630 been like a little bit more hardcore a little more 1225 01:03:33.690 --> 01:03:36.309 ravenous of a fan base whereas Providence kind of seems 1226 01:03:36.329 --> 01:03:38.170 to be a little bit more family oriented but then 1227 01:03:38.190 --> 01:03:40.070 you still get those people like me that come down 1228 01:03:40.110 --> 01:03:43.260 from mass that kind of infiltrate the show so just 1229 01:03:43.300 --> 01:03:45.420 kind of curious if that was kind of it or 1230 01:03:45.920 --> 01:03:47.599 you know and if you just could speak on that 1231 01:03:47.639 --> 01:03:49.639 for a minute like I said nobody else probably cares 1232 01:03:49.800 --> 01:03:50.880 I'm just curious. 1233 01:03:52.739 --> 01:03:54.539 Yeah Nate you might be onto something because the one 1234 01:03:54.559 --> 01:03:57.409 time I was up in Boston I saw um Money 1235 01:03:57.449 --> 01:03:59.480 in the Bank, the last Money in the Bank they had, 1236 01:03:59.599 --> 01:04:06.260 you know, in front of a crowd. And the people there, 1237 01:04:06.739 --> 01:04:10.289 by hardcore, what struck me is the fact that they 1238 01:04:10.329 --> 01:04:14.750 were wearing, like, stuff. Like, the way they were dressed 1239 01:04:14.869 --> 01:04:20.000 was like some, like, vintage NWO Macho Man leather jacket and, like, 1240 01:04:20.360 --> 01:04:23.739 you know, just, like, not just your regular T-shirt-wearing crowd. 1241 01:04:24.280 --> 01:04:27.920 And I do think tonight did seem like a mix. 1242 01:04:27.940 --> 01:04:30.940 The guy in front of me had the vintage Bret 1243 01:04:30.980 --> 01:04:35.139 Hart sunglasses, a Bret Hart leather jacket, and somehow he 1244 01:04:35.179 --> 01:04:40.130 had what looked like Bret Hart's tights on. So there 1245 01:04:40.170 --> 01:04:44.349 was some people who did seem really hardcore like the 1246 01:04:44.389 --> 01:04:46.690 Boston crowd, but a lot of families as well. So 1247 01:04:46.710 --> 01:04:47.670 you may be on to something. 1248 01:04:48.349 --> 01:04:49.159 Cool. Cool. 1249 01:04:49.179 --> 01:04:51.920 Yeah. Thank you for that. Like I said, just completely curious. 1250 01:04:52.019 --> 01:04:55.159 But it came to my mind a little bit halfway 1251 01:04:55.199 --> 01:04:57.070 through the shows. I figured I figured I'd ask if 1252 01:04:57.090 --> 01:04:57.670 I got the chance. 1253 01:04:59.590 --> 01:05:02.780 Good stuff. Good stuff. Paul, where did you where were 1254 01:05:02.820 --> 01:05:03.559 your seats at tonight? 1255 01:05:06.510 --> 01:05:10.670 Um, so I was, um, uh, really nice, you know, 1256 01:05:10.710 --> 01:05:13.190 nice seats, nowhere, nowhere near the, uh, the ring, but 1257 01:05:13.250 --> 01:05:15.429 kind of like, I guess, halfway up on the, uh, 1258 01:05:15.809 --> 01:05:18.289 the hard, the hard, not the hard camera side, but 1259 01:05:18.739 --> 01:05:21.860 the side you're looking at there. Um, so nice seats. 1260 01:05:22.989 --> 01:05:23.849 Okay, interesting. 1261 01:05:25.070 --> 01:05:27.769 I've learned that I really want to avoid being on 1262 01:05:27.789 --> 01:05:30.690 the floor. You know, I might get behind somebody tall, 1263 01:05:30.710 --> 01:05:32.889 but when you're on that nice rise, you know, and 1264 01:05:32.909 --> 01:05:35.460 you're not too far from the ring, it's great, and 1265 01:05:35.500 --> 01:05:36.679 the seats aren't too expensive. 1266 01:05:37.539 --> 01:05:42.179 No, absolutely. Good strategy. Good strategy, man. Well, glad you 1267 01:05:42.199 --> 01:05:45.260 had a good time. Anything else in your notes or 1268 01:05:45.599 --> 01:05:47.980 in your memory that we should know about as far 1269 01:05:48.019 --> 01:05:51.840 as the in-person experience went tonight? A good show, top 1270 01:05:51.860 --> 01:05:52.400 to bottom, I think. 1271 01:05:54.210 --> 01:05:59.550 Yeah, Montez Ford was just so full of charisma, and 1272 01:05:59.869 --> 01:06:03.670 his feats were just, I mean, even dwarfed his wife's, really. 1273 01:06:03.710 --> 01:06:07.380 I mean, that leap over the ring post was just astounding. 1274 01:06:07.429 --> 01:06:10.699 So I just sense so much star potential in him 1275 01:06:10.760 --> 01:06:12.519 that I've never noticed on television. 1276 01:06:13.500 --> 01:06:16.820 Yeah, no, that came through on TV, too, I think, Nate. 1277 01:06:17.079 --> 01:06:17.480 What do you think? 1278 01:06:18.590 --> 01:06:22.329 Absolutely, absolutely. And it's funny because when I first started 1279 01:06:22.369 --> 01:06:26.150 covering NXT, Street Profits are down in NXT, and I 1280 01:06:26.309 --> 01:06:28.869 always thought of Dawkins as the one that stood out 1281 01:06:28.889 --> 01:06:32.630 to me more. And one day, both Tom Stoup and 1282 01:06:32.650 --> 01:06:35.230 Kelly Wells, they happened to say on the show that 1283 01:06:35.769 --> 01:06:37.690 Montez Ford was the one that stood out more to them. 1284 01:06:37.730 -->

01:06:39.909 And I was like, huh, really? And I started watching 1285 01:06:39.929 --> 01:06:44.199 him more, and I agree. I think he– he has 1286 01:06:44.480 --> 01:06:48.079 such star potential in him. Um, and I can't like, 1287 01:06:48.400 --> 01:06:49.980 not that I, I want to see him go away 1288 01:06:50.019 --> 01:06:53.219 from Angelo Dawkins whatsoever. Cause I, I really enjoy what 1289 01:06:53.260 --> 01:06:56.420 they do, but obviously, you know, most teams end up 1290 01:06:56.460 --> 01:06:59.280 breaking up at some point. So eventually I'm hoping they, 1291 01:06:59.400 --> 01:07:01.940 they do give him a singles runs. I'd love to 1292 01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:03.659 see what he's able to do on his own. Um, 1293 01:07:04.079 --> 01:07:05.519 and I'd love to actually see what he could do 1294 01:07:05.559 --> 01:07:07.679 from a heel perspective too. Cause he has so much 1295 01:07:07.679 --> 01:07:10.269 much charisma i want to see if he's able to 1296 01:07:10.309 --> 01:07:13.590 channel that into you know pretty decent dastardly heel but 1297 01:07:13.789 --> 01:07:15.510 i i've got i've got high uh high hopes for 1298 01:07:15.530 --> 01:07:16.090 him big. 1299 01:07:15.989 --> 01:07:19.130 Time yeah yeah same same but be interesting to watch 1300 01:07:19.170 --> 01:07:22.170 him watch him go uh all right paul thank you 1301 01:07:22.449 --> 01:07:25.150 so much great uh just great stuff talked about i 1302 01:07:25.170 --> 01:07:28.010 really appreciate that really appreciate the call and and uh 1303 01:07:28.070 --> 01:07:30.219 glad to hear you had a you had a fun time. 1304 01:07:32.739 --> 01:07:34.780 All right my pleasure is that zach nate great talking 1305 01:07:34.820 --> 01:07:36.920 to you guys yeah you thanks paul thanks very much 1306 01:07:36.940 --> 01:07:37.280 take care. 1307 01:07:39.130 --> 01:07:41.570 All right. Well, we're going to go ahead here, Nate, 1308 01:07:41.610 --> 01:07:46.820 and pivot into the mailbag. I'm having some switchboard issues. 1309 01:07:46.900 --> 01:07:50.059 Glad we were able to squeak Paul in. But we 1310 01:07:50.079 --> 01:07:51.940 do have some emails to carry us the rest of 1311 01:07:51.980 --> 01:07:55.530 the show. Kyle– it looks like Kyle dropped– on accident. 1312 01:07:55.550 --> 01:07:58.130 I don't know if that's a tech issue or not, 1313 01:07:58.230 --> 01:08:00.650 but with that said, we've got a handful of emails 1314 01:08:00.710 --> 01:08:02.449 and some other topics I want to get to, and 1315 01:08:02.570 --> 01:08:05.630 we'll pivot to those right now. All right, Nate, let's 1316 01:08:05.670 --> 01:08:09.170 hit a couple other topics and let's also hit the 1317 01:08:09.230 --> 01:08:11.409 email bag here. We got some good emails and some 1318 01:08:11.449 --> 01:08:13.849 stuff that we weren't able to get to as far 1319 01:08:14.030 --> 01:08:16.449 as the color portion of the show went to, some 1320 01:08:16.489 --> 01:08:19.310 important topics that I want to discuss. But before we do, 1321 01:08:20.029 --> 01:08:23.470 tell everybody about how they can follow you at The 1322 01:08:23.510 --> 01:08:25.609 Torch and how they can hear more of you at 1323 01:08:25.640 --> 01:08:29.699 the torch and also you've got a really unique non-wrestling 1324 01:08:29.739 --> 01:08:32.409 related piece of content coming out in the form of 1325 01:08:32.430 --> 01:08:34.770 a podcast talk about that too because it sounds sounds 1326 01:08:34.810 --> 01:08:37.149 pretty darn interesting Yeah, sure. 1327 01:08:37.189 --> 01:08:39.760 So with you over here at the PW Torch, I 1328 01:08:39.810 --> 01:08:42.880 do the hits and misses for NXT. So I usually 1329 01:08:42.920 --> 01:08:46.060 try to have that up either right after the show. 1330 01:08:46.100 --> 01:08:48.239 Sometimes I get it up like within minutes of the 1331 01:08:48.279 --> 01:08:51.729 show ending, if not the next morning. But I also 1332 01:08:51.859 --> 01:08:54.609 am one of the co-hosts for PWT Talks NXT on 1333 01:08:54.630 --> 01:08:57.949 the PW Torch Daily Cast lineup. Very similar to the 1334 01:08:57.989 --> 01:08:50.149 format of this show. You guys can call in. We'll 1335 01:08:50.210 --> 01:09:10.390 be right back. And the live or sorry, the recording 1336 01:09:10.569 --> 01:09:13.710 drops on Wednesday. And then I also do have another 1337 01:09:13.770 --> 01:09:16.130 project that I have talked a little bit about on 1338 01:09:16.470 --> 01:09:19.810 PWT Talks NXT before. And it's actually something Zach's been 1339 01:09:19.829 --> 01:09:22.270 a part of at one point as well. But I 1340 01:09:22.329 --> 01:09:25.899 do have a project called DJs and Dragons DJs standing 1341 01:09:25.939 --> 01:09:29.600 for degenerates. where my friends and I take a therapeutic 1342 01:09:29.640 --> 01:09:32.760 look at tabletop role-playing games and how they can be 1343 01:09:33.159 --> 01:09:37.010 put used in a therapeutic setting. And one of the 1344 01:09:37.029 --> 01:09:40.130 games that we're playing right now is a game called Mashed. Now, 1345 01:09:40.149 --> 01:09:43.060 if you guys remember the TV show Mashed, mash that 1346 01:09:43.079 --> 01:09:46.119 took place in the korean war um this this is 1347 01:09:46.180 --> 01:09:49.659 a game that's that's very uh very uh uh or 1348 01:09:49.680 --> 01:09:52.239 sorry it's based on the show it's not a an 1349 01:09:52.319 --> 01:09:54.800 actual game uh from the show it is based on 1350 01:09:54.819 --> 01:09:57.180 the show um it takes place in the korean war 1351 01:09:57.739 --> 01:09:59.880 and what we usually like to do on the show 1352 01:09:59.939 --> 01:10:01.800 is is get people on that kind of can can 1353 01:10:01.960 --> 01:10:03.840 a little bit uh elaborate a little bit on the 1354 01:10:03.880 --> 01:10:06.779 show and maybe um um we're eventually going to be 1355 01:10:06.810 --> 01:10:08.810 talking with somebody that you know uh can use us 1356 01:10:08.869 -->

01:10:11.729 with with veterans and things like that um therapeutically um 1357 01:10:12.149 --> 01:10:14.210 But we also wanted to talk with somebody that was 1358 01:10:14.449 --> 01:10:18.100 on the front lines of– well, we'd like to have 1359 01:10:18.109 --> 01:10:19.260 talked to somebody who was on the front lines of 1360 01:10:19.300 --> 01:10:20.859 the Korean War. But you know what? That might be 1361 01:10:20.880 --> 01:10:22.680 a little bit harder to do at this point. But 1362 01:10:22.880 --> 01:10:25.020 we realized we're in the middle of a pandemic right now, 1363 01:10:25.239 --> 01:10:26.970 and we wanted to talk with somebody that was on 1364 01:10:26.989 --> 01:10:31.069 the front lines of COVID. You know, this whole COVID 1365 01:10:31.090 --> 01:10:34.729 pandemic and she we wound up talking with a nurse. 1366 01:10:34.750 --> 01:10:39.289 Her name's Jen. She's a good friend of my co-host 1367 01:10:39.350 --> 01:10:41.789 on that show, Conrad. And we were able to sit 1368 01:10:41.829 --> 01:10:44.710 down and kind of get her perspective on what happened 1369 01:10:44.770 --> 01:10:49.609 throughout COVID starting in March 2020 with just all this 1370 01:10:49.710 --> 01:10:54.149 different barrage of information and non-information that they were getting 1371 01:10:54.189 --> 01:10:57.069 from the government and other sources. And, you know, how 1372 01:10:57.109 --> 01:10:59.720 to try and treat the patients differently. When you don't 1373 01:10:59.760 --> 01:11:01.840 know how to treat the patients, it was a really 1374 01:11:01.920 --> 01:11:06.699 interesting conversation. And that'll be coming out this Saturday on YouTube, 1375 01:11:06.779 --> 01:11:09.600 on my YouTube channel. That's D E G E T 1376 01:11:09.680 --> 01:11:11.590 I M E. So if you want to check that out, 1377 01:11:11.619 --> 01:11:14.449 please do. There's a really cool conversation. And I think 1378 01:11:14.470 --> 01:11:18.489 you guys definitely, definitely enjoy it. Very, it was interesting. 1379 01:11:18.529 --> 01:11:19.189 Certainly interesting. 1380 01:11:20.850 --> 01:11:22.869 Hey, Steph, do you ever watch WWE and think it 1381 01:11:23.010 --> 01:11:23.609 used to be better? 1382 01:11:23.909 --> 01:11:24.569 I don't know, Josh. 1383 01:11:24.680 --> 01:11:26.640 Sometimes I think it used to be a whole lot worse. 1384 01:11:27.020 --> 01:11:30.100 I mean, whether it's WrestleMania main events, old dudes at 1385 01:11:30.119 --> 01:11:34.020 the top, too many titles, or women's wrestling, we're here 1386 01:11:34.060 --> 01:11:34.720 to answer. 1387 01:11:34.520 --> 01:11:38.449 The big question, is it worse or better now? Join me, 1388 01:11:38.689 --> 01:11:39.350 Joshua White. 1389 01:11:39.670 --> 01:11:42.109 And me, Stephanie Chase, for Worse. 1390 01:11:41.970 --> 01:11:45.130 Or Better, part of the PWTorch Daily Cast lineup dropping 1391 01:11:45.229 --> 01:11:46.069 on Monday nights. 1392 01:11:46.430 --> 01:11:49.939 Search PWTorch in your podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts 1393 01:11:49.989 --> 01:11:53.680 or Spotify, to subscribe for free or get a commercial-free 1394 01:11:53.699 --> 01:11:58.840 version with the PWTorch VIP membership. Check out pwtorch.com slash 1395 01:11:58.899 --> 01:12:01.329 govip for details on going VIP. 1396 01:12:01.609 --> 01:12:04.829 Worse or better, finally, something for wrestling fans to do 1397 01:12:04.890 --> 01:12:05.680 on Monday nights. 1398 01:12:10.439 --> 01:12:11.000 That's great, man. 1399 01:12:11.020 --> 01:12:11.199 Yeah. 1400 01:12:11.220 --> 01:12:13.819 Looking forward to checking that out for sure. And had 1401 01:12:13.840 --> 01:12:16.800 a blast joining you guys when I was on that show. 1402 01:12:16.920 --> 01:12:20.420 So it was fun. So make sure everybody check that out. 1403 01:12:20.460 --> 01:12:26.270 And also PWT Talks NXT. Lots of happenings in NXT, Nate, 1404 01:12:26.310 --> 01:12:29.890 for better or worse. Give the audience a little taste of, 1405 01:12:30.130 --> 01:12:33.529 you know, your thoughts on NXT 2.0. 1406 01:12:33.529 --> 01:12:38.489 So, okay, here's the I like the fact that they're 1407 01:12:38.510 --> 01:12:41.850 getting back to their developmental roots. We've seen a whole 1408 01:12:41.909 --> 01:12:45.100 new swath of talent come through since they've moved over 1409 01:12:45.119 --> 01:12:49.079 to NXT 2.0. Talents such as Braun Breaker, who is 1410 01:12:49.119 --> 01:12:55.130 Rick Steiner's child. child, kid. Wow, that was weird. I 1411 01:12:55.130 --> 01:12:59.229 don't know why I said that. Rick Steiner's kid, who's 1412 01:13:00.109 --> 01:13:02.829 honestly kind of blown me away. I hate his name. 1413 01:13:02.850 --> 01:13:04.930 I hate the name Braun Breaker. He's blown me away. 1414 01:13:05.569 --> 01:13:07.369 But I like the fact that we've seen this whole 1415 01:13:07.390 --> 01:13:10.630 new swath of talent because NXT for so long, they 1416 01:13:10.670 --> 01:13:13.409 were being built as a third brand, and we were 1417 01:13:13.439 --> 01:13:15.720 seeing a lot of guys and girls from the indies 1418 01:13:15.779 --> 01:13:16.220 coming in. 1419 01:13:17.380 --> 01:13:17.800 And it was. 1420 01:13:19.279 --> 01:13:21.399 And this was the show that I really liked. It 1421 01:13:21.520 --> 01:13:25.460 was a wrestling-focused show. A little bit towards the end 1422 01:13:25.479 --> 01:13:28.819 of NXT 1.0, it was more story than wrestling and 1423 01:13:28.840 --> 01:13:32.729 a little more main roster-y than we liked on the show, 1424 01:13:33.390 --> 01:13:39.130 on PWT's NXT. But it was still... nxt that black 1425 01:13:39.170 --> 01:13:43.310 and gold brand um and this new pivot to back 1426 01:13:43.329 --> 01:13:46.750 to kind of nxt's roots the developmental roots is nice 1427 01:13:46.810 --> 01:13:52.369 it's good and where where nxt i guess is considered 1428 01:13:52.390 --> 01:13:55.060 or was considered quote a failure in the eyes of 1429

01:13:55.069 --> 01:13:57.960 the company because they weren't developing stars for the main 1430 01:13:58.000 --> 01:14:01.000 roster um in in the eyes of vince rickman um 1431 01:14:02.489 --> 01:14:05.729 It's good in that direction because it's a show that's 1432 01:14:05.750 --> 01:14:09.569 getting the talent ready for the main roster, for the 1433 01:14:09.640 --> 01:14:12.760 audience of one, if you will. So I think those 1434 01:14:12.819 --> 01:14:17.140 are all some of the good things about NXT. The cons, 1435 01:14:17.640 --> 01:14:21.199 to me, are where NXT was getting built as a 1436 01:14:21.220 --> 01:14:24.920 third brand, and you had all of these established stars 1437 01:14:24.960 --> 01:14:28.430 and established stories, and it was known for that wrestling 1438 01:14:28.729 --> 01:14:33.529 and being the WWE's underground wrestling show, especially for a 1439 01:14:33.550 --> 01:14:36.050 while there. It was kind of the show to watch, 1440 01:14:36.090 --> 01:14:42.130 especially before AEW. Now you've got a pivot where we're getting, 1441 01:14:42.310 --> 01:14:45.220 instead of like, you know, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 1442 01:14:45.220 --> 01:14:47.970 minute matches, we're getting like a lot of two minute matches, 1443 01:14:48.029 --> 01:14:51.340 three minute matches. And they're not. all that great because 1444 01:14:51.380 --> 01:14:54.699 they're going back to developmental. Um, so it's, it's, it's 1445 01:14:54.739 --> 01:14:57.710 a different type of a show and it's, it's honestly 1446 01:14:57.729 --> 01:14:59.470 a little tough for me to adjust right now because 1447 01:14:59.510 --> 01:15:01.970 I'm not enjoying it nearly as much as I was 1448 01:15:02.010 --> 01:15:05.210 enjoying my beloved black and gold brand. But, um, but 1449 01:15:05.250 --> 01:15:07.010 I still think there's a lot of character to it 1450 01:15:07.029 --> 01:15:09.420 and there's a lot of merit to it. And, uh, 1451 01:15:09.529 --> 01:15:11.409 I think give it, give it some time and allow 1452 01:15:11.439 --> 01:15:13.899 these new stories to develop. And, and I'm hoping to 1453 01:15:13.939 --> 01:15:17.479 see a cohesive product, uh, um, but are a much 1454 01:15:17.539 --> 01:15:21.220 more cohesive product than what we've got right now. Um, but, uh, 1455 01:15:21.279 --> 01:15:23.039 but yeah, I kind of think I rambled a little 1456 01:15:23.079 --> 01:15:24.840 bit more than I wanted to there, but I hope 1457 01:15:24.859 --> 01:15:26.460 that kind of paints a little bit of a picture 1458 01:15:26.500 --> 01:15:29.949 of what we've been talking about on PWT talks, NXT, and, uh, 1459 01:15:29.949 --> 01:15:32.970 you know, at least my thoughts of where we're at, uh, 1460 01:15:33.210 --> 01:15:34.590 with the new NXT 2.0. Yeah. 1461 01:15:35.489 --> 01:15:37.550 I'm in lockstep with you on a lot of that. Uh, 1462 01:15:37.649 --> 01:15:40.449 I really think it's, uh, you know, There's something to 1463 01:15:40.470 --> 01:15:43.279 be

said for Fresh, and I think one of my 1464 01:15:43.319 --> 01:15:47.960 critiques of NXT for the recent black and gold stuff 1465 01:15:48.000 --> 01:15:51.420 was that it just felt played out. How many times 1466 01:15:51.479 --> 01:15:54.670 can you go back to Gargano versus Cole or whatever 1467 01:15:54.710 --> 01:15:56.770 they did? It just felt like everybody there at the 1468 01:15:56.829 --> 01:15:59.489 top especially worked with each other. So it's like you've 1469 01:15:59.510 --> 01:16:01.949 got to have to– Part of the great part of 1470 01:16:02.050 --> 01:16:05.140 NXT was the talent leaving NXT and going up to 1471 01:16:05.149 --> 01:16:08.859 the main roster and being filled with other people. And 1472 01:16:09.039 --> 01:16:12.659 that just wasn't happening. They kind of got a little stagnant. 1473 01:16:12.699 --> 01:16:15.119 So I like the fresh take. I'm with you on 1474 01:16:15.159 --> 01:16:19.189 Braun Breaker. Name just got awful. But that guy, he's 1475 01:16:19.199 --> 01:16:23.649 got some personality. He's got a little attitude. He's got 1476 01:16:23.670 --> 01:16:28.170 this kind of confident charisma where it's like he's there 1477 01:16:28.250 --> 01:16:30.890 for him. He wants wants to be a big star. 1478 01:16:30.909 --> 01:16:32.210 And I think you see that in a lot of 1479 01:16:32.229 --> 01:16:35.850 the guys right now that they're really, you know, showcasing like, Hey, 1480 01:16:35.930 --> 01:16:38.029 I want to, I want to be the guy I'm 1481 01:16:38.069 --> 01:16:40.979 here to take this and take my spot. And I 1482 01:16:41.020 --> 01:16:44.979 think that's, I think that's important, but the residual like effect, 1483 01:16:45.079 --> 01:16:47.979 you know, cause and effect is that you have people 1484 01:16:48.119 --> 01:16:50.399 in matches that maybe they're not, they're quite not ready for. 1485 01:16:50.500 --> 01:16:52.029 So you have to deal with that too. So it's a, 1486 01:16:52.399 --> 01:16:56.039 it's an interesting time. And I, I think we have 1487 01:16:56.060 --> 01:17:01.689 to look at a month from now, Right now, they're 1488 01:17:01.710 --> 01:17:04.710 just kind of characters being introduced. And I think you 1489 01:17:04.729 --> 01:17:06.329 have to let it breathe a little bit before you 1490 01:17:06.369 --> 01:17:11.529 really judge the 2.0 good or bad. But that's what 1491 01:17:11.569 --> 01:17:15.449 you guys are for. PWT talks NXT right after right 1492 01:17:15.489 --> 01:17:19.680 after NXT on Tuesday nights, call and show. And they 1493 01:17:19.720 --> 01:17:22.479 those guys do a great job and have for a long, 1494 01:17:22.520 --> 01:17:26.000 long time and breaking all things down. NXT down and 1495 01:17:26.039 --> 01:17:29.039 have been there from the very beginning Nate and so 1496 01:17:29.180 --> 01:17:31.939 you know are close to and you guys have the 1497 01:17:32.359 --> 01:17:37.529 best perspective on these changes because of that alright social 1498 01:17:37.569 --> 01:17:38.430 media really quick. 1499 01:17:38.289 --> 01:17:43.430 Nate yeah and it's very difficult it's at Nate Lindberg 1500 01:17:43.590 --> 01:17:48.600 at N-A-T-E-L-I-N-D-B-E-R-G and again for my other show it's at 1501 01:17:48.699 --> 01:17:51.539 D-E-G-E-T-A-M-E very. 1502 01:17:51.399 --> 01:17:54.310 Good All right, let's hop into the mailbag here. We'll 1503 01:17:54.329 --> 01:17:57.550 start with Zach in Texas. He goes, hello, gentlemen. Wade, 1504 01:17:58.329 --> 01:18:01.409 he's thinking Wade's hosting the show tonight, so he's going 1505 01:18:01.430 --> 01:18:04.489 to talk a little NFL trash here. I love it, Zach. Wade, 1506 01:18:04.529 --> 01:18:06.720 I'm still giddy over the fact that my Cowboys beat 1507 01:18:06.739 --> 01:18:10.220 your Vikings with our backup quarterback last night. Kirk Cousins 1508 01:18:10.539 --> 01:18:15.100 ain't the guy. To quote Minneapolis' favorite song, this is 1509 01:18:15.140 --> 01:18:16.659 what it sounds like when doves cry. 1510 01:18:17.449 --> 01:18:17.729 Ouch. 1511 01:18:18.149 --> 01:18:21.989 Gosh, Zach, that's some cold stuff. Some cold stuff. He goes, 1512 01:18:22.050 --> 01:18:24.069 now on to Raw. Becky Lynch and Bianca put on 1513 01:18:24.109 --> 01:18:26.579 a show in that ring. The GOAT did GOAT things, 1514 01:18:27.000 --> 01:18:30.659 and Bianca showed off her freakish strength. The things she 1515 01:18:30.680 --> 01:18:33.279 can do are so impressive. That said, Becky is still 1516 01:18:33.520 --> 01:18:37.050 unwaveringly beloved. She was getting sheared like crazy throughout the match. 1517 01:18:37.109 --> 01:18:39.409 Even after she won with an exposed turnbuckle and a 1518 01:18:39.430 --> 01:18:41.909 handful of tights, the crowd lost their minds. Maybe that 1519 01:18:41.949 --> 01:18:45.029 reaction will make Vince and Bruce realize they're fighting the 1520 01:18:45.069 --> 01:18:47.279 tide on this one and make her the baby face 1521 01:18:47.319 --> 01:18:50.680 because anyone other than Bianca would struggle to get cheered 1522 01:18:50.800 --> 01:18:54.520 against her. Kind of something we've already tapped into a 1523 01:18:54.560 --> 01:18:57.300 little bit. I think for the reason that Zach points 1524 01:18:57.380 --> 01:19:00.220 out here is why Liv Morgan is going to have 1525 01:19:00.260 --> 01:19:04.350 a problem. But she's been getting some of these cheers 1526 01:19:04.399 --> 01:19:07.649 for a while, Nate, and they've kind of stayed the course. 1527 01:19:07.689 --> 01:19:10.390 And I think they've, tonight in particular, with the way 1528 01:19:10.729 --> 01:19:14.630 she talked about the fans, I think they're more all 1529 01:19:14.689 --> 01:19:16.750 in on this heel thing than ever. I don't know 1530 01:19:16.810 --> 01:19:20.289 that this reaction is going to make them change their 1531 01:19:20.310 --> 01:19:20.890 mind on this thing. 1532 01:19:22.029 --> 01:19:25.970 Yeah, I don't think so. So, you know, I guilty

pleasure. 1533 01:19:26.069 --> 01:19:30.189 I love listening to something to wrestle with, with Bruce Pritchard. I, I, I, 1534 01:19:30.649 --> 01:19:33.170 I don't necessarily like, he's not one of my favorite 1535 01:19:33.189 --> 01:19:35.399 people in the world, but I like getting his perspective 1536 01:19:35.460 --> 01:19:37.479 on things and kind of getting the stories of, of, 1537 01:19:37.520 --> 01:19:39.560 you know, just things that have kind of happened over 1538 01:19:39.619 --> 01:19:43.119 the years and, and, and whatnot. And one of the 1539 01:19:43.140 --> 01:19:46.100 things that he always talks about is if you start something, 1540 01:19:46.140 --> 01:19:50.270 you're going to finish it. And, and, Especially with him 1541 01:19:50.289 --> 01:19:53.920 in the position that he's in now and him knowing 1542 01:19:53.960 --> 01:19:56.270 Vince the way he knows Vince. I can't see them... 1543 01:19:57.180 --> 01:19:59.279 I can't see them backpedaling on this for that reason 1544 01:19:59.380 --> 01:20:02.159 and the reasons that you brought up, Zach. I don't 1545 01:20:02.180 --> 01:20:04.270 really see them backpedaling on this. I think they're going 1546 01:20:04.310 --> 01:20:08.369 to probably go in on this full force, maybe not 1547 01:20:08.529 --> 01:20:10.670 harder than they were planning on, just as hard as 1548 01:20:10.689 --> 01:20:12.909 they were planning on on it, maybe a little bit 1549 01:20:12.949 --> 01:20:16.420 harder if they feel like they need to. But it 1550 01:20:16.500 --> 01:20:18.699 is going to be an uphill battle. It's certainly going 1551 01:20:18.720 --> 01:20:19.439 to be an uphill battle. 1552 01:20:19.479 --> 01:20:19.800 She's going. 1553 01:20:26.649 --> 01:20:28.810 Against her. And I don't know, I don't know what 1554 01:20:28.850 --> 01:20:31.880 that is. I have no idea what that is because 1555 01:20:32.140 --> 01:20:35.180 I feel like just so everything she does, people are 1556 01:20:35.199 --> 01:20:37.560 going to love it. It's like, like I was talking 1557 01:20:37.579 --> 01:20:39.680 about with Stone Cold earlier in the night, you know, 1558 01:20:39.699 --> 01:20:42.439 they tried to turn him heel quite a few times 1559 01:20:42.659 --> 01:20:45.600 after his, you know, his meteoric rise and it just 1560 01:20:45.619 --> 01:20:48.130 never really worked. And I feel like she's kind of 1561 01:20:48.229 --> 01:20:51.829 in that same category. I'm not, I don't necessarily want 1562 01:20:51.850 --> 01:20:54.489 to say Becky Lynch is Stone Cold Steve Austin, but like, 1563 01:20:55.560 --> 01:20:58.800 I feel like everybody latched onto the man and that 1564 01:20:58.859 --> 01:21:03.369 character so much. And then just Rebecca Quinn as a person, um, 1565 01:21:03.569 --> 01:21:06.270 especially through her social media, through everything, you know, about 1566 01:21:06.729 --> 01:21:09.829 her baby, you're kind of an, uh, a side note. 1567 01:21:09.869 --> 01:21:12.220 There was actually a post I saw on, uh, on 1568 01:21:12.300 --> 01:21:15.600 twitter uh somebody posted it it was just right after 1569 01:21:15.619 --> 01:21:19.039 the match tonight um she was kind of kind of 1570 01:21:19.100 --> 01:21:21.300 crawling up the ramp after the match and she's got 1571 01:21:21.319 --> 01:21:23.520 the belt slung over her shoulders get on on her 1572 01:21:23.560 --> 01:21:27.119 knees and somebody just shouts at her your baby's cute 1573 01:21:27.300 --> 01:21:29.239 and she looks at she looks at him she's like 1574 01:21:29.520 --> 01:21:32.710 i know she came from me you know and which 1575 01:21:32.750 --> 01:21:40.720 i thought was great um her for a lot of 1576 01:21:40.779 --> 01:21:44.920 different reasons and i don't think i don't think they're 1577 01:21:44.939 --> 01:21:49.210 gonna get her to have that massive like they're if 1578 01:21:49.229 --> 01:21:50.930 they're gonna if they're trying to make her the female 1579 01:21:50.970 --> 01:21:53.890 roman reigns right now it's not gonna happen like they're 1580 01:21:53.930 --> 01:21:57.250 not gonna get that crowd reaction um for her especially 1581 01:21:58.310 --> 01:22:01.729 especially against somebody like Liv Morgan. Nothing against Liv Morgan, 1582 01:22:01.770 --> 01:22:04.470 no offense to Liv Morgan, but I don't think she's 1583 01:22:04.510 --> 01:22:08.489 the person that's going to be able to be that 1584 01:22:08.529 --> 01:22:13.920 sympathetic face and get the crowd against Becky. 1585 01:22:15.579 --> 01:22:17.439 iPhone users, if you're listening to us on the Native 1586 01:22:17.460 --> 01:22:21.479 Podcast app on your iPhone, You can unlock our commercial-free 1587 01:22:21.520 --> 01:22:26.460 versions of our free shows by searching PWTorch in Apple Podcasts. 1588 01:22:26.479 --> 01:22:29.039 You'll see a charcoal gray logo that says PWTorch VIP 1589 01:22:29.100 --> 01:22:31.100 on it. Click on that. 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Apple Podcast app. 1601 01:23:09.739 --> 01:23:09.939 Yeah. 1602 01:23:10.399 --> 01:23:12.579 Yeah. I think, I don't know. I think obviously there 1603 01:23:12.600 --> 01:23:15.180 are different kinds of stars for sure, but I think 1604 01:23:15.220 --> 01:23:18.090 the Austin comparison, as far as the heel turn goes, 1605 01:23:18.609 --> 01:23:21.869 is it is sound. I mean, and not just because, 1606 01:23:21.890 --> 01:23:24.890 and not just because everybody loved Steve Austin, even if 1607 01:23:24.930 --> 01:23:28.699 you take that part out, you know, Steve Austin as 1608 01:23:28.739 --> 01:23:31.779 a character, what he did and kind of what got 1609 01:23:31.800 --> 01:23:33.720 him over as a baby face, a lot of it 1610 01:23:33.800 --> 01:23:37.039 was heel in nature, right? You know, the aggressiveness, the, 1611 01:23:37.140 --> 01:23:40.520 you know, beating people up, like not, not trusting anybody. 1612 01:23:40.920 --> 01:23:43.239 Don't care about this person. Like, you know, like there 1613 01:23:43.260 --> 01:23:46.319 was a viciousness to that baby face character that worked for, 1614 01:23:46.659 --> 01:23:50.569 for that character. But when you turn heel, like, And 1615 01:23:51.010 --> 01:23:53.829 that's what heels normally lean into to turn heel. And 1616 01:23:54.050 --> 01:23:58.020 he didn't have that. His natural babyface act that people 1617 01:23:58.069 --> 01:24:02.130 wanted him to see. Wanted to see him beat people up, 1618 01:24:02.170 --> 01:24:04.649 you know, because that's Steve Austin. So he wasn't able 1619 01:24:04.689 --> 01:24:07.960 to generate, like, good heat that way because he had 1620 01:24:08.000 --> 01:24:11.060 to lean into something he already did as a babyface 1621 01:24:11.640 --> 01:24:13.760 to get that heel heat, and it didn't work. And 1622 01:24:13.800 --> 01:24:16.060 same thing with Becky Lynch. It's like she's got this 1623 01:24:16.180 --> 01:24:20.920 man character, the man, and a lot of it is arrogant. 1624 01:24:20.939 --> 01:24:24.319 A lot of it is overconfidence, loud mouth, like– And 1625 01:24:24.340 --> 01:24:28.250 so all heelish things, but because it's Becky doing it, 1626 01:24:28.409 --> 01:24:30.409 like she can't lean into that to get that heat. 1627 01:24:30.529 --> 01:24:32.050 I think she has to go a different direction. I 1628 01:24:32.090 --> 01:24:35.130 think she's got to pivot. And I don't, I don't 1629 01:24:35.210 --> 01:24:37.880 see her doing that just because it's WWE and she's, 1630 01:24:38.180 --> 01:24:40.859 you know, she's part of that, that business right now, 1631 01:24:40.939 --> 01:24:44.100 but yeah, To truly go heel, I think she has 1632 01:24:44.119 --> 01:24:47.680 to take away something from that audience that they like 1633 01:24:47.720 --> 01:24:51.500 to see. And, you know, it's like Jericho turning heel. 1634 01:24:51.619 --> 01:24:53.850 I was just going to say that. I was just 1635 01:24:53.859 --> 01:24:54.439 going to say that. 1636 01:24:54.479 --> 01:24:55.229 Yep. 1637 01:24:55.289 --> 01:24:57.409 You know, you have to like, okay, you're going to 1638 01:24:57.430 --> 01:24:59.489 just pivot. You're not going to be that same Jericho. 1639 01:24:59.510 --> 01:25:02.050 You're going to take away things that the fans enjoyed 1640 01:25:02.489 --> 01:25:06.210 seeing and doing and engaging with. And until she does 1641 01:25:06.250 --> 01:25:07.930 that fully, I think she's going to have a hard time, Nate. 1642 01:25:08.689 --> 01:25:09.750 Oh, 100%. 100%. Couldn't agree with you more. 1643 01:25:11.720 --> 01:25:17.039 Um, okay. We'll go to Dave from Massachusetts. Uh, I 1644 01:25:17.079 --> 01:25:18.859 was hoping to call in tonight, but it was a 1645 01:25:18.899 --> 01:25:20.560 bit too tired. I just had to pop in and 1646 01:25:20.590 --> 01:25:22.949 say how much I enjoyed the show tonight. I usually 1647 01:25:22.989 --> 01:25:26.130 spend raw grading papers and using his background noise, starting 1648 01:25:26.149 --> 01:25:27.909 with the Becky and Bianca match. I found it hard 1649 01:25:27.930 --> 01:25:29.909 to look away and focus on my work. Even the 1650 01:25:29.970 --> 01:25:32.850 priest versus T-bar match was compelling. Go figure what happens 1651 01:25:32.869 --> 01:25:35.109 when you give matches time to develop. I really enjoyed 1652 01:25:35.130 --> 01:25:37.779 the expression on priest's face to just add a little 1653 01:25:37.819 --> 01:25:40.439 new twist to him. The main event was a solid 1654 01:25:40.560 --> 01:25:42.479 end to the show and, Super hard hitting, and I 1655 01:25:42.560 --> 01:25:45.420 love the aggressive nature of Big E in the post-match attack. 1656 01:25:46.279 --> 01:25:48.420 Good night of Raw that kept me awake as opposed 1657 01:25:48.460 --> 01:25:51.199 to hitting the bed at 10 o'clock. That's a win 1658 01:25:51.319 --> 01:25:54.399 in my books. Have a great night. Thanks very much, Dave. 1659 01:25:54.420 --> 01:26:00.289 Appreciate it. So I agree with that email. So comment 1660 01:26:00.350 --> 01:26:04.760 on that, Nate. But also, you saw– Damien Priest from 1661 01:26:04.779 --> 01:26:08.199 the very beginning in NXT, and we're close to his work, 1662 01:26:08.439 --> 01:26:11.779 grading it on a week-to-week basis on PWT Talks NXT. 1663 01:26:12.659 --> 01:26:16.649 They've changed his gimmick now. I'm a fan of it. 1664 01:26:16.850 --> 01:26:23.159 I think there's a generic element to it that– blends 1665 01:26:23.260 --> 01:26:25.989 in with a lot of other, you know, gimmicks. I don't, 1666 01:26:26.010 --> 01:26:29.189 I think there's, it's running very parallel to Finn Balor's 1667 01:26:29.449 --> 01:26:32.130 kind of right now. The music's a little generic, but 1668 01:26:32.880 --> 01:26:36.420 I think it allows, it kind of raises his ceiling though, 1669 01:26:36.479 --> 01:26:38.340 in terms of what he can do. can be like 1670 01:26:38.420 --> 01:26:41.800 the arrow thing was kind of there and the

archer 1671 01:26:41.819 --> 01:26:43.699 of infamy and doing the pose like that was all 1672 01:26:43.739 --> 01:26:45.890 there but it didn't really it didn't really mean anything 1673 01:26:45.970 --> 01:26:48.329 and i thought today yes he kind of had the 1674 01:26:48.369 --> 01:26:51.189 generic music and yes he's kind of has the generic 1675 01:26:51.229 --> 01:26:54.310 presentation but he was given time backstage to like talk 1676 01:26:54.369 --> 01:26:58.109 about the newfound attitude right the newfound aggression like hey 1677 01:26:58.149 --> 01:27:00.569 if you disrespect me i'm going to this place i'm 1678 01:27:00.609 --> 01:27:02.340 going to this dark place and i'm taking you there 1679 01:27:02.380 --> 01:27:04.720 with me and then he showed that in the ring 1680 01:27:04.800 --> 01:27:06.439 with uh with the match that he had so i 1681 01:27:07.020 --> 01:27:09.739 I like what they're doing here. Generic, yes. But I 1682 01:27:09.779 --> 01:27:12.180 think if you're looking at Damian Priest as a guy 1683 01:27:12.220 --> 01:27:14.779 who can be a main eventer, either on the heel 1684 01:27:14.840 --> 01:27:17.779 or babyface side, I think it's this presentation that's going 1685 01:27:17.800 --> 01:27:19.359 to stick. I think you needed to get a little 1686 01:27:19.470 --> 01:27:21.670 edge to him. I thought the match tonight helped him 1687 01:27:21.750 --> 01:27:25.189 show that. So I give it a plus. But what 1688 01:27:25.210 --> 01:27:27.430 say you, someone who's seen Damian Priest from the very beginning? 1689 01:27:28.340 --> 01:27:31.579 So first off, I, again, can't agree with what you 1690 01:27:31.619 --> 01:27:34.680 said more, um, for, for everything with, with Damien Priest 1691 01:27:34.699 --> 01:27:39.470 right there. He, so I agree, generic presentation, the music's 1692 01:27:39.859 --> 01:27:42.510 very generic. And I, and side note, I feel like 1693 01:27:42.850 --> 01:27:45.829 most of the new music, uh, especially since CFO has 1694 01:27:45.970 --> 01:27:50.770 left is extremely generic recently. Um, but, um, but yeah, 1695 01:27:50.800 --> 01:27:54.560 very generic, uh, something that actually occurred to me tonight 1696 01:27:54.680 --> 01:27:58.579 and i can't believe after following damien priest for as 1697 01:27:58.659 --> 01:28:01.460 long as i've been following him uh as you know 1698 01:28:01.600 --> 01:28:04.779 since he's basically came in as after being punished martinez 1699 01:28:05.609 --> 01:28:07.729 i can't believe i just put two and two together 1700 01:28:07.770 --> 01:28:12.130 tonight the damien devil priest pre you know yin yang 1701 01:28:12.329 --> 01:28:16.050 i can't believe i put that together tonight um for 1702 01:28:16.069 --> 01:28:18.750 the first time uh which is kind of sad but 1703 01:28:19.439 --> 01:28:23.329 um I mean I've talked about this before on– I 1704 01:28:23.350 --> 01:28:26.350 think this show, on Wrestling Night America, on my show. 1705 01:28:26.829 --> 01:28:32.170 Damian Priest, he has been incredibly protected all through NXT 1706 01:28:32.430 --> 01:28:38.149 and through his WWE run so far. They really see 1707 01:28:38.189 --> 01:28:40.960 something in him. I know they love him back. Um, 1708 01:28:41.159 --> 01:28:43.319 you know, any, anytime, uh, Kelly was on any of 1709 01:28:43.340 --> 01:28:46.920 the triple H, uh, post takeover, pre takeover media calls, 1710 01:28:46.979 --> 01:28:49.659 depending on when they did them sometimes do them before, 1711 01:28:49.819 --> 01:28:53.989 after sometimes both, um, But when Damian Priest would come up, 1712 01:28:54.590 --> 01:28:59.829 he would be raved about in his backstage performance and 1713 01:28:59.890 --> 01:29:05.130 just kind of backstage presentation rather. So I know that 1714 01:29:05.170 --> 01:29:08.689 they really like him and they want to kind of 1715 01:29:08.930 --> 01:29:13.430 roll with him. So they have really protected him for 1716 01:29:13.970 --> 01:29:18.630 quite some time. I feel like his– this current incarnation 1717 01:29:18.670 --> 01:29:21.829 of Damian Priest is the one that probably is going 1718 01:29:21.869 --> 01:29:24.550 to stick the art the archer of infamy stuff like 1719 01:29:24.569 --> 01:29:27.460 when he first started debuting it and started you know 1720 01:29:27.739 --> 01:29:29.399 when he first debuted he was doing it i guess 1721 01:29:29.859 --> 01:29:31.340 um when he first started doing it was it was 1722 01:29:31.439 --> 01:29:34.399 weird i couldn't quite understand what what the gimmick was 1723 01:29:34.420 --> 01:29:36.380 it's like all right archer of infamy you come out 1724 01:29:36.439 --> 01:29:39.520 you you do a fake bow and arrow hand gesture 1725 01:29:39.560 --> 01:29:42.779 thing and you know that's cool but but what is 1726 01:29:42.850 --> 01:29:45.010 this right and And then he kind of started getting 1727 01:29:45.050 --> 01:29:48.310 into this party boy gimmick where he was partying all 1728 01:29:48.329 --> 01:29:50.109 the time. He always had ladies around him, but he 1729 01:29:50.130 --> 01:29:52.670 was still doing the Archer of Infamy gimmick in his entrance. 1730 01:29:52.729 --> 01:29:56.000 And and I kept talking about, like, who is Damian Priest? Like, 1731 01:29:56.119 --> 01:29:57.659 you're kind of going back to that. Who is Seth 1732 01:29:57.699 --> 01:30:00.100 Rollins stuff that Wade was talking about years ago? And 1733 01:30:00.899 --> 01:30:02.500 I was like, who is Damian Priest? And we don't 1734 01:30:02.539 --> 01:30:07.529 really know what his gimmick is right now. And. And 1735 01:30:07.550 --> 01:30:09.069 I feel like where they've kind of stripped a lot 1736 01:30:09.090 --> 01:30:10.750 of that back and they have made him a little 1737 01:30:10.810 --> 01:30:14.970 more generic, but they've focused his character a little bit more. 1738 01:30:14.989 --> 01:30:17.300 So I think it's going to give him some time 1739 01:30:17.340 -->

01:30:20.199 to grow this character a little bit more and give 1740 01:30:20.260 --> 01:30:23.239 us some time to understand who this is. new version 1741 01:30:23.260 --> 01:30:27.109 of Damian Priest is. But in the ring, he's fantastic. 1742 01:30:27.170 --> 01:30:29.949 He's got amazing charisma on the mic. I mean, he's, 1743 01:30:30.229 --> 01:30:32.029 he's one of the better talkers. I don't think he's 1744 01:30:32.069 --> 01:30:34.229 the greatest talker, but he's one of the better talkers. 1745 01:30:35.340 --> 01:30:39.699 So he's certainly the whole package. I personally view him 1746 01:30:39.720 --> 01:30:43.060 as like, is, is a cane, like a gate, kind 1747 01:30:43.079 --> 01:30:45.659 of a gatekeeper type of a role. Somebody that'll flirt 1748 01:30:45.699 --> 01:30:48.060 with the mid car, flirt with the main event scene. 1749 01:30:48.930 --> 01:30:51.430 But probably might, you know, he might get a token 1750 01:30:51.449 --> 01:30:54.350 championship run here and there. You're kind of similar to 1751 01:30:54.390 --> 01:30:57.090 cane or big show or something like that. But I 1752 01:30:57.130 --> 01:30:58.670 think he's going to be kind of a big man 1753 01:30:58.710 --> 01:31:02.380 gatekeeper role. Somebody that I thought Braun Strowman was going 1754 01:31:02.409 --> 01:31:06.100 to be for, for like a decade or so. I 1755 01:31:06.119 --> 01:31:07.720 don't know if that's the role they're necessarily going to 1756 01:31:07.739 --> 01:31:10.239 look for him in, but yeah, But but that was 1757 01:31:10.279 --> 01:31:12.060 kind of what I was thinking they'd be doing with Stroman. 1758 01:31:12.149 --> 01:31:14.949 And that's kind of where I'm thinking that Priest is 1759 01:31:14.970 --> 01:31:17.130 going to line up. And I think that's a perfect 1760 01:31:17.170 --> 01:31:19.340 place to be because you'll be in the ring with 1761 01:31:19.439 --> 01:31:22.420 just about every major star that comes through the main 1762 01:31:22.439 --> 01:31:23.829 event scene. Yeah. 1763 01:31:24.109 --> 01:31:26.489 Yeah. I mean, yeah, certainly gosh, nothing to sneeze at that, 1764 01:31:26.590 --> 01:31:30.010 that spot on the card. I mean, you know, like 1765 01:31:30.029 --> 01:31:32.140 you said, Kane held that down for a long time 1766 01:31:32.220 --> 01:31:35.380 and you know, you can, you can have a heck 1767 01:31:35.420 --> 01:31:38.560 of a career career there. And I mean, and you 1768 01:31:38.600 --> 01:31:40.539 never know though, either, like you never know what's going 1769 01:31:40.560 --> 01:31:42.979 to take off. And I think like, you got to 1770 01:31:43.039 --> 01:31:45.930 read the whole situation and gosh, I mean, I'm trying 1771 01:31:45.949 --> 01:31:50.029 to think here, but yeah, Has anybody pinned Damian Priest 1772 01:31:50.069 --> 01:31:54.000 clean on the main roster? Like, I'm totally asking that 1773 01:31:54.039 --> 01:31:56.020 off the cuff, I know. But I can't think of, 1774 01:31:56.500 --> 01:32:00.300 you know, certainly nothing definitive. I mean, he's been very 1775 01:32:00.359 --> 01:32:03.840 protected since the debut and got a high-profile spot at 1776 01:32:03.859 --> 01:32:07.060 WrestleMania next to Bad Bunny. Like, he's clearly a guy 1777 01:32:07.079 --> 01:32:11.100 that they want to see succeed. But, Nate, I can't. 1778 01:32:11.140 --> 01:32:11.460 I can't. 1779 01:32:12.119 --> 01:32:14.659 I can't. I can't think of anything. 1780 01:32:15.010 --> 01:32:15.250 Yeah. 1781 01:32:15.729 --> 01:32:18.670 I honestly can't. I, I, I, I'm very hard pressed 1782 01:32:18.710 --> 01:32:21.369 to think. I mean, there, there might be, but, um, 1783 01:32:21.909 --> 01:32:25.550 the only, the only like tainted memory that I have 1784 01:32:25.609 --> 01:32:29.350 of Damien priest career is that, um, that, that haunted 1785 01:32:29.390 --> 01:32:31.770 house zombie match he had with Ms. That I try 1786 01:32:31.810 --> 01:32:32.210 to forget. 1787 01:32:32.829 --> 01:32:34.270 Oh gosh. Yes. Yes. 1788 01:32:34.310 --> 01:32:34.590 Yeah. 1789 01:32:35.770 --> 01:32:38.590 But other, other than that, uh, no, I, I don't remember. Um, 1790 01:32:38.869 --> 01:32:41.770 I don't remember like him actually doing a job for anybody. 1791 01:32:44.840 --> 01:32:46.560 He lost to Kieran Cross, right? 1792 01:32:47.460 --> 01:32:52.239 Yeah, he did. On his way out in NXT, he 1793 01:32:52.279 --> 01:32:55.869 did a couple jobs. I forget who, but I remember 1794 01:32:55.909 --> 01:32:59.029 him losing a couple of times towards the end of 1795 01:32:59.050 --> 01:33:02.649 his run there. But on the main roster, yeah, I 1796 01:33:03.029 --> 01:33:04.710 can't think of one. Can't think of one. 1797 01:33:06.199 --> 01:33:08.300 Admit it, you love Nick Barbatti when he co-hosts with 1798 01:33:08.340 --> 01:33:10.079 me on the Wade Keller Post Shows. Well, now you 1799 01:33:10.119 --> 01:33:12.380 can listen to him every week on the Nicky's Club, 1800 01:33:12.439 --> 01:33:15.489 a VIP exclusive podcast. Here's Nick to tell you more. 1801 01:33:15.609 --> 01:33:18.050 Hey, wrestling fans. It's Nick Barbatti, and I'm back with 1802 01:33:18.069 --> 01:33:20.149 the Nicky's Club, the place where the family of Nicky's 1803 01:33:20.210 --> 01:33:23.109 comes together for big laughs and sharp takes on WWE. 1804 01:33:23.210 --> 01:33:26.109 From WrestleMania rumors to surprise returns, I got you covered. 1805 01:33:26.270 --> 01:33:28.470 The Nicky's Club, where the wrestling feels like the coolest 1806 01:33:28.489 --> 01:33:29.010 club in town. 1807 01:33:29.270 --> 01:33:31.069 Nick Barbatti wants to be part of your pro wrestling 1808 01:33:31.109 --> 01:33:35.439 life every week, so why not let him? GoVIP. PWTorch.com 1809 01:33:35.739 --> 01:33:38.659 slash GoVIP for full details on signing up. We're compatible 1810 01:33:38.680 --> 01:33:41.979 with Patreon, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and just about any other 1811 01:33:42.119 -->

01:33:44.119 iOS or Android app out there. You can also stream 1812 01:33:44.140 --> 01:33:47.140 directly from our ad-free VIP website. The Nicky's Club, waiting 1813 01:33:47.180 --> 01:33:49.560 for you every week at PWTorch VIP. 1814 01:33:53.899 --> 01:33:55.399 Yeah, I think he's going to get a shot. And 1815 01:33:55.430 --> 01:33:58.109 I think the Archer infamy thing, you know, I always said, 1816 01:33:58.170 --> 01:34:01.510 if you read, you know, my columns and whatnot on PWTorch.com, 1817 01:34:01.869 --> 01:34:06.649 it's like, is it a cool looking entrance? Sure. But 1818 01:34:06.750 --> 01:34:09.210 it just, it just didn't mean anything. Like it meant, 1819 01:34:09.729 --> 01:34:11.989 it just was like, we're going to do this just 1820 01:34:12.010 --> 01:34:14.010 to do it, you know? And then, and the minute 1821 01:34:14.029 --> 01:34:16.250 he like shot the arrow and it like showed the 1822 01:34:16.270 --> 01:34:19.310 name of that movie from on during that match that, 1823 01:34:19.449 --> 01:34:21.869 that shall not be talked about. Like that was kind 1824 01:34:21.890 --> 01:34:23.710 of the end of it for me. Like, it's like, okay, 1825 01:34:23.949 --> 01:34:26.930 Now it's totally a put on. I think your entrances 1826 01:34:27.439 --> 01:34:31.340 artistically should jive with what you're presenting in the ring. 1827 01:34:31.460 --> 01:34:33.899 And it never really did. It was kind of like, okay, 1828 01:34:34.100 --> 01:34:35.539 we're just going to do it so you have a 1829 01:34:35.579 --> 01:34:39.829 cool entrance, not because the entrance means anything. I would 1830 01:34:39.890 --> 01:34:43.819 trade that for a more generic presentation if it's more– 1831 01:34:43.970 --> 01:34:47.189 if it's just a little more authentic and a little 1832 01:34:47.210 --> 01:34:51.689 more real. And it's his responsibility to deliver from the 1833 01:34:51.729 --> 01:34:55.189 in-ring perspective and deliver on the microphone to change that 1834 01:34:56.029 --> 01:34:59.289 generic whatever, music or whatever, and make it something bigger. 1835 01:34:59.409 --> 01:35:00.939 Like that's on him now. 1836 01:35:01.560 --> 01:35:04.340 You know, one thing I just thought of and where 1837 01:35:04.359 --> 01:35:06.180 I was talking about, we were kind of both talking 1838 01:35:06.199 --> 01:35:08.439 about his character being a little bit generic right now. 1839 01:35:08.520 --> 01:35:10.420 And then I kind of said, you know, this will 1840 01:35:10.439 --> 01:35:13.439 give him some time to to kind of develop his 1841 01:35:13.479 --> 01:35:16.319 character kind of from a clean slate. One of the 1842 01:35:16.340 --> 01:35:20.520 things during his entrance was and actually even before his entrance, 1843 01:35:20.560 --> 01:35:22.350 he was backstage. He said he's going to show the 1844 01:35:22.590 --> 01:35:23.529 Damien side of him. 1845 01:35:23.569 --> 01:35:23.770 Right. 1846 01:35:24.670 --> 01:35:28.510 Then during his entrance. the the graphics were completely split 1847 01:35:28.569 --> 01:35:31.300 and you had damien was you know very dark and 1848 01:35:31.350 --> 01:35:34.300 kind of you know um um you know bloody looking 1849 01:35:34.319 --> 01:35:37.140 and priest was very you know heavenly looking and and 1850 01:35:37.640 --> 01:35:40.199 the graphic was split right down the middle i'm wondering 1851 01:35:40.239 --> 01:35:42.300 if we're going to see more of that like you 1852 01:35:42.319 --> 01:35:44.869 know dr jackal mr hyde type of a thing um 1853 01:35:45.050 --> 01:35:47.210 where we kind of see more you know kind of 1854 01:35:47.510 --> 01:35:50.170 a monster come out there so that's something that just 1855 01:35:50.210 --> 01:35:52.390 popped into my head but i wanted to throw it. 1856 01:35:52.409 --> 01:35:55.909 Out yeah no nope yep smart yep that was definitely 1857 01:35:55.930 --> 01:35:58.569 there um yeah so we'll see but i i like 1858 01:35:58.609 --> 01:36:02.600 it i again i think if nothing else this gives 1859 01:36:02.619 --> 01:36:05.279 them the opportunity to to do more than i think 1860 01:36:05.319 --> 01:36:07.539 that other gimmick would have but time will tell by 1861 01:36:07.859 --> 01:36:12.159 far yeah we'll go to dom from cleveland next you 1862 01:36:12.180 --> 01:36:14.140 can say guys i've noticed a few times now that 1863 01:36:14.199 --> 01:36:19.340 that's Kevin Patrick sort of squats while conducting backstage interviews. 1864 01:36:20.000 --> 01:36:21.119 Did you see that? 1865 01:36:21.510 --> 01:36:24.569 Yes. It was blatantly obvious during the interview of Austin 1866 01:36:24.590 --> 01:36:27.770 Theory in the Mysterio. I get that Vince wants the 1867 01:36:27.789 --> 01:36:30.489 wrestlers to come across taller, but can't they at least 1868 01:36:30.590 --> 01:36:33.430 tighten up the camera work so it doesn't look weird? 1869 01:36:33.869 --> 01:36:39.819 Thanks very much and go VIP. PWTorch.com slash go VIP. So, Nate, 1870 01:36:39.939 --> 01:36:42.500 you clearly saw this. I saw it too bizarre. 1871 01:36:43.619 --> 01:36:46.100 Oh, my God. That popped on TV, and it was 1872 01:36:46.140 --> 01:36:49.069 the first thing I saw. I don't know how it 1873 01:36:50.630 --> 01:36:52.569 popped out to anybody else, but, man, it was the 1874 01:36:52.609 --> 01:36:57.029 first thing I saw. I cracked up. I understand you 1875 01:36:57.069 --> 01:37:00.800 don't want your announcers to be taller than your talent. 1876 01:37:00.859 --> 01:37:04.579 I get it. But, yeah, tighten up the camera work because, man, 1877 01:37:04.619 --> 01:37:05.380 that was amateur hour. 1878 01:37:05.399 --> 01:37:05.470 Yes. 1879 01:37:07.569 --> 01:37:09.970 The you know, and I know that there was or 1880 01:37:09.989 --> 01:37:11.810 at least I read that, you know, there was rumored 1881 01:37:11.850 --> 01:37:15.220 that was like a mandate to like hire shorter referees 1882 01:37:15.260 --> 01:37:21.489 and things like that

and backstage talent. But but yeah, like. uh, maybe, 1883 01:37:21.590 --> 01:37:23.970 maybe make the talent stand on a box or something 1884 01:37:24.010 --> 01:37:28.760 rather than awkward, making your, your, uh, commentary or your, uh, 1885 01:37:28.800 --> 01:37:30.199 announcers awkwardly squat. 1886 01:37:30.279 --> 01:37:32.199 But yeah, there has to be a way to frame 1887 01:37:32.220 --> 01:37:34.800 that out of the shot. I'm convinced somebody's getting yelled 1888 01:37:34.840 --> 01:37:38.279 at right now backstage as we speak, someone's getting reamed 1889 01:37:38.960 --> 01:37:40.760 for that, for that mistake. 1890 01:37:41.399 --> 01:37:42.020 I hope so. 1891 01:37:42.359 --> 01:37:44.109 But yeah, I mean, like, look, I get it. And 1892 01:37:44.149 --> 01:37:47.180 if you're going to do it, Fine. Do it. But 1893 01:37:47.619 --> 01:37:49.119 then you actually have to do it. You can't have 1894 01:37:49.140 --> 01:37:50.720 that in the shot. Like you said, it's minor league. 1895 01:37:51.079 --> 01:37:55.050 And yeah, I'm with I'm with you and I'm I'm 1896 01:37:55.090 --> 01:37:59.409 with I'm with Dom. OK, we'll go to see here. 1897 01:38:00.689 --> 01:38:04.210 detroit says i think we're getting subtle hints that becky 1898 01:38:04.550 --> 01:38:08.689 is really strong behind a live push she's mentioned her 1899 01:38:08.729 --> 01:38:11.319 in promos before and tonight live gets a rub by 1900 01:38:11.359 --> 01:38:14.140 being in the background of a becky backstage promo with 1901 01:38:14.159 --> 01:38:17.460 the blessing of becky i believe we're finally well i 1902 01:38:17.500 --> 01:38:20.779 believe we'll finally get a live babyface push without any 1903 01:38:21.119 --> 01:38:24.369 starts and stops any more starts and stops also i 1904 01:38:24.409 --> 01:38:26.989 really don't think biggie giving ko the beginning after ko's 1905 01:38:27.029 --> 01:38:29.949 apology tonight really helps his face title run it didn't 1906 01:38:30.260 --> 01:38:32.500 really seem to get a face pop either i didn't 1907 01:38:32.539 --> 01:38:34.520 hear many cheers or boos from the crowd as they 1908 01:38:34.560 --> 01:38:37.079 seemed conflicted not the biggest deal in the world but 1909 01:38:37.119 --> 01:38:39.699 also probably not the best idea love the show and 1910 01:38:39.760 --> 01:38:45.350 go vip pwtorch.com slash go vip thank you jb um 1911 01:38:45.550 --> 01:38:49.300 yeah let's start with the the live thing um Starts 1912 01:38:49.340 --> 01:38:52.470 and stops, I think that's synonymous with her all the 1913 01:38:52.510 --> 01:38:57.329 way back to her NXT days. She kind of was around, 1914 01:38:57.369 --> 01:38:59.229 and then they'd go with her for a while. Not 1915 01:38:59.270 --> 01:39:01.750 all the way, and not at the top of the card, 1916 01:39:02.529 --> 01:39:04.130 and then they would cool off. And then the same 1917 01:39:04.170 --> 01:39:06.680 thing kind of happened on the main roster, especially recently. 1918 01:39:06.689 --> 01:39:11.680 It does seem that Becky is behind, or at least 1919 01:39:12.659 --> 01:39:15.579 supportive of working with her and trying to elevate her. 1920 01:39:16.000 --> 01:39:19.810 If you believe... a handful of news outlets and we 1921 01:39:19.850 --> 01:39:23.189 reported it on pwtours.com too, or ran, you know, ran 1922 01:39:23.229 --> 01:39:28.310 with that story that she's behind a live push. But like, 1923 01:39:28.890 --> 01:39:30.529 you got to go with it. Like, I think the 1924 01:39:30.569 --> 01:39:33.789 problem with her is like, nobody can really tell how 1925 01:39:33.810 --> 01:39:36.090 they're supposed to feel because they get behind her and 1926 01:39:36.109 --> 01:39:37.590 then the rug gets pulled out and then they get 1927 01:39:37.609 --> 01:39:39.489 behind her again and the rug gets pulled out. And 1928 01:39:39.529 --> 01:39:43.289 then there's history. She's involved with the weird Lana Lashley 1929 01:39:43.350 --> 01:39:45.899 stuff with Rusev. Like she's just had, she's been in 1930 01:39:45.909 --> 01:39:48.979 the riot squad, which, was in the midst of different 1931 01:39:49.159 --> 01:39:51.859 kind of elevations and start and stops in their own right. 1932 01:39:52.180 --> 01:39:54.319 So she's just kind of lived in this hot and 1933 01:39:54.399 --> 01:39:57.640 cold world. And so I just don't think she has 1934 01:39:57.699 --> 01:40:01.479 enough equity built up. This can certainly maybe finally get 1935 01:40:01.520 --> 01:40:03.970 her some. I don't think she has a high, super 1936 01:40:03.989 --> 01:40:05.529 high ceiling anyway. I don't think she's going to be 1937 01:40:05.590 --> 01:40:09.350 somebody that WWE builds the women's division around. But, you know, 1938 01:40:09.569 --> 01:40:11.170 she's in there with the best of the best with Becky. 1939 01:40:11.229 --> 01:40:12.689 So if she's going to succeed, now is going to 1940 01:40:12.710 --> 01:40:13.090 be the time. 1941 01:40:14.189 --> 01:40:16.960 Yeah, absolutely. If she's going to succeed, it's going to 1942 01:40:16.979 --> 01:40:22.880 be with somebody opposite her like Becky Lynch. I remember 1943 01:40:22.920 --> 01:40:26.479 when she first debuted in NXT. This was well before 1944 01:40:26.600 --> 01:40:28.729 I was doing anything with the torch. I'm the new 1945 01:40:28.770 --> 01:40:32.470 guy with PWT Talks NXT, but I've been just a 1946 01:40:32.489 --> 01:40:36.029 little over two years now. But I was still watching 1947 01:40:36.050 --> 01:40:40.350 the product at the time, and she– She came across 1948 01:40:40.399 --> 01:40:46.199 to me as a very, very green talent and just 1949 01:40:46.239 --> 01:40:49.579 kind of somebody that was like undercard. And I've never– 1950 01:40:50.239 --> 01:40:53.039 she's grown on me, and I certainly like Liv Morgan. 1951 01:40:53.079 --> 01:40:55.460 Don't get me wrong. But again, yeah, like you said, 1952 01:40:55.500 --> 01:40:57.800 I don't feel like

she has a high ceiling. I 1953 01:40:57.840 --> 01:41:01.039 don't feel like she's– you know, I can't see the 1954 01:41:01.079 --> 01:41:04.170 belt around her waist. Let's put it that way. You know, 1955 01:41:04.189 --> 01:41:06.949 and if, if, if it was, it would probably, I 1956 01:41:06.970 --> 01:41:09.390 feel like it would either need to be, they need 1957 01:41:09.430 --> 01:41:11.609 to really build some equity up in her, like you said, or, 1958 01:41:11.909 --> 01:41:14.359 you know, it would be some sort of a token 1959 01:41:14.420 --> 01:41:17.180 run or they'd need to do something almost like they 1960 01:41:17.220 --> 01:41:20.739 do doing with Mandy Rose on an NXT, you know, 1961 01:41:20.760 --> 01:41:23.119 and maybe like, put her back down in NXT to 1962 01:41:23.159 --> 01:41:26.109 build her back up, something like that. I just kind 1963 01:41:26.149 --> 01:41:28.890 of spewing things off the top of my head. Um, 1964 01:41:29.329 --> 01:41:31.270 but you know, like you said, I, I don't think 1965 01:41:31.409 --> 01:41:36.439 she has, um, I don't think she's, she's the right 1966 01:41:36.500 --> 01:41:41.199 opponent to completely get Becky completely get the, uh, the, 1967 01:41:41.220 --> 01:41:46.020 the audience against Becky. Um, you know, she'll, uh, She'll 1968 01:41:46.079 --> 01:41:49.680 definitely be a, a good opponent for her. And, um, 1969 01:41:49.689 --> 01:41:52.850 you know, like I've read, you certainly read what you guys, 1970 01:41:53.170 --> 01:41:55.229 what you're talking about too, you know, Becky, um, being 1971 01:41:55.270 --> 01:41:57.819 behind live, which certainly makes sense. So I'm sure they, 1972 01:41:57.880 --> 01:42:01.000 you know, I know they spent some time together in NXT. Um, 1973 01:42:01.399 --> 01:42:02.880 I don't think it was much. I think Becky came 1974 01:42:02.960 --> 01:42:07.449 up shortly after she debuted, but, um, but still, um, Um, 1975 01:42:07.670 --> 01:42:09.810 you know, the, I'm sure she's, you know, obviously, uh, 1976 01:42:09.810 --> 01:42:11.430 you know, wants to work with her and wants to 1977 01:42:11.449 --> 01:42:14.350 push her. And we know Becky's certainly a giving talent 1978 01:42:14.409 --> 01:42:17.859 as well. Um, but, uh, but yeah, yeah, I just 1979 01:42:17.880 --> 01:42:20.739 don't think she's going to be the right, the right 1980 01:42:20.840 --> 01:42:26.029 person to get Becky, uh, To be that full-blown heel anyway. 1981 01:42:26.420 --> 01:42:30.359 Yeah, yeah. And then– so we've had two emailers talk 1982 01:42:30.380 --> 01:42:34.960 about this. One, hey, I liked the big ending to KO. One, 1983 01:42:35.220 --> 01:42:38.699 not so much. It's not good for his babyface title run. 1984 01:42:38.770 --> 01:42:41.050 Where are you on that? Like is this a good 1985 01:42:41.090 --> 01:42:42.529 thing for Big E to be doing or is it 1986 01:42:42.569 --> 01:42:47.109 just kind of muddy– the waters of people who like 1987 01:42:47.149 --> 01:42:49.390 Kevin Owens a lot because he's still a babyface as 1988 01:42:49.409 --> 01:42:52.010 of this minute and obviously getting a strong reaction. And 1989 01:42:52.050 --> 01:42:55.470 now you have your babyface champion kind of take him out. 1990 01:42:55.489 --> 01:43:00.100 I mean, conventional booking and wisdom would say, hey, don't 1991 01:43:00.149 --> 01:43:03.439 do that. But maybe it's good for Big E to 1992 01:43:03.500 --> 01:43:05.979 show a little edge or to just show that he's 1993 01:43:06.039 --> 01:43:08.800 not going to get, you know, played by Kevin Owens 1994 01:43:08.939 --> 01:43:10.979 like he and many others have in the past. 1995 01:43:12.090 --> 01:43:14.949 So here's here's where I'm at on it. Like I know, 1996 01:43:14.970 --> 01:43:18.760 you know, obviously, like you said, this isn't necessarily conventional 1997 01:43:18.800 --> 01:43:22.239 booking for for this particular scenario. 1998 01:43:22.279 --> 01:43:22.460 Right. 1999 01:43:22.960 --> 01:43:25.880 But one of the things that I talked with Wade 2000 01:43:25.920 --> 01:43:28.279 about the last time I was on the show for 2001 01:43:28.300 --> 01:43:32.609 Smackdown a few weeks ago is just stupid baby faces. 2002 01:43:32.670 --> 01:43:32.890 Right. 2003 01:43:33.010 --> 01:43:35.189 How many times have we seen a baby face just 2004 01:43:35.270 --> 01:43:40.949 do something wrong? Really just stupid. So they ignore something 2005 01:43:40.989 --> 01:43:45.090 completely glaringly obvious or they can't figure something out. Who 2006 01:43:45.109 --> 01:43:46.270 done it? Something like that. 2007 01:43:46.329 --> 01:43:46.529 Right. 2008 01:43:47.229 --> 01:43:49.729 I personally really like this because it kind of like, 2009 01:43:50.289 --> 01:43:52.829 you know, like I said earlier in the show, Kevin Owens, 2010 01:43:52.989 --> 01:43:55.109 a man of integrity. Like how many times has he 2011 01:43:55.170 --> 01:43:58.939 turned on somebody that he's been friendly with or a 2012 01:43:58.979 --> 01:44:05.010 partner partnered with? So. From that perspective, right at the 2013 01:44:05.029 --> 01:44:07.529 end of the show, Big E, he's kind of like, OK, 2014 01:44:07.729 --> 01:44:10.090 was that an accident? Wasn't that an accident? You know what? 2015 01:44:10.229 --> 01:44:12.229 I'm just not going to take any chances. Here we go. 2016 01:44:12.250 --> 01:44:15.409 Big ending. We're done. So from that perspective, I really 2017 01:44:15.449 --> 01:44:17.770 like it because it I don't I don't want to 2018 01:44:17.810 --> 01:44:19.489 see a dumb baby face. And I feel like that 2019 01:44:19.529 --> 01:44:25.159 was a very smart move from the champ. However. Being 2020 01:44:25.199 --> 01:44:29.670 wrestling fans conditioned to traditional wrestling booking, like I can 2021 01:44:29.710 --> 01:44:32.210 also see the other side of the coin as well, 2022 01:44:32.310 --> 01:44:35.550 where it's like, oh, well, wait a minute. Kevin Owens 2023

01:44:35.609 --> 01:44:38.189 is trying it coming across a little sympathetic. And now 2024 01:44:38.750 --> 01:44:40.869 the baby face champion is going to just, you know. 2025 01:44:41.819 --> 01:44:44.420 hit him with this finisher. Like, so I certainly see 2026 01:44:44.460 --> 01:44:47.350 both sides of the coin there. Um, but I'm, I'm 2027 01:44:47.409 --> 01:44:49.909 kind of more on, on what I was talking about before. 2028 01:44:50.229 --> 01:44:52.949 I really like the decision to do that. Granted, like 2029 01:44:52.989 --> 01:44:55.350 I said, I didn't see it cause my, my feet 2030 01:44:55.409 --> 01:44:57.109 cut out. So I do want to go back and 2031 01:44:57.229 --> 01:44:59.520 watch it and kind of see the, the body language 2032 01:44:59.560 --> 01:45:03.079 and stuff too. Um, but just kind of from understanding 2033 01:45:03.140 --> 01:45:05.539 from what, what I've, uh, from what I've been told 2034 01:45:05.600 --> 01:45:08.760 so far, what happened and everything, um, you know, that's 2035 01:45:09.140 --> 01:45:11.079 at least that's where I, where I'm standing on it. 2036 01:45:12.609 --> 01:45:14.550 You know that last segment you're just listening to and 2037 01:45:14.590 --> 01:45:16.609 the next one that you're waiting to listen to? Those 2038 01:45:16.670 --> 01:45:19.149 can be one second apart with a VIP membership. You 2039 01:45:19.170 --> 01:45:23.340 can unlock our commercial-free versions of our shows. PWTorch.com slash 2040 01:45:23.380 --> 01:45:28.100 GoVIP tells you how to do it. That's PWTorch.com slash GoVIP. 2041 01:45:28.439 --> 01:45:32.170 Options exist within the Apple Podcast app using your Apple account, 2042 01:45:32.310 --> 01:45:34.229 through Patreon, which, by the way, you can sync up 2043 01:45:34.270 --> 01:45:37.430 with Spotify, or just about any iOS or Android app 2044 01:45:37.590 --> 01:45:40.420 with a full VIP membership. You can customize the feed 2045 01:45:40.460 --> 01:45:43.779 for individual shows and clusters of shows and themes. Go 2046 01:45:43.819 --> 01:45:47.390 to pwtorch.com slash go VIP for full details on all 2047 01:45:47.430 --> 01:45:51.069 the options to listen commercial free and with upper tier options, 2048 01:45:51.409 --> 01:45:54.510 unlock our VIP exclusive podcasts that run throughout the week 2049 01:45:54.550 --> 01:45:54.909 every week. 2050 01:45:59.109 --> 01:46:01.470 Cool. Cool. Very good. All right. A couple of rapid 2051 01:46:01.489 --> 01:46:03.689 fire topics here and then we will, uh, we'll wrap 2052 01:46:03.750 --> 01:46:08.890 it up. Um, number one, it, it, What's with Selena Vegas, 2053 01:46:09.010 --> 01:46:11.689 British accent? Like, is it just, you know, you become 2054 01:46:12.090 --> 01:46:14.210 King and you have to have a British accent. Nate 2055 01:46:14.329 --> 01:46:18.229 is driving me up the wall. Crazy. Your thoughts. 2056 01:46:18.350 --> 01:46:22.270 Yeah, I don't. So it's a terrible accent. I kind of, 2057 01:46:22.430 --> 01:46:24.449 I like it cause I think it's getting her heat. 2058 01:46:25.289 --> 01:46:27.029 I think she's kind of up just playing up the 2059 01:46:27.069 --> 01:46:30.609 fact that you're a queen, you know, British accent type 2060 01:46:30.670 --> 01:46:34.489 of a deal. But I, I, Yes, it's grating and 2061 01:46:34.720 --> 01:46:36.340 I'm not like– I don't think I could listen to 2062 01:46:36.399 --> 01:46:38.479 it all day, every day. But I think for the 2063 01:46:38.520 --> 01:46:42.170 character and what she's going for, I do like it. 2064 01:46:43.659 --> 01:46:45.220 It's– but yeah. 2065 01:46:45.600 --> 01:46:47.800 She's got to be more consistent with it though. Either 2066 01:46:47.859 --> 01:46:50.300 do it or don't. I feel like it's like in 2067 01:46:50.340 --> 01:46:53.479 and out for promos and segments. 2068 01:46:54.720 --> 01:46:57.199 I'm kind of– the way that I take it is 2069 01:46:57.260 --> 01:47:00.479 like she does it like– she does it to be condescending. 2070 01:47:01.130 --> 01:47:02.010 OK. OK. 2071 01:47:02.090 --> 01:47:03.670 It's the way I kind of take it anyway. 2072 01:47:04.960 --> 01:47:07.760 All right, Nate. You know, you're you're you got me 2073 01:47:07.779 --> 01:47:09.399 at least thinking. I don't know that I'm there yet 2074 01:47:09.439 --> 01:47:11.310 to say, hey, this is this is a plus. But, 2075 01:47:11.470 --> 01:47:15.109 you know, something to something to watch out for. All right. 2076 01:47:15.130 --> 01:47:17.869 And then last thing. I thought Austin Theory had a 2077 01:47:17.909 --> 01:47:23.500 good night tonight. I think he clearly has things on– 2078 01:47:23.550 --> 01:47:25.689 if Vince McMahon is holding a checklist of things that 2079 01:47:25.710 --> 01:47:29.810 he wants his top stars to have, Austin Theory has 2080 01:47:29.829 --> 01:47:32.810 a lot of it. He's got a good look. He 2081 01:47:32.829 --> 01:47:36.829 can talk. He's got a personality. He can– fill time 2082 01:47:36.909 --> 01:47:39.699 and do whatever comedy and some serious stuff. He can 2083 01:47:39.739 --> 01:47:41.479 get some heat. So I think he's like a jack 2084 01:47:41.500 --> 01:47:43.630 of all trades as far as that goes. Like, uh, 2085 01:47:43.920 --> 01:47:46.119 you know, I guess a good comparison at this point 2086 01:47:46.539 --> 01:47:49.310 is like Baron Corbin ask, not necessarily somebody that's going 2087 01:47:49.329 --> 01:47:52.069 to be made of any WrestleMania, but somebody that's valuable 2088 01:47:52.109 --> 01:47:53.850 to your show. Cause you can drop them into a 2089 01:47:53.869 --> 01:47:58.789 lot of different spots and, and he works. Um, Is 2090 01:47:58.829 --> 01:48:00.829 that his ceiling? Well, first of all, do you agree 2091 01:48:00.930 --> 01:48:04.010 with the premise of that? And also, is his ceiling 2092 01:48:04.069 --> 01:48:06.859 that or do you look at him as somebody that 2093 01:48:06.899 --> 01:48:11.399 can be WWE champion someday? Where's the

range on that 2094 01:48:11.479 --> 01:48:12.659 for you and Austin Theory? 2095 01:48:14.100 --> 01:48:21.720 So that's– I could– some point not necessarily right now 2096 01:48:22.039 --> 01:48:24.689 um in this particular iteration of the character and just 2097 01:48:24.710 --> 01:48:26.989 kind of where he is in his overall career but 2098 01:48:27.010 --> 01:48:29.609 i could certainly see that given his trajectory and things 2099 01:48:29.770 --> 01:48:35.460 uh things like that i I could be wrong now 2100 01:48:35.479 --> 01:48:40.789 that I've said it, but throughout NXT, he showed such 2101 01:48:41.029 --> 01:48:46.420 a variety of character type. This this current iteration of 2102 01:48:46.579 --> 01:48:48.680 Austin Theory, he kind of sort of played a little 2103 01:48:48.699 --> 01:48:51.460 bit before joining up with the way to to a 2104 01:48:51.479 --> 01:48:54.260 little bit of a lesser degree. It's kind of more 2105 01:48:54.279 --> 01:48:57.479 of a serious type of a character. But then he 2106 01:48:58.159 --> 01:49:02.199 went into a over the top comedic role. And I 2107 01:49:02.239 --> 01:49:06.550 think he really excelled at it with the way. And, 2108 01:49:06.659 --> 01:49:08.590 you know, now he's kind of back to a more 2109 01:49:08.649 --> 01:49:13.390 serious character and not not quite serious, super serious. But 2110 01:49:13.449 --> 01:49:15.590 you know what I mean? Um, and I think he's 2111 01:49:15.630 --> 01:49:18.470 playing that really well. Not only that in the ring, he's, 2112 01:49:18.630 --> 01:49:20.970 he's awesome. He's fantastic in the ring. Great. 2113 01:49:21.590 --> 01:49:21.829 Great. 2114 01:49:21.869 --> 01:49:27.489 Technically. Um, you know, and I've incredibly smooth, um, anybody 2115 01:49:27.550 --> 01:49:29.369 he's in the ring with he's he's gonna have a 2116 01:49:29.390 --> 01:49:33.319 good match with i i can't ever remember watching austin 2117 01:49:33.340 --> 01:49:36.479 theory and imagining going wow that match sucked um so 2118 01:49:36.500 --> 01:49:38.960 i i really do i feel like he is he's 2119 01:49:39.039 --> 01:49:42.659 exactly the type of mold that vince is looking for 2120 01:49:42.680 --> 01:49:45.659 uh not to mention he's still really young i don't 2121 01:49:45.689 --> 01:49:47.189 remember exactly how old he is but i want to 2122 01:49:47.229 --> 01:49:51.699 say he's under 25 if not 25 um And so, 2123 01:49:51.779 --> 01:49:54.220 I mean, he's certainly somebody that the company can can 2124 01:49:54.260 --> 01:49:57.359 build up to be a star, you know, somebody that 2125 01:49:57.380 --> 01:49:58.920 kind of comes to mind to be like the Miz, 2126 01:49:59.000 --> 01:50:03.369 maybe not, you know, always, always WWE champion. But but 2127 01:50:03.430 --> 01:50:06.729 just kind of that that company, man. But that's kind 2128 01:50:06.750 --> 01:50:08.470 of the vibe I get from from where he is 2129 01:50:08.510 --> 01:50:08.829 right now. 2130 01:50:09.510 -->

01:50:13.630 Yeah, that's probably a better comparison than than my Corbin one. 2131 01:50:13.670 --> 01:50:14.149 Yeah. Yeah. 2132 01:50:14.180 --> 01:50:16.640 Miz. I mean, and look, if you're if you're Austin Theory, 2133 01:50:17.119 --> 01:50:19.699 you know, and someone says, hey, you know, you can 2134 01:50:19.720 --> 01:50:22.689 have a career like the Miz. I don't think you're 2135 01:50:22.710 --> 01:50:23.430 saying no. 2136 01:50:23.510 --> 01:50:24.789 Oh, absolutely not. 2137 01:50:25.010 --> 01:50:27.409 I don't think you're saying no to that. Not because 2138 01:50:27.430 --> 01:50:29.710 Miz is like the greatest worker in the world, but 2139 01:50:29.789 --> 01:50:33.109 he's had big moments and made a lot of money 2140 01:50:33.569 --> 01:50:38.260 and has held titles. So he's a valuable piece in 2141 01:50:38.319 --> 01:50:41.220 the– you know, for WWE, you know, he wouldn't be 2142 01:50:41.279 --> 01:50:44.939 as valuable in another company, but in WWE that that's, 2143 01:50:45.380 --> 01:50:48.340 that's there. And I, yeah, I think that's a good, uh, uh, 2144 01:50:48.359 --> 01:50:52.369 really well said in regards to, to theory. All right, Nate, let's, uh, 2145 01:50:52.649 --> 01:50:54.050 as I always say, let's wrap up and we'll put 2146 01:50:54.090 --> 01:50:56.430 a bow on it right there. Thank you to the callers. 2147 01:50:56.470 --> 01:50:58.750 Thank you to our, emailers thank you to paul our 2148 01:50:58.810 --> 01:51:01.840 on-site correspondent again uh wade is going to be on 2149 01:51:01.880 --> 01:51:04.479 the vip side of things tonight's rundown the show on 2150 01:51:04.500 --> 01:51:08.100 the way color hotline pwtorch.com slash go vip gets you 2151 01:51:08.140 --> 01:51:12.100 the rundown of all that comes along with vip membership 2152 01:51:12.159 --> 01:51:17.079 including just a host of other vip podcasts all at 2153 01:51:17.079 --> 01:51:20.189 30 plus years of archives um with the pw torch 2154 01:51:20.250 --> 01:51:24.689 newsletter that's just a treasure trove of fun information to 2155 01:51:24.850 --> 01:51:26.930 to dig through um it's All there for you as 2156 01:51:26.970 --> 01:51:31.640 a VIP member. So go VIP, pwtorch.com slash go VIP. 2157 01:51:32.000 --> 01:51:34.739 I'm PW Torch Assistant Editor Zach Haydorn. You can go 2158 01:51:34.760 --> 01:51:37.619 VIP and check out my weekly audio show for VIP 2159 01:51:37.659 --> 01:51:40.890 members called On the Canvas. It's a show that looks 2160 01:51:40.930 --> 01:51:43.689 at the art of wrestling, just the art of the business. 2161 01:51:43.729 --> 01:51:47.069 So we're not really talking wrestling. In the same context, 2162 01:51:47.210 --> 01:51:50.020 like we were tonight, like, you know, grading angles and 2163 01:51:50.310 --> 01:51:53.039 who's over, who's not, who's getting the push, who isn't 2164 01:51:53.079 --> 01:51:55.380 and who should. We're just kind of taking a weekly 2165 01:51:55.420 --> 01:51:58.899 current event from the world of wrestling and breaking that down. 2166 01:51:58.920 --> 01:52:01.720 This past week, we did a show where we did 2167 01:52:01.739 --> 01:52:06.560 a frame by frame artistic analysis of Shida versus Bermuda. 2168 01:52:07.640 --> 01:52:10.869 Serena deep from AEW dynamite this past week. So that 2169 01:52:10.909 --> 01:52:13.470 was a fun, you know, 45 minutes of just going 2170 01:52:13.489 --> 01:52:15.649 through that match top to bottom, you know, kind of 2171 01:52:15.670 --> 01:52:17.890 just not, not grading it, but just breaking it down. 2172 01:52:18.109 --> 01:52:20.350 What story were they trying to tell? And so on 2173 01:52:20.369 --> 01:52:22.590 and so forth. So you can go VIP and check 2174 01:52:22.630 --> 01:52:24.739 that show out. It's called on the canvas and it 2175 01:52:24.800 --> 01:52:30.199 drops usually on Friday, Friday evenings for VIP members. Also, 2176 01:52:30.239 --> 01:52:33.100 make sure you head into PWTorch.com. We've got it updated 2177 01:52:33.279 --> 01:52:37.460 regularly with news and columns and show reports for all 2178 01:52:37.800 --> 01:52:41.279 the weekly wrestling shows that happen. Nate's Hits and Misses 2179 01:52:41.319 --> 01:52:44.000 columns are there every week, along with Hits and Misses 2180 01:52:44.039 --> 01:52:48.159 columns for every other major show throughout the week. Both 2181 01:52:48.239 --> 01:52:52.420 AEW shows, NXT, Raw, SmackDown, etc. It's all there for 2182 01:52:52.460 --> 01:52:56.949 you at PWTorch.com. Uh, you can follow me on Twitter 2183 01:52:57.369 --> 01:53:00.770 at Z Hadorn torch. That's at Z H E Y 2184 01:53:01.130 --> 01:53:03.170 D O R N torch. And you can follow the 2185 01:53:03.210 --> 01:53:09.420 torch brand on Twitter at P W torch. Nate's absolute blast, man. 2186 01:53:09.479 --> 01:53:11.939 Thank you so much for joining me. It's been fun. Um, 2187 01:53:12.039 --> 01:53:14.479 as always, hopefully we can do it again soon, but, uh, 2188 01:53:14.550 --> 01:53:17.369 before we go, Yeah, I really appreciate it, man. Great, 2189 01:53:17.550 --> 01:53:19.989 great stuff. Fun show. But one more time with your 2190 01:53:20.010 --> 01:53:22.810 social media so people can can check you out there and, 2191 01:53:23.229 --> 01:53:24.840 you know, see all the other stuff that you're working 2192 01:53:24.899 --> 01:53:27.510 on on a week to week basis. Sure. 2193 01:53:27.550 --> 01:53:30.699 So at Nate Lindbergh on Twitter, where you can find me, 2194 01:53:30.760 --> 01:53:33.260 where all of my all the stuff I do for 2195 01:53:33.279 --> 01:53:36.119 the torch, as well as everything I do with my 2196 01:53:36.180 --> 01:53:41.010 group of degenerates, which you can also check out at D-E-G-E-T-A-M-E. 2197 01:53:41.609 --> 01:53:43.770 You can also just go to Nate Lindbergh dot com 2198 01:53:43.789 --> 01:53:45.949 where I've got links to my show, links to that show, 2199 01:53:46.550 --> 01:53:48.369 links to a couple other

things that I do as 2200 01:53:48.390 --> 01:53:51.020 well that I haven't talked about. But that's where that's 2201 01:53:51.039 --> 01:53:51.640 where you can find me. 2202 01:53:52.789 --> 01:53:53.550 Fantastic. 2203 01:53:54.140 --> 01:53:54.579 All right, everybody. 2204 01:53:54.600 --> 01:53:56.960 Thanks for listening for Nate. I'm Zach and we'll catch 2205 01:53:56.979 --> 01:53:57.720 you next time. 2206 01:54:30.470 --> 01:54:33.630 Your time is valuable. Go VIP and listen to our 2207 01:54:33.670 --> 01:54:39.569 shows commercial-free. A nice streamlined listening experience. pwtorch.com slash govip 2208 01:54:39.869 --> 01:54:42.890 for full details on a commercial-free listening experience. And with 2209 01:54:42.909 --> 01:54:45.670 a full VIP membership, you can create custom feeds for 2210 01:54:45.770 --> 01:54:48.770 individual shows or groups of shows by theme and also 2211 01:54:48.890 --> 01:54:52.609 unlock nearly four decades of archives and access our ad-free 2212 01:54:52.649 --> 01:54:57.649 website with VIP exclusive content. pwtorch.com slash govip. Your time 2213 01:54:57.689 --> 01:54:59.449 is valuable, and that's one of the reasons we offer 2214 01:54:59.550 --> 01:55:04.930 VIP membership, pwtorch.com slash govip. You can participate in the 2215 01:55:04.949 --> 01:55:08.399 Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast by emailing your question or 2216 01:55:08.439 --> 01:55:13.220 topic to wadekellerpodcast at gmail.com. You can also participate in 2217 01:55:13.239 --> 01:55:17.500 the Wade Keller Post Shows by emailing wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com 2218 01:55:17.720 --> 01:55:21.439 during or right after Raw, Dynamite, or SmackDown. Let your voice, 2219 01:55:21.479 --> 01:55:24.079 let your opinions be heard on our shows via email, 2220 01:55:24.239 --> 01:55:29.149 wadekellerpodcast at gmail.com for the flagship and wadekellerpostshow at gmail.com 2221 01:55:29.329 --> 01:55:32.939 for our post shows. It's next-level coverage that you come 2222 01:55:32.960 --> 01:55:36.340 to expect from the PW Torch brand. No AI, no 2223 01:55:36.439 --> 01:55:41.060 rookie perspectives, no unfounded rumors, no clickbait, no deceptive headlines, 2224 01:55:41.840 --> 01:55:45.699 just high-quality writing, breaking news, and fascinating flashbacks every day 2225 01:55:45.840 --> 01:55:49.479 at pwtorch.com. Pull yourself away from the vacuous social media 2226 01:55:49.520 --> 01:55:51.609 experience that I know many of you regret once you 2227 01:55:51.770 --> 01:55:54.090 get lost in it for minutes, if not hours at 2228 01:55:54.130 --> 01:55:58.029 a time, and settle in for high-quality PW Torch-branded wrestling coverage. 2229 01:55:59.689 --> 01:56:01.789 Admit it, you love Nick Barbatti when he co-hosts with 2230 01:56:01.829 --> 01:56:03.590 me on the Wade Keller Post Shows. Well, now you 2231 01:56:03.609 --> 01:56:05.869 can listen to him every week on the Nicky's Club, 2232 01:56:05.930 --> 01:56:08.970 a VIP exclusive

podcast. Here's Nick to tell you more. 2233 01:56:09.109 --> 01:56:11.529 Hey, wrestling fans. It's Nick Barbatti, and I'm back with 2234 01:56:11.560 --> 01:56:13.640 the Nicky's Club, the place where the family of Nicky's 2235 01:56:13.699 --> 01:56:16.619 comes together for big laughs and sharp takes on WWE. 2236 01:56:16.699 --> 01:56:19.600 From WrestleMania rumors to surprise returns, I got you covered. 2237 01:56:19.760 --> 01:56:21.960 The Nicky's Club, where the wrestling feels like the coolest 2238 01:56:21.979 --> 01:56:22.560 club in town. 2239 01:56:22.779 --> 01:56:24.579 Nick Barbatti wants to be part of your pro wrestling 2240 01:56:24.619 --> 01:56:28.949 life every week, so... Why not let him? GoVIP. PWTorch.com 2241 01:56:29.229 --> 01:56:32.149 slash GoVIP for full details on signing up. We're compatible 2242 01:56:32.170 --> 01:56:35.470 with Patreon, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and just about any other 2243 01:56:35.609 --> 01:56:37.609 iOS or Android app out there. You can also stream 2244 01:56:37.630 --> 01:56:40.630 directly from our ad-free VIP website. The Nicky's Club, waiting 2245 01:56:40.670 --> 01:56:45.350 for you every week at PWTorch VIP. Did you know 2246 01:56:45.399 --> 01:56:48.760 that you can enjoy commercial-free versions of all of your 2247 01:56:48.800 --> 01:56:52.789 favorite Wade Keller podcasts and PWTorch Daily Casts? Just go 2248 01:56:52.850 --> 01:56:58.260 to patreon.com, search PWTorch, and subscribe to a VIP membership tier. 2249 01:56:58.270 --> 01:57:00.279 You get a seven-day free trial, by the way, to 2250 01:57:00.300 --> 01:57:01.739 kick the tires a bit and see if you like 2251 01:57:01.760 --> 01:57:04.359 the service. 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There's no larger, 2282 01:58:37.479 --> 01:58:41.460 longer-spanning pro wrestling podcast library than that that comes with 2283 01:58:41.520 --> 01:58:45.579 a PWTorch VIP membership now approaching 20 years of podcasting. 2284 01:58:45.779 --> 01:58:49.399 Go VIP and dive into our post-pay-per-view roundtables, our coverage 2285 01:58:49.439 --> 01:58:53.369 of some of your favorite eras of wrestling, top-name long-form interviews, 2286 01:58:53.810 --> 01:58:58.529 and special format podcasts that we've done throughout the years. pwtorch.com 2287 01:58:58.609 --> 01:59:02.050 slash govip. We have a streamlined sign-up form, and you 2288 01:59:02.090 --> 01:59:04.380 can pay with PayPal or directly with your credit card 2289 01:59:04.489 --> 01:59:07.119 or debit card in one or two minutes. From right now, 2290 01:59:07.180 --> 01:59:10.800 you can be a VIP member and diving into our library, pwtorch.com 2291 01:59:10.859 --> 01:59:11.880 slash govip.