0:00

Today on Not Sam Wrestling,

0:02

how our truth became one

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of the biggest superstars on

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Monday Night Raw, a phenomenal

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Saturday night for wrestling fans.

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Sting's last match appears to

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be announced and don't

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hinder gender. This

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is Not Sam Wrestling. This

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is Not Sam Wrestling.

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Introducing your host from

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New York, here is

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Sam Roberts. Here

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we are once again. Can't

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miss a week because

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we have way too

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much to catch up on. I'm surprised we managed

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to get through an entire week without

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doing some kind of emergency podcast

0:51

or something. Let's see

0:54

how long it lasts. Welcome

0:57

to Not Sam Wrestling and

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a huge time. First of all, let me

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get some announcements out of the way. Of

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course, Not Sam Wrestling Live is

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coming to Tampa, Florida at Side Splitter's Comedy

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Club the Friday before the Royal Rumble. It's

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January 26th. 5pm

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you can get tickets at notsamlive.com. The

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guest announcements will be coming this week.

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Make sure you follow Not Sam on

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Twitter, Instagram, whatever

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because the announcements will be coming this week

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as to who will be joining me in

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Tampa. I hope that includes you. Go

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to notsamlive.com for tickets right now.

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5pm show so you can do

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whatever you want to that night.

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Friday, January 26th, Side

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Splitter's in Tampa, Florida. And

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right now you

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go over to notsamshirts.com and

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The vault has been opened

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2:29

So much going on in the

2:31

world of professional wrestling and I've been

2:33

I've been itching to talk to you

2:35

guys about this about

2:37

the gender Mahal Tony Khan

2:40

wrestling Twitter Controversy

2:43

that has taken up much of the last

2:45

seven days quite frankly in

2:47

all of our lives Let's

2:49

be honest. It's it's a it's

2:52

a wild time and it's only

2:54

getting wilder and it's hard to

2:58

pinpoint exactly Where

3:00

it's gonna come from at any given moment, but

3:03

a few days ago it came from Twitter

3:06

the first tweet that I

3:09

saw well, I guess I think that

3:11

the Tony Khan's

3:13

tweet was first and I might get things

3:15

out of order because they're very complicated It

3:17

became a drama filled

3:19

day all centered around gender Mahal

3:22

and I can only imagine that gender Mahal Was

3:24

just sitting there in his house probably in the

3:26

gym. Let's be honest. Look at the body on

3:28

him going Why I was just minding my

3:30

own business. Why am I the center of all this? so

3:34

Tony Khan tweets out and I guess I guess

3:36

I Guess

3:38

he was getting fed up with and

3:40

I'm sure it weighs on him, right? it's become

3:42

sport to try to dunk on a

3:44

W as often as possible and Nobody

3:47

enjoys that when they're trying to build a business,

3:49

but also When you're the

3:51

guy in charge when you're the boss, it

3:54

kind of goes with the territory if

3:56

you enjoy Praise

3:59

if you enjoy complements. If

4:01

you get called Booker of the Year by

4:03

some internet commentators and

4:06

you promote that, then you've got to realize

4:08

that the other side of that coin is

4:10

also going to be there all the time.

4:13

And that if we highlight

4:17

all the good stuff, we have to at least accept, we

4:19

don't have to highlight it, but we at least have to

4:21

accept that the bad stuff is going to

4:23

come too. And you know, a few

4:25

years ago, I think the positive probably outweighed

4:27

the negative. Now the negative seems to be

4:29

outweighing the positive. And

4:32

he ends up tweeting out that it's a

4:34

double standard. Hook has

4:36

a 28-1 career record on a winning streak,

4:41

calls out the champ, a logical challenge,

4:43

sparks online outrage. Now I don't think

4:46

that there was actually online

4:48

outrage. It's not like you're, I

4:51

have no, first of all, Hook rules,

4:53

right? And that's problem number one with

4:55

this whole scenario is that people forgot

4:57

that Hook rules because he wasn't made

5:00

to look good with any

5:02

of these interactions. Don't

5:05

put a spotlight on the

5:07

fact that there are trolls on the internet that

5:09

are trying to get a rise out of, I think

5:12

they're just trying to get a rise out of AEW

5:14

fans. They don't think for a second, I'm gonna get

5:16

a rise out of the CEO. But

5:19

anybody that watches the product,

5:22

which is one of the key component rules

5:24

of not Sam wrestling, anybody that actually

5:26

watches AEW, is

5:28

not upset that Hook and

5:31

Samoa Joe are gonna have a match

5:33

on Dynamite. If you're headlining a

5:35

pay-per-view out of nowhere with Hook and

5:37

Samoa Joe, then you might have people

5:39

going like, where does this come from?

5:42

But the idea that you're gonna have an

5:44

episode of TV, you had Samoa Joe on

5:47

television say, I'm here

5:49

to just take on all challengers. Samoa

5:51

Joe is a fun-ass champion. Anytime

5:55

Anybody Challenges Samoa Joe, We talked about it

5:57

like two, three weeks ago. Anytime Anybody Challenges

5:59

Samoa Joe... It's an interesting mask

6:01

as Joe is that interesting. And.

6:03

You've got a guy look. Who's.

6:06

Been book to beat people up. Samoa

6:08

Joe beat people up all the time. For

6:10

real and not for real. So.

6:13

I mean. Why? Not have this

6:15

match right? But I

6:17

guess the internet was given to

6:19

him. He goes I ah, a

6:22

logical challenge. Sparks online outrage. Gender.

6:25

Has literally lost every single match

6:27

easier for the past year. Immediately

6:30

gets a title shot. Where is

6:32

the Rage hashtag A W Dynamite

6:34

tomorrow on Tbs? Now look I

6:37

do think that Tony Time. At

6:39

least was whether it's right or wrong.

6:42

Is. Not just off the cuff in this

6:44

fit of rage and has to express himself.

6:47

I think if you go through the history

6:49

of Tony Gone In a W whether it's

6:51

that is you know, putting out a weird

6:54

twitter video where. He's

6:56

got his deal with New Japan, and he's

6:58

making a joining a wrestling promo about Nick

7:00

Time whether he's done it a bunch of

7:03

times. Like. Tony how likes to

7:05

stir up. Controversy. So

7:07

easy and get people talking. And. Every

7:09

single time he does this I tell people

7:12

go to his account and you see that

7:14

the top tweet on the town is always

7:16

a plug for the tv show. I'm

7:19

nothing. It's a it's it works. But.

7:21

I am saying that I believe that's his method.

7:24

And. I don't think it's that. I think it's not

7:27

that far out of the realm of like. Eric

7:30

this off going out as a way

7:32

that going out of his way to

7:34

spoil debatably results are to signal go

7:36

on television and challenge Vince Mcmahon to

7:38

a fight. On as exit looked

7:41

if you think the the same people that

7:43

would say it looks small when Tony does

7:45

this on twitter. Or the

7:47

same people that I think if you remember back in Ninety

7:49

eight. There. Were plenty of people who are

7:51

like this. make their fish of look small. He's obsessed

7:54

with Vince Mcmahon. And. You know,

7:56

history. Does. Repeat itself

7:58

if one's good, the others good. Ones where the

8:00

other bad or maybe there's a difference and you can you

8:02

can tell me all about it. But.

8:06

I also think. That

8:09

Twitter? Is a different animal.

8:11

Twitter. Is Not. The. Show. If

8:15

you cause is Eric V. shows called

8:17

out Vince Mcmahon. To fight

8:19

him on twitter. There's.

8:22

Just this weird separation where instead of it

8:24

being a television character people would go. Airbus

8:26

has lost It is actually calling a dude

8:28

out to fight. It

8:31

twenty category television character. That.

8:33

Was saying some of this stuff you get at

8:35

least get away with the fact that it's a

8:37

television character. And. Not. He's

8:40

on twitter and like this is actually

8:42

bothering him because. When. The

8:44

seal the company. Is

8:46

tweeting. About wins and losses.

8:49

It's like what are we. Would. We doing

8:51

here. Power telling stories. That's all we're doing. Now.

8:54

Right after that. There's. A tweet

8:56

that goes out and I believe this is after a might

8:58

have him before is right around the same time. Ah,

9:02

a tweet goes out where

9:04

somebody had tweeted that says

9:06

engender actually do have history.

9:09

And. It takes them back to the

9:11

inaugural Nxt Title tournament. Now I don't

9:13

know this was this sub tweet reply

9:15

to Tony saying that the says engender

9:17

matches more illogical, the know hook in

9:19

Samoa Joe match or and so they

9:22

without actually mentioning Tony or a W

9:24

just said look if this is a

9:26

conversation at all. There. Is a

9:28

logic The dates back here. And. It

9:30

was twenty. Maybe twenty. the twelve, maybe

9:32

all. After that. In.

9:34

It inaugural Nxt World Title

9:37

Porn I'm in. The. Final

9:39

was Seth Rollins in General Hall and that

9:41

graphic has been shown. Multiple. Times

9:43

I mean I don't even give to go to back that

9:45

far. It is interesting that that's there. But.

9:47

Here's the logic. Gender

9:49

my whole is a former W W E

9:52

champion. He came

9:54

out on raw. Any

9:56

actually caught a really great promo where

9:58

you have a character. The like, the

10:00

character or not. He got time

10:02

on television. He cut the promo. He

10:05

was introduced as a former W W

10:07

E Champion. And. The rock

10:09

interrupted him. The. Rock disrespected

10:12

a former W W E champion who

10:14

obviously had a bone to pick with

10:16

the Debate of You Universe as was

10:18

established on the television show. So.

10:22

The. Idea. That former.

10:25

Soviet. Of you a champion gender mall

10:27

would be upset on Monday night Raw

10:29

the following week is very logical. Any

10:32

idea that Seth Rollins, whose whole thing

10:34

has been he's a fighting champion and

10:36

will fight anybody. conference this guy who

10:38

feels as though he has been overlooked

10:40

as a former Ww Ii champion and

10:42

agreed to a match. It also means

10:45

it's very logical, right? So ah, So.

10:48

this to he goes out and. The

10:50

problem was that there was a reply to it. From.

10:52

The Usa Network twitter account. That.

10:55

Said. What's.

10:57

The Cage Match Rating: What? Was

10:59

the Cage match reading? Now. Of

11:01

course. This. Is a direct shot

11:03

at tony time and the ideas that.

11:06

He's. Obsessed with weird internet

11:08

metrics to don't really translate.

11:11

To. Business Right? Cage Match:

11:13

It's a website that calculates wins and

11:16

losses and mass length and all ads.

11:18

Which. Is great. It's a trivia for

11:20

hardcore wrestling fans itself, but it's certainly

11:22

not a realistically say this is how

11:24

I'm going be. Bullied. Of

11:27

Matt rights, but it has come up in

11:29

a w press conferences before and it's become

11:31

somewhat meme, a ball that people up with

11:33

Tony caught in this light. So.

11:36

Then. Tony clown reply to that.

11:38

Quote Tweets: The Usa Network tweet and

11:40

by the way, that is a thing

11:42

right now, right? that all these like

11:44

corporate Twitter accounts. Being

11:47

a smartass as a corporate twitter account

11:49

as become something I don't know if

11:51

it's a successful business place or not.

11:54

I know that if somebody is is. My.

11:57

Company Not Sam. Had

11:59

a quarter. The camera I'm the only one I'm not.

12:01

same account is my ago. But. If we

12:03

were a bigger media company, And I

12:05

had a separate account and then not

12:07

same as a company had an account

12:10

and I just hired like hot dog

12:12

or somebody to run it would tell

12:14

him don't dude the weird smartass does.

12:17

It. Doesn't get us anywhere like I had all. I

12:19

don't think there's a benefit to it like the same

12:22

way if you look at at the ratings of Dynamite.

12:24

Yes, Was everybody talking about Tony Khan and

12:27

Dynamite and A W in General Hall and

12:29

all this stuff? right? After

12:31

all this. Tweeting. Went down

12:33

Yes. Did it affect ratings at all?

12:35

No. No, not. Positive

12:38

or negative. But.

12:41

The general outlook is just like what it, what are we

12:43

doing. And. I think the same thing applies. Like,

12:45

you know, whether it's Wendy's and Chick Fillet

12:47

getting into fights on Twitter? Whether it's you

12:49

know, whoever it is, it's all business now.

12:52

They. Your one point? that. Pabst.

12:54

Blue Ribbon twitter account was

12:56

tweeting sexually explicit tweets which

12:58

are funny. But. As I can make

13:00

me. Choose to buy beer or

13:03

not. It's just like. What's.

13:06

The return on investment here. You.

13:08

Know you're going to cause all this drama, but

13:10

if it's not going to increase business, What?

13:13

Are we really doing? So.

13:17

Tony. Doesn't let that go. He

13:20

quote tweets, the Usa accounts and then

13:22

he writes a moral victory for Usa

13:24

is one when more than their world

13:26

title challenger syndrome a Hall has had

13:28

in the past three hundred sixty four

13:30

days. because it's been literally A for

13:32

years and he won a match. You

13:34

really put a W in our place

13:36

getting gender mahal in a big match

13:38

on your Tv show? Do it more

13:40

often. And.

13:42

It's I dude. Nobody.

13:45

Cares: Nobody

13:47

cares. If kinda

13:49

Mahal hasn't got do not. Dinner

13:52

More Hall. Last.

13:54

Every match. And then he

13:57

got drafted the Smackdown. He won one match

13:59

out of. Know where people thought it was

14:01

a goof and then he became the W

14:03

W E Champion. This

14:05

is the history of gender mahal. But

14:08

here's the thing about gender. That. You'll have

14:11

to realize if you're going to go into

14:13

battle like this, You. Can't play Checkers.

14:15

You have to play chess and this

14:17

feels like Checkers. This feels like somebody

14:20

thinks they're playing chess, but they're actually

14:22

playing checkers. They think they're playing chess

14:24

because they go ominous or controversy by.

14:26

and it's really just a promo for

14:29

my show that test know it's Checkers.

14:31

Because if you are playing chess you

14:33

would know. That as much

14:36

as people do. Love hook. Very.

14:38

Is this underlying current

14:40

of support for gender?

14:43

mahal? That. Has been there

14:45

for a long time. The don't

14:47

hinder gender bandwagon is real and

14:50

has been real. As

14:52

soon as Ross was not even of

14:54

before, Raw was off the air as

14:56

soon as the segment with the rock

14:59

and gender was done. As

15:01

much as people were talking about the head

15:03

of the table and as much as people

15:05

were talking about the Rock and Roman Reigns

15:07

in what Is This Gonna Happen there was

15:10

this wave of internet meme done. It.

15:12

Was putting up graphics. Of

15:15

General Hall and the Rock. Finish.

15:17

The story, legend of finish the story we

15:19

went into rest of the rocks. that was the

15:21

serious know of course not. But.

15:25

Meme done. Cannot.

15:27

Be broken. When.

15:29

The Internet has decided. This

15:32

is the direction that we're going in. It

15:34

won't be broken. I don't care what the

15:36

win loss record is, have any one. In

15:39

processional wrestling, Which. Is

15:41

a sport. In which the

15:43

person who's tweeting actively is the one

15:46

who decided. The win loss record. The.

15:48

Reason Hooks record is what it is is

15:51

because the guy who's tweeting. Made.

15:53

The choice. The. Reason:

15:55

Genders win loss record is what it

15:57

is. Is because the people in charge.

16:00

A booking inevitably made the

16:02

choice. You. Could

16:04

talk about performance. You could say his promos

16:06

that good. You could say matches are good.

16:09

Boss. Hinder. You.

16:11

Could say Hook doesn't deserve the

16:13

match because he doesn't wrestle. Wow,

16:15

because he's gotten opportunities and and

16:17

they haven't panned out. That's Hook.

16:20

That's the performer. Entertaining

16:22

when it's wins and losses.

16:25

Or. Amount of time spent in the rest The Booker.

16:28

Performers got no control over whether they're going to

16:31

win or lose or how long it's going to

16:33

take them to do that thing. Forgive.

16:35

This interruption guys. but I want a mix

16:38

of the we're all on the right track.

16:40

I'm hoping to get there with Hello Fresh

16:42

this time a year year. Your set know

16:44

your goals, your nutrition goes, You want to

16:46

make smart choices and changes in your life,

16:49

But eating, eating it's very, very complicated, right?

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Yeah, there's no way any of us know

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how to cook properly or all. Dizzy Spence

16:55

the you'd have to go to a Hello

16:57

Fresh will give you the recipes, they'll give

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you the ingredients and it's cheaper. Than.

17:02

Getting take out I have a box. it's

17:04

coming. I've already ordered it and I can't

17:06

wait because I'm hoping this is gonna be

17:09

complete lifestyle change for me. How. Of

17:11

first they they have breakfast is that you

17:13

can make in a paid best ten minute

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lunches. it's I had to dig Digs figured

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out. How to work within

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your day? To. Help

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you get to the goals you

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want to get to as whether

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meal kit! And.

18:28

People know this, so when they're seeing somebody.

18:31

Who's. sending like unhinged tweets. And

18:35

number one, they're bringing of wins and

18:37

losses in professional wrestling, as if that

18:39

a thing. And number two, To.

18:42

Talking about a guy. Who's

18:44

got all the support the world right now. Would.

18:47

You think's gonna happen? And

18:49

so would inevitably happened. And I n

18:51

n n a chess player knows this

18:53

is exactly what's gonna happen. And

18:55

this is a problem. The problem is Not. Tony.

18:58

Shouldn't between personally guess we all he

19:00

wants right? If Tony thinks that us

19:02

that Twitter is a good vehicle to

19:05

use. To start controversy, To get people

19:07

talking, Use it all you want. I'm

19:09

pam with it. But.

19:11

Got be strategic. What?

19:14

The. Result. What's. The outcome.

19:18

On Dynamite when Samoa Joe and

19:20

Hook As I said Samoa Joe

19:23

but I was good Move: Mercy

19:25

Of Or Dynamite when Samoa Joe

19:27

and Hook. Are

19:30

staring each other down step moments when Samoa

19:32

Joe looks up at the ceiling. I Dynamite

19:34

Dailies place and the Hook logo is in

19:36

the bat signal thing on the roof. It

19:38

was super cool. And

19:41

Bear Bear Baklava is playing in the

19:44

background. Hook comes out, he stares down

19:46

Samoa Joe. It was fun! It.

19:48

Was just this cool fun moments.

19:51

And that's the point rate Affected was happening a

19:53

daily. Places like Aid of You is the place.

19:56

Where. Somebody Like Hook. ends up

19:58

with a tight like a hook versus some the

20:00

O-H-O world title match is the type of thing

20:02

that you would probably not see in WWE, but

20:04

you would see in AEW. For

20:06

better or worse, that's what makes AEW an

20:08

alternative. That's what makes AEW different to WWE,

20:11

which is what you want. But

20:15

instead of people going, oh, that

20:17

was a cool moment, these

20:19

tweets are a much bigger story.

20:22

Because then he starts tweeting back and

20:25

forth with Eric Bischoff about whether

20:27

Abaddon deserved the Women's Championship title

20:29

opportunity. Don't explain your booking based

20:31

on wins and losses on Twitter

20:34

unless there's a provable outcome that's going to

20:37

be positive. Because here's what happened. In

20:40

my opinion, Hook got

20:42

buried through these tweets. These tweets

20:44

did nothing to help Hook. Nothing.

20:48

Here's what it did. In the tweet, you

20:51

compared Hook to gender and you tried to

20:53

bury gender, which

20:56

means that Hook is going to catch

21:00

some of that effect. And

21:03

people disagree with you about gender. So this

21:07

wave of support that already existed that

21:09

don't hinder gender movement, not

21:12

only does it get into effect, but it becomes contagious. People

21:14

see how fun it is to root

21:16

for gender mahal. Because

21:18

with gender mahal, number one,

21:22

everybody can tell this guy works his ass off. Number

21:26

two, he's a big guy

21:28

and he cuts a good promo.

21:31

Number three, everybody can see how hard he

21:33

works in the gym. Everybody can

21:35

see the physical transformation that that guy

21:37

made. There's

21:41

something about gender mahal where you go, OK,

21:44

on paper, it doesn't make sense. But

21:46

clearly, this guy is busted ass to

21:48

get to where he's at. Whether

21:51

it's in wins and losses or not, you can't

21:53

look at gender mahal and go, that guy doesn't

21:55

deserve what he's got. He deserves all of it

21:58

because he's worked just as hard. as

22:00

anybody to get into the positions that he's

22:02

in. And people know this. That's

22:04

why people love him secretly. They

22:07

boo him because he's a bad guy. They

22:10

meme him because weird stuff has

22:12

happened in his career. But ultimately,

22:14

a lot of wrestling fans, they

22:17

have a love for Jinder Mahal. As

22:19

happens with people that have been around as long as Jinder

22:22

Mahal has been around. So

22:25

coming off of this Twitter exchange, nothing

22:28

positive happens for Hook. AEW

22:32

doesn't look better at all for it. And

22:36

Jinder is over

22:38

like Rover. Jinder, somehow these

22:40

tweets made Jinder Mahal a

22:42

babyface. To the point that

22:45

while I can't picture it ever happening

22:47

because of this, people are

22:49

going, how great would it be if Jinder Mahal

22:51

won the world title because of this? I

22:54

don't think it's going to happen. Seth is defending against J.

22:57

Uso. Seth is defending. By the way, J. Uso hasn't won

22:59

a ton of matches. But

23:02

he's still a top guy. You

23:04

know? So of course he's going to have

23:07

a match with Seth Rollins. So

23:09

my point is that will Jinder

23:11

Mahal win the world title because of this?

23:13

No. But I

23:16

would imagine that because

23:18

of this and everything that Jinder's doing, and

23:20

the fact that his stock is

23:23

inarguably raised because of all of

23:25

this, I

23:28

think we're getting a nice Jinder spot

23:30

in the Royal Rumble. I

23:33

think Jinder's going to be in the Royal Rumble match. I

23:37

think Jinder's going to come

23:40

out and get a big reaction. And

23:42

I don't think Jinder's going to win the Royal Rumble, but

23:45

I think he's going to have a big spot. I think this is

23:47

going to be a boot in the ass because, I

23:49

mean, look, current

23:52

WWE has,

23:54

especially in the last year, done

23:57

a phenomenal job of… executing

24:00

on something when it's

24:02

hot. They

24:05

are really keyed in right now and

24:07

they haven't always been, but they are

24:09

really keyed in right now into figuring

24:11

out when something is hot and

24:15

going for it. And that

24:17

is a hundred percent going to happen

24:19

with gender. Whether the plan from the beginning was

24:22

to give gender a nice boost coming back or

24:24

not, there is no way that

24:26

they don't realize that they've got the opportunity

24:28

to do something here. It's the same thing

24:30

they did when Jey Uso

24:33

walked into a press conference and started saying yeet

24:35

over and over again. They realized what they had

24:37

and they went all the way with it. Yeet,

24:40

yeet, yeet, yeet, yeet. When

24:42

something is working right now, WWE

24:46

goes for it. And

24:49

I think that we're going to see that with gender. We've

24:51

been seeing it every single week with

24:53

our truth. I don't think that

24:55

when our truth first came back, it's like there's this plan

24:58

to go like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to put

25:00

you with the Judgment Day and make it into a big

25:02

deal. Right? Our truth came

25:04

back at Survivor Series the

25:06

same night that CM Punk did and

25:08

it was goof in the not that his return was

25:10

a goof, but it was a joke. It was a

25:12

goof in the press conference. The Triple H goes the

25:14

big return of the night. Our truth. I don't know

25:16

how we kept it quiet. Baba bye. And everybody laughed.

25:19

It's funny. But our

25:21

truth had a hilarious segment that was

25:24

a sponsored segment. Those sponsored segments have

25:26

gone one of two ways. Either

25:29

they work or they're real big eye rolls.

25:31

There have been some some sponsored

25:33

segments in WWE history that fans look at

25:35

going like, are you kidding me with this?

25:38

That didn't happen this time because

25:40

everybody was happy to see truth and because truth was

25:42

hilarious and then coming right off of that.

25:45

Just having him interact with the Judgment Day has

25:48

been phenomenal to the point where

25:50

this week according to the Internet according

25:52

to rumors, which could

25:54

be wild speculation or could be true. I haven't

25:57

seen the spreadsheets in front of me, but.

26:00

They released two Judgment Day t-shirts this

26:03

week One was

26:05

the shirt that truth has been wearing that he first

26:07

made for himself now It's an official shirt where

26:10

it's got the members of the Judgment Day. You know it's like priest

26:13

and Finn and Rhea

26:16

and Dom and JD

26:19

and then there's a little piece of tape on

26:21

the bottom that says and our truth and He

26:24

made that himself and they just turn it into a t-shirt

26:28

so that's one of the t-shirts and then

26:30

the other t-shirt is the graphic that came

26:32

up at the end of a Segment

26:35

that was sheer brilliance on

26:37

Monday Night Raw the live laugh Love

26:40

the Judgment Day and it's a picture of

26:42

the Judgment Day with our truth right there

26:44

smack dab on the middle

26:47

of a t-shirt Most beautiful

26:49

shirts I've seen since the not Sam winter

26:51

drop at not Sam shirts calm. So

26:55

Apparently these two shirts combined made

26:58

our truth the

27:00

top selling merch seller of the week above

27:03

CM Punk above Cody Rhodes

27:06

above Roman Reigns Everybody jumped

27:08

on board for that Judgment Day our

27:10

truth merch and I mean I'm

27:13

not shocked at all. I Haven't

27:15

bought it yet, but I will as

27:17

soon as I saw it I was like yeah, I gotta have

27:19

that stuff because I'm just sitting there watching it when our truth

27:21

says I Remember when

27:24

I was a baby and I looked

27:26

in the doctor's eyes And I

27:28

said my dream is to be a member of the Judgment

27:30

Day and you see like The

27:33

Judgment Day is babies. Isn't it remarkable that we have

27:35

AI to help us out with stuff like that Hey,

27:38

can you put Finn baller's beard on a

27:40

baby with a leather jacket? Yes,

27:43

sir. Anything else and

27:45

we see the Judgment Day is baby is not a little

27:47

our truth, baby Just the idea that the judgment day was

27:49

around when our truth was a bit just the sheer absurdity

27:53

of the whole thing and then

27:55

the photo shops of our truth at ringside

27:57

with the Judgment Day and And

27:59

our. True Donna Ladder with Damian Priest

28:02

and are the edges everywhere. It was

28:04

so. Brilliant. To

28:07

the point where I don't know if he

28:09

was supposed to laugh or he was breaking

28:11

wherever it was. Damien. Priest was

28:14

laughing in the segment of followed it

28:16

was so. Good. Truth is

28:18

just say is it's really interesting

28:20

with our truth. He

28:22

uses the guy's been indicted of you he

28:24

for years he's done everything. And

28:27

this part of his career where he's

28:29

like. More kind of

28:31

entertainment comedy. Could.

28:33

Be short lived in. for a lot of people it would be

28:35

short lived. But. This is. The.

28:38

Longest most successful run he's

28:40

had. Our truth is in

28:42

this rare air. Were.

28:45

Truth can be your favorite wrestler

28:47

and he never has to wrestle

28:49

a match. Know. He has.

28:51

He wrestled J D. That's how does the

28:53

Judgment Day? It's still unclear exactly where they're

28:56

not. That was official. And. Of course

28:58

we've had the reunion of The Awesome Truth.

29:01

Although. Through. This

29:03

clearly ah, I. Made

29:06

it known that he does not one

29:08

hundred percent sure whether he's on Mrs

29:10

Team or on the Judgment Day. But.

29:12

The I mean just the idea that led. Not

29:15

only has this. Breathe. Fresh

29:18

Air India are truth.

29:21

I mean this is a guy. Been doing the comedy stuff

29:23

for years now. Whether. It's little

29:25

Jimmy. Whether. It's coming out on

29:27

my bad weather. It's whatever. Now.

29:29

This whole judgment day thing. Has.

29:32

Greater a whole new ways for our

29:34

troops, but it's also breathe life into

29:36

the Judgment Day. The. Judgment Day

29:38

was going to the point where it was almost

29:40

like okay, what are we gonna do next for?

29:42

What about this and is this whole New Avenue.

29:45

The. You didn't know I the Judgment

29:47

Day as a faction. Which. Made

29:49

them you need from the beginning. Whenever

29:51

the beginning because from the beginning as like

29:53

with ads worth it. A little rocky to

29:55

starts but when the Judgment day. Caught

29:58

fire. With. When

30:00

Dominic joined and he became

30:02

prison, Dominic. And.

30:07

Dirty Dom being a comic

30:09

foil, To a

30:12

group of wrestlers. That. Could

30:14

be people's asses. Was.

30:16

Magical. To. Me, that's what made

30:18

the generally the fact that led. Real.

30:21

Ripley and Dominic had this chemistry.

30:23

And that the Judgment Day accepted dumb, he

30:25

always ignored or i everything down saying is

30:28

one hundred percent true. But. Like

30:30

really good Finn N N. and Damien

30:32

Priest. And these are two guys that

30:34

have real credibility because they they win

30:37

big matches. So.

30:40

It's been a but it's almost like okay once

30:42

that story is kind of done, where do we

30:44

go? And I used as

30:46

all new fresh. Comic. Element

30:49

in our truth to the

30:51

point that legs. Doms

30:53

absurdity. As being

30:55

somebody who spent time in jail and dirty die

30:58

many times and from the streets that. Is

31:01

even a lazy were brought up

31:03

at like that? That level of

31:05

absurdity has been eclipsed. By.

31:07

The level of absurdity that's been brought in

31:09

by are true. That absurdity is. is it?

31:12

Wow, It's a risky thing. Because.

31:15

It's either going to work or it's going to make

31:17

you going to suddenly. Consensus is so. Dumb.

31:21

But. True can make it all work. It's

31:23

it's. It's really.

31:27

Is really an awesome thing to see. You.

31:29

Know and I Love. That.

31:32

I mean. Are Truth has become one of

31:34

the biggest stars on Monday Night Raw. It's.

31:38

Like when you see those Judgment Day segments.

31:41

Hugo. I can't wait till truth comes out.

31:43

I can woodsy. Would troops gonna do? You.

31:46

Get day me and and it's the dichotomy of the

31:48

right. That's what pro wrestling is. That's what it's all

31:51

about. The fact that we can we get have. Damien

31:54

Priest. With.

31:56

the briefcase being like no i'm i'm

31:59

a constant threat to the world title. And

32:02

we can sit there and say, yes, at some

32:04

point, Damian Priest could very

32:06

well win the championship. And when we talk about,

32:08

even, you know, as we fantasy

32:10

book WrestleMania and all that stuff, so

32:13

much of, of so

32:16

many conversations have been around Damian Priest. Like there's

32:18

some people that are like, what if the rock

32:20

beats Roman and then Priest cashes in, what if

32:22

Priest cashes in here? What, like the reality of

32:24

him winning the title is something that is in

32:27

fans minds. He probably

32:29

should have a few less failed cash

32:31

in attempts, but it's still

32:33

something that is a realistic

32:36

possibility in the mind of the fan at

32:38

the same time. He's

32:40

got to deal with the fact that R-Truth doesn't understand that

32:42

he's not a member of the Judgment Day. So

32:44

the fact that you could have something

32:47

serious enough to be put into the

32:49

conversation of the world title hunt, but

32:51

also absurd enough to be R-Truth trying

32:53

to push his way into the Judgment

32:56

Day, to me is magic. And

32:58

I have been absolutely, absolutely

33:01

loving it. You

33:04

know, we keep talking about

33:06

things that

33:10

could happen. We were just

33:12

talking about things with truth and the cash in and stuff

33:14

like that. It's

33:17

hard to believe that the Royal Rumble is actually

33:19

only like two weeks away, right? Yeah,

33:21

less than two weeks at this point. I'm

33:23

going to do probably a whole Royal Rumble show

33:26

next week. But as we

33:28

stand here, there are a couple

33:31

of things that I think are very interesting heading

33:33

in a couple of conversations. First of all, the

33:35

women's Royal Rumble. I think we have to talk

33:37

about this because people

33:39

are realizing that, oh, oh, we've

33:42

been talking so much about the men's Royal Rumble

33:44

that what is going to happen with

33:46

this women's Royal Rumble? The only people

33:48

that we've got announced, and I like by the way, that

33:51

There's only one, two, three, four, five,

33:53

one, two, Five men announced for the

33:55

Royal Rumble match and four women announced

33:57

for the Royal Rumble match. I Don't

33:59

think. Really need to announce more

34:01

than like eight to ten people for

34:03

the Royal Rumble. I

34:06

don't think you need to go. If you're

34:08

gonna have like three surprises, I don't think

34:10

you need to go. Okay, your the twenty

34:12

seven people that are in and there will

34:14

be three surprises. I.

34:17

Like it a lot more when you announce

34:19

like ten To Twelve Eight To Twelve people.

34:21

That. Are going to be in the match. And then.

34:24

You. Know. That

34:26

you know, wherever Fifteen, at

34:29

least. Would. Just be current superstars, you

34:31

know it'll be out. Is that we said Gabler, We this

34:33

guy. We that guy. But. Then you

34:35

don't know exactly how many surprises they're

34:37

gonna be. You don't know exactly how

34:40

many people from the past, people from

34:42

other prose move from. whatever it is,

34:44

people returns. You. Know

34:46

you don't know. Like if you announced in

34:48

advance there's going to be three returns. You.

34:52

Either know if you're about to hit

34:54

number twenty seven. And has been

34:56

to surprises so far. You. Know a surprise

34:58

is coming. Big

35:01

he. If you do it in a way where you

35:03

don't announce all the entrance. You. Don't

35:05

know when the last surprise hit you? don't You

35:07

have no idea? Up into number thirty. Unless

35:10

and murdered his is one of the a people

35:12

that you are you now see have no idea

35:14

so I like that idea. I.

35:16

Like that only a few people are being announced.

35:18

But as far as the women's Royal Rumble goes

35:20

for me, I.

35:22

Think said the women announce our

35:24

bad Bailey. Naya. Jax.

35:27

Becky. Lynch and Bianca Bellaire.

35:30

Oh no no no, I'm sorry. That's the

35:33

yeah. Ah okay. that's his. That's his his

35:35

else. The previous winners are Oscar Becky, Charlotte,

35:37

Bianca, Ballet Or Run Arousing Ripley Syria Ripley

35:39

is not going to be in it that

35:41

he's the champion runner Aussies. I'm going to

35:44

be in it for she died, died of

35:46

you eat more. Charlotte flares not

35:48

going to be in it because she's injured. and

35:52

yeah ask as him and announced

35:54

and maybe that's as to do

35:56

with no other members of ah

35:58

damage control or could be There

36:00

are other members of damage control in

36:02

this thing but right now

36:05

Becky is in it and Bianca

36:07

is in it right? So those

36:10

are the two that could have

36:12

double Rumble wins

36:14

and I don't see Bianca Belair winning

36:16

this year. I could see Becky Lynch

36:18

winning I could see Becky Lynch winning

36:20

because it would kind

36:23

of take her to

36:25

what's next after Nia Jax. I feel

36:27

like she could wrap

36:30

things up with Nia at elimination Chamber

36:33

and then what is Becky doing? WrestleMania

36:38

I don't think anybody can tell you we say

36:40

Nia Jax beat Becky Lynch on Raw and It's

36:43

like okay, so that's a story going forward, but

36:45

that's not a story that takes us from now

36:47

all the way until WrestleMania I

36:49

mean, I guess it could but I don't see that

36:52

as a realistic possibility Becky

36:54

and I are both in the Rumble. So clearly they'll have

36:56

a problem in the Rumble and

36:58

then I would imagine that Elimination

37:01

Chamber would be the time to wrap that

37:03

thing up and then send Becky on whatever

37:05

story that she's got going into WrestleMania and

37:07

it could be a reason to Put

37:10

her in the hunt for the Women's Championship. Now look

37:12

if You're gonna

37:14

have Jade Cargill show up in the Royal

37:17

Rumble and she's going to win it Then

37:19

I would think Rhea Ripley would be her opponent

37:22

not Io Skye So

37:24

that also may throw a monkey wrench into

37:26

the whole thing You Know

37:30

I don't see Nia Jax winning the Rumble. I

37:32

think that it's possible, but I don't see it

37:35

for me, honestly, I think

37:38

that Bailey is a

37:41

hundred percent going to win

37:43

the Women's Royal Rumble. That's my

37:45

choice to win the Rumble

37:47

I think Bailey should win the Women's Royal

37:49

Rumble and the way this

37:51

works is that She and

37:54

and damage controller obviously having problems. They're

37:56

making her kind of prove herself to

37:58

them the way they do. Didn't help

38:00

in the Bianca Bel Air match and then I'm

38:02

sure will tune into Smackdown this week and they'll

38:04

be blaming her. For. Losing to

38:06

Bianca. This thing that bailey really.

38:09

Created. Damage Control. Has

38:12

slipped through her grips.

38:14

Because. In her efforts to

38:16

be apologetic to Kyrie sane. For.

38:20

What she thought was ending or debit every week real

38:22

entire he came back in want to upset the apple

38:24

cart. says. He allowed

38:26

Tyree. To. Not only bring

38:28

Oscar into the fold. But. Also.

38:31

Kind of take control. Over. The whole

38:33

thing without actually saying I'm the leader. So

38:35

Bailey is now in this position where she

38:37

not only that approve to carry. That.

38:40

She's like okay no hard feelings and I'm sorry

38:42

but she's I've got approved the entire damage control

38:44

what she should be in this thing that she

38:46

created sad affair thing which is why. I

38:49

think that bailey. Turns.

38:52

Baby face. After winning

38:54

the Royal Rumble. I

38:57

think that. When. Bailey

38:59

was a good guy. It

39:01

was great for a period of time and then

39:03

it needed the refresh. I. Like the

39:06

Bailey turned heel when she did, when

39:08

she cut off their hair, when she,

39:10

when she stripped down the wacky warblers,

39:12

when she completely changed her image, it

39:14

evolved into the I Ding Dong hello

39:16

into Bailey be in a smart ass

39:18

And the Bailey have an M jokes

39:20

and I loved it all. I

39:23

think now we get to a place where

39:25

it's like, okay, how do we refresh Bally's

39:27

character to the point where she goes to

39:29

the main event again. How

39:33

do we get in the record books? That.

39:35

Bailey said be in that conversation

39:37

with Betty and Charlotte. The. Maria

39:40

and beyond that, like Bailey should be on

39:42

that list of women who have won the

39:44

Royal Rumble. And

39:46

also, how do we justify the fact that

39:49

damage Control is bullying her? How do we

39:51

justify the fact the damage control is doing

39:53

this stuff to her? right? Bailey.

39:57

A one point. was the

39:59

roman reigns damage control but

40:01

now she's become the jayuso of

40:03

damage control. I

40:06

think that that that yeah

40:09

damage control puts her in a place almost like

40:11

evolution style where they're pushing her to be like

40:13

okay now go tell them you're gonna fight Rhea

40:16

now go tell them you're gonna fight Rhea now

40:18

go tell them you're gonna fight Rhea and she

40:20

turns around and says no no no

40:22

no no EO and

40:26

she finally stands up for herself and

40:28

that's when Dakota turns on her we

40:30

can do a little Bailey versus Dakota

40:33

if Dakota is healthy by then on

40:35

the way there and then get to

40:37

WrestleMania and hopefully crown this new heroic

40:39

Bailey and and and start the next

40:42

chapter in her

40:44

incredible career and it would remind people

40:46

how incredible she is and

40:48

I think that you know having a

40:50

nice another nice strong babyface

40:53

women's champion would be

40:56

a great thing on the

40:58

men's side as of now Cody

41:00

punk Shinsuke Bobby Lashley and

41:02

Drew McIntyre so

41:05

I see punk winning the Royal Rumble because

41:07

I see Rock versus

41:09

Roman happening at WrestleMania I

41:13

see punk throwing Cody Rhodes out last I

41:16

think that the story going

41:19

into WrestleMania is a

41:21

despondent Cody not being able to finish

41:23

the story and I think

41:25

that that we start Cody's

41:29

next journey before

41:31

WrestleMania so by the so

41:33

like there's no sort of we're not trying

41:35

to trick people we're not

41:37

trying to make people forget everybody knows

41:40

that Cody was supposed to finish the story

41:42

everybody knows he's not gonna finish the story

41:44

so I think he's despondent after losing

41:47

the Royal Rumble I

41:49

think we we start a new feud with somebody

41:52

elimination chamber or around elimination chamber

41:54

so we get to WrestleMania and

41:57

Cody does have something to fight

41:59

for It is not the story. And

42:03

it allows him to do this, right?

42:05

Maybe somebody beats him in the chamber, or

42:07

somebody cheats to beat him in the chamber. And

42:10

now he's going to get revenge on that person

42:12

for stopping him from finishing the story. And

42:15

he beats that guy at WrestleMania, whoever it is. And

42:19

then the next night on Monday Night Raw, CM Punk, after

42:22

winning the Royal Rumble, he goes

42:24

to Elimination Chamber, he faces Drew

42:26

McIntyre. He beats Drew

42:28

McIntyre at Elimination Chamber. CM

42:31

Punk then goes to Monday Night

42:33

Raw after beating Seth at WrestleMania.

42:35

Night one of WrestleMania, CM Punk

42:37

wins the World Heavyweight Championship from

42:40

Seth Rollins. And

42:43

he shows up at Monday Night Raw and he cuts his

42:45

first promo as world champion, but who comes out? Cody

42:47

Rhodes. And

42:50

Cody Rhodes is not confronting Punk to

42:52

finish the story, because Punk's title won't

42:54

finish the story. But

42:57

the fact is that the same reason that

42:59

Cody Rhodes had to fight whoever beat him

43:01

in the chamber at WrestleMania, it

43:04

didn't start with the chamber. It started with the

43:06

Rumble. And Punk's the one who stopped Cody from

43:08

finishing the story at WrestleMania, so now Cody is

43:10

going to end Punk's story. And

43:13

we go forward after WrestleMania with a Cody Punk

43:16

World Heavyweight title story that is based around the

43:18

fact that Cody has yet to finish the story.

43:20

And I don't even think you have to

43:22

turn Cody heel to do this. I think you

43:24

do it artfully in a way where Cody

43:26

doesn't come across as whiny, where Cody doesn't come

43:29

across as blaming anybody but himself. But at

43:31

the same time, he needs to prove that

43:34

he can beat these people to

43:37

get himself to where he needs

43:39

to be. Roman

43:42

Reigns and the Bloodline have told the story over

43:44

almost four years now. There's no

43:47

reason to believe that Cody needs

43:50

to finish the story within,

43:52

you know, a year, within two years, within whatever, you

43:54

know what I mean? We've

43:57

got the time. So let's

43:59

have this guy go on. an

44:01

Odyssey. Let's have

44:03

this guy do it and having a

44:05

grudge with whoever it is in the

44:08

chamber to get you to WrestleMania and

44:10

then fighting CM Punk to

44:13

get you towards the summer. I don't

44:15

think that's a bad thing for Cody at all. There

44:18

are elimination chamber rumors that Roman

44:22

Reigns won't even be at the chamber

44:24

is what the internet is saying anyway. That

44:26

all the people that were hoping to get

44:28

Rock vs Roman at the

44:30

chamber so they could still get the story

44:33

at WrestleMania, now there are reports that won't

44:35

happen. Reports are meaningless. Reports are wild speculation.

44:37

Reports are the same as what we do

44:39

here for the most part. We

44:42

just kind of make stuff up

44:44

that is based on what we're seeing in front of our

44:46

faces. You know, whatever, eight times out

44:49

of ten. Some reports are true obviously. But

44:51

I don't think

44:54

we're getting Rock Roman at elimination chamber anyway for all

44:56

the reasons that I pointed out on this podcast. But

44:59

I do think that it lends credence to

45:01

the fact that we're not getting that, that

45:04

WWE announced this week that CM Punk is

45:07

going to be at the chamber. And

45:10

I believe it's been announced that CM Punk is wrestling

45:12

at elimination chamber. I

45:16

think WWE knows that the rumors

45:18

of Rock and Roman at the chamber have gotten a

45:20

little too hot. We don't

45:22

want to make people think that something that's going

45:24

to happen, that isn't going to happen is because

45:26

people will get disappointed. So instead, let's

45:29

go, hey, how about the first big giant

45:31

CM Punk match is going to happen at

45:33

elimination chamber? Pretty big deal, no? I would

45:35

say yes. In fact, the CM Punk is flying all

45:37

the way to Australia to have this

45:39

match. And that's why I think the

45:42

Drew McIntyre thing is happening. That's why

45:44

I think we got that confrontation between

45:46

Punk and Drew McIntyre on Raw, which

45:48

was fantastic, by the way. And I

45:51

think we go to elimination chamber doing

45:53

Drew McIntyre versus CM Punk. And

45:56

so yeah, I mean, look, maybe I'm too big of a CM Punk

45:58

fan, but that's how I try. the

46:00

beginning of this year. CM Punk

46:02

wins the Rumble, then he beats McIntyre

46:05

at Elimination Chamber, then he wins the

46:07

title from Seth at WrestleMania. And honestly,

46:09

the reactions that CM Punk gets, the

46:11

attention that CM Punk gets, it'd

46:14

be hard to convince me that that wouldn't

46:16

be good business. Speaking

46:18

of good business, we had a good bit of business

46:20

on Saturday. As a wrestling fan,

46:22

just a ton of shows, you had Collision, you

46:25

had Battle of the Bells, you had TNA Hard

46:27

to Kill, and you had Battle in the Valley,

46:29

New Japan Pro Wrestling. And all of it was

46:31

fantastic. You have Edge, and

46:34

I'm sorry, Adam Copeland, continuing

46:36

his open challenge. I don't know, I mean, people

46:38

who don't like AEW, I guess, are critical of

46:40

it, but I'm not critical of it, I think

46:43

it's cool. I

46:46

think that you could criticize that

46:48

historically, AEW has

46:50

not been the best at executing

46:53

on pushes or yeah,

46:57

yeah, yeah, executing on pushes that could come from

46:59

it. But I think people are like,

47:01

why is Adam Copeland, why is he fighting Griff

47:03

Garrison? Why is he fighting Griff Garrison? Why is he fighting Griff

47:05

Garrison? Well, you just said Griff Garrison three times in a row,

47:07

that's why. Because

47:10

the idea is that, well, yeah, I mean, Collision isn't

47:12

the most watched wrestling show of the week. People

47:15

are, to some level, at least

47:17

gonna be aware of who Edge is facing. I

47:19

heard, I didn't watch Collision cuz I was watching

47:21

Hard to Kill live, I watched it later. But

47:24

people were like, Lee Moriarty is fighting Adam Copeland. I

47:26

was like, that's awesome. I'm a Lee Moriarty fan from

47:29

when he was on the Indies, he was on this

47:31

podcast before he signed AEW. And

47:33

I'm like, cool, what

47:35

a weird fantasy match.

47:37

Lee Moriarty versus Adam Copeland on Collision,

47:39

that's fun. It's

47:42

not that different from John

47:44

Cena doing his United States Open

47:47

Challenge. And having Kevin Owens from NXT come

47:49

out and all that stuff. Now WWE was

47:51

a little bit better at executing

47:54

on the attention that it gave to

47:56

these young stars. And

47:58

that's a a criticism that

48:00

is valid, I think, for AEW. But

48:03

in terms of why would you

48:05

do that to begin with, I understand completely why you would

48:08

do that to begin with. And

48:10

Adam Copeland wants to wrestle regularly, and

48:13

he wants to get his hands on guys that he

48:15

never has before. Doing

48:18

this open challenge with these young guys is

48:20

probably the way to do it. But for

48:22

me, so you had a bunch of stuff

48:24

happening, right? You had, at

48:26

the New Japan show, you had a video where

48:30

Mustafa Ali challenged

48:32

Takahashi, Hiromu

48:35

Takahashi, to a match

48:37

at the Chicago show. So it's

48:39

so cool that Ali is now going

48:41

to New Japan. And

48:44

Jack Perry showed up at

48:46

the New Japan show in person under

48:48

a mask, took off the mask. It's Jack

48:51

Perry, he's got a big beard now. I don't

48:53

know why handsome guys try to make themselves unhandsome.

48:55

Jack, you're gonna get older. You won't

48:57

be as handsome when you're older. Grow

48:59

the beard then. Let him see your

49:01

handsome face, bud. I know you want, just let him

49:03

see the handsome face, whatever, he's got his

49:05

hair, he's got his big beard. Pulls

49:09

his contract with AEW, rips it up. I

49:12

think it's still maybe legally binding, but rips

49:14

up his contract with AEW and

49:16

puts on an armband that says scapegoat. It's,

49:19

look, I don't think it's a bad idea. I

49:21

think if AEW wants

49:24

to continue to use Jack Perry in

49:26

the future, so much

49:29

controversy around how he left, how

49:31

do we do this? Well, if we can get him to build

49:33

some buzz in New Japan, and

49:35

by the time he comes back to AEW, it's not,

49:38

you remember Jack Perry, he's the guy that got into

49:40

the fight with CM Punk. It's, this

49:42

is Jack Perry, the guy who's created all that buzz

49:44

in New Japan. It may be easier

49:46

for AEW to use him in that case. And

49:49

I think Jack will also

49:51

have an easier time redefining

49:54

himself and coming off of that in New

49:56

Japan than he would in AEW. So

49:59

I think that's a good idea. that's a good thing. I think

50:01

the Ollie thing is amazing. For a lot

50:03

of the same reasons why I think it's amazing the people

50:05

who showed up on TNA hard to kill. TNA

50:08

of course launched their TNA Plus

50:10

app which includes the whole

50:12

TNA library and then you

50:14

can either buy the pay-per-views for $40 a pop

50:17

which I guess they're gonna be doing every month

50:19

now or you can pay

50:22

whatever it is $200 or $220

50:24

or something like that a year and

50:27

you not only get the whole TNA library

50:29

but you also get all the live pay-per-views.

50:31

So I watched it on the TNA

50:33

Plus app I thought I mean I

50:36

think TNA just does a great job of presenting

50:38

TNA they don't try to be bigger than

50:40

they are they don't try to be anything that they're not

50:43

they don't try to compete with anybody

50:45

they just present the product that

50:48

they want to present that they feel

50:50

like is not there they

50:52

present an alternative product not

50:56

in a way that's like yeah that guy sucks you should

50:58

watch us just in a way like okay yeah we're doing

51:00

this over here so if you like wrestling this might be

51:02

fun too and it is it's a

51:04

lot of fun. You have

51:06

my buddy DJ who kid on the pre-show

51:09

throwing laptop laptops laptops laptops laptops

51:11

at Joe Hendry you

51:14

know Dana Brooke showed up as what's your

51:16

Ash by elegance Ash by

51:19

elegance now part of TNA now

51:21

Trinity lost the TNA

51:24

women's championship

51:26

as they rebranded by the way a

51:29

lot of title changes world title changed

51:31

women's title changed a ton

51:34

of a bunch of them changed tag title

51:36

did not change I think exhibition did women's

51:39

tag did yeah

51:42

where where so Trinity lost

51:44

the title to Jordan Grace which Jordan Grace

51:46

is fantastic but

51:49

I do think that there could

51:51

be some truth

51:53

to the rumors that Trinity may be headed

51:55

back to WWE I

51:57

don't know why lose

52:00

the title if not because she's headed

52:02

back. The fact that Trinity

52:05

lost the title, the

52:07

fact that you have another WWE level

52:09

famous, you know, maybe not quite as

52:11

famous as Naomi was, but still an

52:14

ex-WWE talent like Dana Brooke showing up,

52:16

and the fact that the Royal Rumble is in

52:18

two weeks all would kind of put together lead

52:21

me to believe that Trinity lost the

52:23

championship because Naomi is returning at the

52:25

Rumble. These are all things that I've put

52:27

together on my own. These are not things that I'm

52:31

not trying to – there aren't reports of this. These

52:33

are things that I put together as I watched the

52:36

show. You know, I'm being honest with you. But

52:39

so Ash by Elegance shows up. You know, there

52:41

was a shot of her from behind, which was

52:44

fun. Who's this? Who's this? Dana Brooke is Ash

52:46

by Elegance, which I think will be fun. But

52:48

really what I liked was

52:50

Nick Nemeth showing up at the very end.

52:52

Moose won the world title from Alex Shelley,

52:56

and music started playing. Moose

52:58

and his faction, which includes Brian

53:01

Myers and Eddie Edwards, they were looking

53:03

at the big screen. The big screen

53:05

says, Most Wanted. That's Nick Nemeth, the

53:08

former Dolph Ziggler's new handle. And then

53:10

boom, from behind, Nick

53:12

Nemeth is there. He attacks Moose,

53:14

jumps into the crowd, rips off

53:16

his Motley Crew shirt, and there's

53:18

a TNA shirt underneath it. Now,

53:20

we just saw Nick Nemeth

53:22

in New Japan. So the fact

53:25

that within seven days, he's popping up

53:27

on a New Japan show, and now he's popping

53:29

up on an impact show – I'm sorry, a

53:31

TNA show. I think that

53:33

that's great. I think that that's exactly

53:35

what wrestling needs. Right,

53:38

I don't think that there's any reason –

53:40

somebody who's as talented as Nick Nemeth,

53:42

the former Dolph Ziggler, is

53:44

that guy who can

53:46

not only make himself more valuable

53:49

by going from promotion to promotion

53:51

to promotion to promotion, but

53:53

in an altruistic way, make

53:57

the independence so much healthier.

54:00

make all those third brands

54:02

so much healthier. The

54:04

fact that now you've got Matt Cardona, Nick

54:07

Nemeth, Mustafa Ali,

54:11

all like top tier professional

54:13

wrestlers and all going

54:15

from promotion to promotion, all

54:18

in this area where you never know where they're

54:20

gonna pop up, just free

54:22

agents that are remaining free agents and signing

54:24

deals that allow them to remain free agents.

54:28

I think that that's the way that guys like that

54:30

should be. I'm sure it's a lot more work. And

54:33

I'm sure that the guaranteed money from like a WWE

54:35

or an AEW is a lot better. But

54:38

man, I do think

54:40

that if you have the talent that any of those

54:42

three guys do, that

54:44

you will be able to increase your value

54:47

more doing it this

54:49

way. And I absolutely love

54:51

what it does for the wrestling industry

54:54

as a whole. So I was

54:56

really excited to see Nick Nemeth show

54:59

up in TNA because that's gonna be a

55:01

big boost for TNA. Matt

55:05

Cardona was on a GCW

55:07

show challenging Nick Nemeth.

55:09

So the fact that we're gonna get like

55:12

Nick Nemeth on New Japan, Nick Nemeth

55:14

in TNA, Nick Nemeth in GCW, and

55:17

it's all gonna happen this year, it's phenomenal.

55:19

And that's the way it should be. There's

55:23

no, okay, I'll do that. I'm gonna do this for a couple of years.

55:25

I'm gonna do that for a couple of years. Do it all right now.

55:28

And then see where you land. I mean, at the end of 2024, I

55:31

can't wait to hear the conversation that we're

55:34

having about Nick Nemeth and

55:37

the brand that he's built. Cody

55:39

started it, Matt Cardona followed

55:41

it up. And I think Nick Nemeth is

55:43

the next guy on that

55:46

chain to show what you can really do

55:48

if you put the pedal to the metal and you

55:50

bet on yourself. Speaking

55:53

of celebrated superstars, of course,

55:57

we got a hint as to what stings

55:59

last match. Man. Actually be you know my

56:01

pick. Has. Always been to do Sting vs.

56:03

Swerve. I wanted I N n I guess the

56:05

reports are that Sting would much rather do a

56:07

tag team match at this point in his career

56:09

and I might look. dude. I. Get that.

56:12

Generally. Speaking. But.

56:14

At Dailies Place this week which which by

56:16

the way I hope be a dub. You

56:18

run Dailies Place regularly like not Raila regularly

56:20

but like twice a year would be great

56:23

because it really does. It

56:25

really. he just gets such

56:27

a unique aesthetic look. That.

56:29

I feel like Dailies place reminds people

56:32

of what the foundation of a W

56:34

is. And. If you could do

56:36

more there and start getting more into.

56:39

Really? Concentrating on a W as

56:41

a singular identity I think the that

56:43

did you do really well. Ah,

56:45

But at Dailies placed affected like

56:48

staying dropped I was Powerhouse Hobbs

56:50

off the audience, off the stage

56:52

through a table. I'm like look.

56:55

If you knew that you can do a ten

56:57

minute singles match, But. Whatever I mean

56:59

things to do. it's thing wants to do. With

57:01

this point he's given us enough. I'm. I.

57:03

Guess he prefers to do tag matches.

57:05

And at the end of the Darby

57:08

Allen Sting match on Dynamite, the Young

57:10

Bucks showed up with mustaches. Looking.

57:12

Like a villains looking like corporate villains and

57:14

said as a free will and young bucks.

57:17

That. Were used to so it looks like the young

57:19

bucks maybe work and he'll. And. That

57:21

things last match may be a Tag Mass Darby

57:23

and Sting vs The Young Bucks Box. Which.

57:26

Are you know. Ultimately,

57:30

I think that. The. Choices made to

57:32

just do a final match that was celebrates

57:34

things look the magic. Gonna be great because

57:36

the bucks are going to be able to

57:38

to. The. Bucks to have a tag team

57:40

match with literally any tagged him. But. At

57:42

the only tags in a good do that but they

57:44

are a tag team that is capable of having a

57:47

great tag team match with literally anybody. So.

57:49

There's no doubt in my mind. That. Sting and

57:51

Diary versus the Young Bucks is going to be

57:53

a fantastic Matt. And. It would probably

57:55

just kind of end up being a celebration

57:57

of the careers. It's thing is had an.

58:00

And if anybody deserves that,

58:02

I think Sting does. But

58:05

all that said, I do in my heart of hearts,

58:07

you know, I love my stories. And

58:10

I do in my heart of hearts wish that

58:13

even if it was a situation where Sting didn't

58:15

want to do a singles match, I

58:18

kind of wish it was Swerve just

58:21

coming out and beating him up for 10 minutes,

58:23

12 minutes, 15 minutes. Like Sting

58:26

just selling for 15 minutes and then

58:28

losing. I know people would be so bummed

58:30

out. There's gonna

58:33

be 10,000 plus in Greensboro because that's the

58:35

thing, right? You got to also understand what

58:37

the live crowd is going to feel like.

58:39

You know, you got to understand what the

58:41

audience at home is. It's going to

58:43

be a Sting show. So I get it. I get

58:46

why you can't just, you know, destroy Sting on his

58:48

last match. But man, it would be

58:50

great for whoever destroyed Sting. You

58:54

know, you can't. You can't. People

58:56

want to be happy. They want to leave wrestling shows happy. Let them

58:58

leave happy. Let

59:01

them leave happy. Oh, very scary injury,

59:03

by the way, before we get to emails. Very scary

59:05

injury or moment, I should say.

59:07

I don't know if it's technically an injury or not in

59:10

the Carmelo Hayes Austin

59:12

Theory match that Spanish fly that

59:15

went awry. I

59:18

think big time props to

59:21

WWE and WWE officials for

59:23

being so on the ball. I thought

59:25

in that tag team match a couple

59:27

weeks ago where, I mean, referee

59:30

Bennett was immediately on

59:32

it when Giovanni Vinci kind

59:35

of, you know, knocked himself silly and

59:38

wasn't responding immediately was like, stop,

59:40

stop, stop, check them. End of the match. We're

59:42

good to the point where like, I think the other three guys

59:44

weren't 100% sure what had happened. And

59:47

in this match, the referee as well was

59:49

like, he knew immediately check, check, check. Nope,

59:51

nope. Okay, stop. And the

59:53

fact that, you know, those referees are so on the ball, I

59:55

think that's a really important thing because

59:57

you don't want to master that stuff at all. taking

1:00:00

it as seriously as they are. I think it's

1:00:02

a very, very good thing. And one of

1:00:04

the things that makes this era very different

1:00:06

from previous areas of professional wrestling and all

1:00:08

professional sports, really, when you look at it.

1:00:12

All right, let's get to

1:00:14

these emails. Don't forget, if you're typing

1:00:16

on your computer or on your phone

1:00:18

to write an email, you can also

1:00:20

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before the Royal Rumble Friday, 5pm

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have got a full dance card guest

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ones that I'm wearing zip up

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go to not Sam shirts.com. We have a

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get to these emails. Not

1:01:11

Sam [email protected] is the email

1:01:14

address you want to contribute to the show.

1:01:16

You want to hear your email

1:01:18

read on the podcast, maybe go

1:01:20

to not Sam [email protected] and write

1:01:22

me an email. Let's

1:01:25

go to Joe first

1:01:28

time, long time. I

1:01:30

appreciate your passion and thoughtful

1:01:32

discourse about the product. I appreciate you, Joe.

1:01:36

As a fellow elder fan, I am

1:01:38

a young fan, Joe. I am

1:01:41

26 years old as a matter of fact, and a lot

1:01:44

of people don't realize that it's a real pleasure to

1:01:46

hear your thoughts every week. I like your

1:01:48

take on this bit. I've been turning over in my

1:01:50

head for a while. Bron

1:01:52

Breaker was put in his place by the Undertaker at

1:01:54

a recent NXT show as Taker took issue

1:01:57

with Bron referring to himself as badass. However, it

1:01:59

seems like Bron is still referring to himself

1:02:01

as the disputed term. Now rule number

1:02:03

three tells me, everything counts,

1:02:06

that this disagreement isn't over. Is this

1:02:08

all leading to Braun under biker match

1:02:11

at some point? Or was that interaction

1:02:13

just a one-off to

1:02:15

Papa rating? If it's the latter, doesn't it fly

1:02:17

in the face of rule number three? Can't

1:02:20

wait to hear how I'm an idiot. Keep up the good

1:02:22

work. No Joe, that's a great question. You're actually not an

1:02:24

idiot. That's not an idiotic email. I get a lot of

1:02:26

idiotic emails, but that's not one of them. The

1:02:29

thing about everything counts is

1:02:31

that we can't be so

1:02:33

linear about it,

1:02:35

right? This isn't like we are

1:02:37

doing this because in

1:02:40

four years we're going to

1:02:42

have Braun breaker versus the undertaker. That's

1:02:45

not what everything counts means. There's

1:02:48

a direction that you're going in with characters. But

1:02:51

the fact is that if at

1:02:53

some point the undertaker, let's

1:02:56

say a year and a half

1:02:58

from now, the undertaker goes, you know what? I think

1:03:00

I can have another match. I

1:03:02

think I can have like a street fight match. I think I can

1:03:04

do what Austin did at WrestleMania 38. Who's somebody that

1:03:08

I could face? And they go, well

1:03:10

it would make sense for you to face Braun

1:03:12

breaker because everything counts. Everything counts

1:03:14

doesn't fly in the face of every... that doesn't

1:03:16

mean everything's possible. There's no

1:03:18

way the undertaker right now is being

1:03:21

prepped for a match. Right?

1:03:24

It's not happening. He's

1:03:26

retired. Right.

1:03:29

So you choose to come out of retirement at one point.

1:03:32

The idea of him versus Braun breaker,

1:03:34

it's not a guarantee, but it's at

1:03:36

least a possibility. Why is it a

1:03:38

possibility? Because everything counts. I hope

1:03:41

that brings some clarification. Ultra

1:03:44

boy is now writing in, I'm glad we agree

1:03:46

when it comes to Roman versus Rocket Mania, but

1:03:48

I'm still going crazy that people actually think Randy

1:03:50

Orton should win the four way to face Cody.

1:03:52

I hate that so much, like they don't understand

1:03:55

when Roman loses, that's the moment he loses. It's

1:03:57

not about Cody. I agree with you, Ultra

1:03:59

boy. It's not about someone else's moment

1:04:01

as much as it is Roman losing because it's

1:04:03

Roman's story. Yes. You're

1:04:06

going to end at 12. Okay. I feel

1:04:08

like you're venting at me. You're not asking me a

1:04:10

question. Speaking of the chamber, I'm pretty sure we're

1:04:13

getting Rock versus Grayson Waller or at least Grayson

1:04:15

Waller effect with the Rock because rule number three,

1:04:17

I remember segments where Grayson Waller mentioned how the

1:04:19

Rock was mentioning him on Twitter. So that's

1:04:22

going to be cool. What are your thoughts, Sam? Well,

1:04:25

everything counts, but also sometimes people go into

1:04:27

business for themselves. You

1:04:29

can't get those two confused. Sometimes

1:04:33

people take advantage of the fact that everything counts and they

1:04:35

go into business for themselves. Was

1:04:38

Grayson Waller assigned to go

1:04:40

on Twitter and say things about the Rock or did he

1:04:42

go into business for himself? I don't think it's bad to

1:04:44

go into business for yourself because sometimes it could implant an

1:04:46

idea in somebody's head to go like, oh, maybe we should

1:04:48

do that. But

1:04:51

that's certainly not cemented. If

1:04:58

the Rock were to go over to

1:05:00

the elimination chamber, I could easily see

1:05:02

him doing the Grayson Waller effect.

1:05:04

Yes. The Rock on the Grayson Waller

1:05:07

effect could happen at elimination chamber,

1:05:09

especially if Roman is not going to

1:05:11

be in Australia and you have

1:05:13

the Rock going, then yes.

1:05:15

I would not have him wrestle Grayson Waller necessarily.

1:05:17

I would put him in the

1:05:20

Grayson Waller effect segment. Yes.

1:05:22

If Roman is going, I would probably do a

1:05:25

contract signing and have Roman

1:05:27

and Rock look at each other face to face and not

1:05:29

involve Grayson Waller. Let's

1:05:34

see. Shay Boogie writes in, happy new

1:05:36

year to you and your family watching Raw. I've

1:05:39

been increasingly impressed with Drew McIntyre's ability to cut

1:05:41

promo. I would argue he's one of the best

1:05:43

on the mic right now. Which

1:05:45

superstars do you believe were and are

1:05:47

underrated on the mic and past and present? Okay.

1:05:50

And who has future potential? I don't know. I

1:05:53

think Jinder Mahal, as I brought up, is much

1:05:55

better than people give him credit for. I think

1:05:57

you're 100% right about Drew McIntyre. coming

1:06:00

from a place of truth I think it's

1:06:02

been really good. Yeah I guess gender I

1:06:04

guess gender is is pretty underrated I thought

1:06:06

his promise last two weeks have been really

1:06:08

good. Let's see

1:06:10

is there anybody else I can come up with

1:06:12

just off the top of my dome that's underrated?

1:06:14

I don't know I'll give it more thought at

1:06:16

some point maybe and give it some

1:06:19

research. Every week we hear from Kanjay I

1:06:21

was having a debate with my brother and

1:06:23

wondered what's your opinion. Which

1:06:27

match is better DIY versus Revival

1:06:29

Takeover Toronto 2016 or Motor

1:06:32

City Machine Guns versus Beer

1:06:34

Money the whole effing show

1:06:37

2010 I like the second one more. No I

1:06:39

like DIY versus Revival more. DIY

1:06:43

Revival 2016 it's hard

1:06:46

to it's hard to think of something

1:06:48

more enjoyable to watch than that. Also

1:06:51

my fantasy booking for Money in the Bank oh boy.

1:06:54

Priest and the Miz lose the

1:06:56

tag belts. The Miz and the Damien

1:06:59

Priest are not the tag team champions. The

1:07:02

awesome truth at Mania so WrestleMania

1:07:05

is truth and Miz versus

1:07:08

Priest and Finn okay and

1:07:11

as of right now I don't know I honestly

1:07:13

think Rollins is retaining but if Punk wins this

1:07:15

could still work if not

1:07:17

be better. Damien after

1:07:20

a lot of failed cash-ins decides to announce the

1:07:22

match ahead of time and main event

1:07:24

Money in the Bank 2024 this is

1:07:27

now July with Priest versus Rollins

1:07:29

or Punk or June or whatever. No

1:07:31

it's July. It's just like about July 5th July

1:07:34

6th. Tell

1:07:36

judgment and look don't come to me this

1:07:38

is I don't like when people do this

1:07:40

in fantasy booking when they go here's the

1:07:42

way you do it at WrestleMania have this

1:07:45

happen and then do this at Money in

1:07:47

the Bank and you're like okay so April

1:07:49

to July is just well you

1:07:51

know you do whatever. April,

1:07:53

May you got three months

1:07:56

just unaccounted for and also

1:07:58

we are have to do the research. Okay,

1:08:01

I'll do it right now. It's not going to take much. When

1:08:04

was Money in the Bank

1:08:06

2023? I wish I had some AI

1:08:09

that I could just talk it into instead of this

1:08:12

pesky typing. Let's

1:08:15

see. Money in the Bank. Okay,

1:08:17

see, there you go. Money in the Bank 2023 happened on July

1:08:19

1st, 2023. Money in the Bank 2024 is on July 6th, 2024. The

1:08:28

money in the bank rules are that you have one year to cash in. Money

1:08:31

in the Bank this year is more

1:08:34

than one year. Plus, it's a leap year. I

1:08:36

hope it doesn't take 365 days. But Money

1:08:39

in the Bank this year is more

1:08:41

than a year past Money in the Bank

1:08:43

last year. Andrew writes

1:08:48

in, Sam, I'm from Scotland. I've

1:08:50

been listening to the podcast since 2016, in which Katie

1:08:52

Linendoll would do a Cody and come back to

1:08:55

finish the story. Finish the story, Katie. Is

1:08:58

she be calling for Sting's last match? In

1:09:02

my opinion, Roman should have lost the title before

1:09:04

now. You're crazy. And it

1:09:07

seems the bloodlines best days, meaning

1:09:09

storylines are behind them. Ah,

1:09:11

you can't say that. Let's see where this is.

1:09:13

Let him cook. Let him cook, Andrew.

1:09:17

Roman versus Rocket Mania is pretty much locked in

1:09:19

now after Roman inevitably wins and moves on to

1:09:21

Gunther or Solo, or hopefully

1:09:23

MJF. I don't think so. How

1:09:25

long do you think they can keep him heal? Gunther

1:09:27

is in the same boat. Well, here's

1:09:29

the thing. I think they can keep Roman

1:09:31

heal longer than Gunther because they can turn

1:09:34

Gunther babyface against Roman. I

1:09:36

think Gunther turns babyface against Roman. I

1:09:38

think Roman turns babyface against Solo. I

1:09:42

would imagine Roman,

1:09:47

Roman may be a babyface by the end of the year. That's

1:09:51

probably what I would

1:09:53

say. That's tough to say declaratively. That's a big

1:09:55

statement. Matt

1:09:57

writes in, to get Roman versus.

1:10:00

Rocket Mania Punk wins the rumble to say

1:10:02

Seth? Yes! All this will put Roman in

1:10:04

the chamber as chair of. With. The

1:10:06

title I'm line against all of our favor

1:10:08

baby faces. Okay Roman retains bypassing the notion

1:10:10

of the winner gets a title shot a

1:10:13

Wrestle Mania okay Smackdown after elimination chamber is

1:10:15

you smell? I don't mind that

1:10:17

scenario at all. I.

1:10:19

Really, don't and I'll tell you why. I mean I

1:10:21

don't think you need it. I think you mean is

1:10:23

say the Rock, his wrestling Roman Reigns and that's it.

1:10:26

Like I don't think you need to go through all

1:10:28

this The however. I

1:10:30

don't mind that at all because he would

1:10:33

go into elimination chamber going. You put Randy

1:10:35

in their you put like it's like everybody

1:10:37

the was in the sale for way and

1:10:39

then to others. Right four five six right

1:10:41

to others. You.

1:10:44

Easily have people go. This one could win. That one could

1:10:46

win. This one to win. Now on to win. And

1:10:48

and. When. They don't read

1:10:50

because colleague of finish the story. If.

1:10:54

It is if Roman. if Roman doesn't win the.

1:10:57

Title and elimination chamber coded to finish the

1:10:59

story you get to Roman vs. Rock Springs

1:11:01

Wrote doesn't need the title of the Roman

1:11:03

vs Rock with other titles robin vs Rocket

1:11:05

getting the title. Period. So.

1:11:08

I loved his elimination chamber idea. Street

1:11:11

have another month of people going to

1:11:13

have any the title. It doesn't need

1:11:15

the title. And. Then Roman wins. That's

1:11:17

my favorite thing in the world met right now.

1:11:19

It only the title fit of needs a title and

1:11:22

then Roman wins It doesn't need the title does needs

1:11:24

idol as and Robin wins again. Well.

1:11:27

Robot doesn't have to be the rocket and Roman wins.

1:11:31

And then Roman wins. Imo

1:11:33

as your mind it meant I think it's fun.

1:11:37

I. Or I'm going to happen are no Roman gonna the

1:11:39

chamber but if he is that be great. Ah,

1:11:41

Anthony, you are right zen. Big.

1:11:44

Fan of the show. So here's our

1:11:46

shore question. If you speculation on John

1:11:48

seen as last Run comes through, what

1:11:50

would you rather? It involves? seventies World

1:11:53

Heavyweight Championship: Our first I Intercontinental championship.

1:11:55

Definitely a seventies World Heavyweight championship. you

1:11:57

know i i am i would much rather

1:12:01

Because even if you're like, oh,

1:12:03

I mean, well, actually,

1:12:06

I just thought of who the Intercontinental Champion

1:12:08

was because generally speaking, I'd go, yeah, I

1:12:10

want John Cena in main event shows. But

1:12:13

I like the – I do like the idea of

1:12:16

John Cena wanting to

1:12:18

finish the story. John

1:12:22

Cena has never won the Intercontinental title. He's won

1:12:24

every other title. He's never won the Intercontinental title. I

1:12:26

love the idea of John Cena coming back to go

1:12:28

like, I want the one thing that I've never

1:12:30

gotten. Everything that I've done has been to put the

1:12:32

business forward. I came back to make

1:12:35

sure that Austin Theory had a spot at

1:12:37

WrestleMania. I came back to make sure that

1:12:39

LA Knight was seen by as many people as

1:12:42

possible. I came back to make sure that we

1:12:44

could get the Undertaker at WrestleMania. I came back

1:12:46

to do this. I came back to do that.

1:12:48

This time, I'm coming back for me. And it's

1:12:50

not in a selfish way. It's just to do

1:12:52

all the things that I've ever wanted to do.

1:12:54

If I'm going to leave WWE forever, I need

1:12:57

to make sure every goal is accomplished. And

1:12:59

there's one thing I've never done. I've

1:13:02

never won the Intercontinental Championship. And

1:13:05

now he's got to beat Gunther. As

1:13:07

long as Gunther is the Intercontinental Champion,

1:13:10

I would like him to come back and fight for

1:13:12

the Intercontinental Championship. If Gunther

1:13:14

is not the Intercontinental Champion, then I'd like him

1:13:16

to have the 17th World Heavyweight Championship. Or

1:13:19

world title. Rob,

1:13:23

I've always been in favor of this because

1:13:26

the division wasn't deep enough. But I think

1:13:28

at this point, WWE main roster needs a

1:13:30

women's middle card title. I

1:13:33

haven't always seen so. Sorry. I can't

1:13:35

see Roxanne Perez as

1:13:37

good as she is, believably matching up with

1:13:39

a legitimate superhuman like Rhea Bianca or Jade.

1:13:42

Well, we'll see with Jade.

1:13:45

You could be right. It's not an insult. You could be right. But

1:13:47

we'll see. It

1:13:50

kind of pigeonholes women her size into tag

1:13:52

teams, even though they're well-rounded singles wrestlers. If

1:13:55

you think the tag titles were a great avenue to get

1:13:57

more women on TV but shouldn't be

1:13:59

there, A single file would

1:14:01

love as I. Am

1:14:03

always been of the opinion that.

1:14:06

It. Should be stories then

1:14:08

championships. I think sit there

1:14:10

should be more effort put in

1:14:12

to telling great stories with female

1:14:14

superstars. I. Think that that we

1:14:17

have much more stuff like what we

1:14:19

had with Ah, Becky Lynch and Trish

1:14:21

Stratus. Where. It was just like

1:14:23

were seen this cage match to settle a

1:14:25

rivalry. I think they did. It shouldn't be

1:14:28

about. World. Title and

1:14:30

that's it. There's one gold the becoming

1:14:32

a female superstar in the debate of

1:14:34

you eat and as to when the

1:14:36

women championships I think. That.

1:14:39

It. Should be a story based.

1:14:41

And I think that. You.

1:14:44

Start with stories and maybe you get to

1:14:46

a point where the division gets so hot.

1:14:48

That. You're like okay we do need another

1:14:50

title because all these stories of heated

1:14:52

up the division so much pressing I

1:14:54

think you can you can give. Women:

1:14:58

Even believe that rosters so loaded. And.

1:15:00

Are so many winner? Next he they're so

1:15:02

good. I. Think that the

1:15:04

key would be. To. Make.

1:15:08

More matches about personal issues that need

1:15:10

to be resolved in the women's division.

1:15:13

Deron rights and ah, Is

1:15:16

from Ontario, Canada. I love it! I love

1:15:18

the show and don't miss an episode. I

1:15:20

appreciate that. My favorite surprise entry into the

1:15:22

Royal Rumble was Mr. Perfect. Two thousand and

1:15:24

Two! I love it! What? Are your

1:15:26

favorite superstar Surprise entrants over the

1:15:28

years? I do love. Miss.

1:15:30

Perfect than two dozen to as a really really

1:15:32

good one at a gold. Us was the same

1:15:34

year and I really like that one as a

1:15:36

gold dust. Me and I like the returns the

1:15:38

relied totally random. That. Now are not like

1:15:41

oh yea I like I was waiting for this

1:15:43

guy to return like I love the diesel

1:15:45

return I don't remember of the.my head what you're

1:15:47

that was going. Kevin Nash returned as diesel. And

1:15:50

just showed up. I thought that was freaking great.

1:15:53

Ah, Yes, So. for

1:15:55

me i'm with you on mr perfect alla i'll

1:15:57

go with you on gold us that year to

1:15:59

two thousand who's a great Royal Rumble. I

1:16:02

might actually watch that after I record

1:16:04

today's show. And Diesel, Diesel as a

1:16:06

surprise entrant after the

1:16:08

Kevin Nash run. When he came back with jet black hair

1:16:10

in the Diesel gear, I thought that was awesome. Nicholas

1:16:14

writes in, I'm as happy as Stanley

1:16:16

on Pretzel Day because

1:16:18

I just ordered my tickets to

1:16:20

SmackDown and Backlash in French. Congratulations

1:16:22

and great reference. To

1:16:25

celebrate, could you do me the honor of reading

1:16:28

the three rules in French? Umm.

1:16:32

Reglais numero un nay. Regrade

1:16:36

les produites. Reglais

1:16:40

numero duet. Spléclier.

1:16:44

Ha ha ha. Sauvage

1:16:46

me. Reglais

1:16:49

numero trois. Tout

1:16:52

compette. Compette. Have

1:16:55

a nice week Sam. Nicholas, right in next week and tell

1:16:57

me how I did. I think it was great. You

1:17:00

have a beautiful country by the way. I love it there. Oh

1:17:04

my God. Is

1:17:06

a long email. I don't know, you get the nerve

1:17:08

of some of you guys. Hello,

1:17:11

this is from Floyd. Big fan of the show over

1:17:13

here in the UK. What do you think? Your Bill

1:17:16

Shakespeare as long as this email is? Kidding.

1:17:19

The return of the great one has changed everything. As

1:17:22

now I'm a lot more receptive of Cody

1:17:24

not finishing his story at Mania 40. So

1:17:27

here's how I think the road to WrestleMania could be

1:17:29

mapped out for the men's and women's main event roster.

1:17:31

Okay. You put a lot of thought into this,

1:17:33

so I'm gonna read it. I appreciate how much thought you put into

1:17:35

it. Royal Rumble, Bayley and CM

1:17:37

Punk to win their respective Rumble matches. I

1:17:40

like that. Bayley and Bianca Belair, the final

1:17:42

two. I don't have a problem with that.

1:17:45

This could put Bayley in an awkward situation

1:17:47

with damage control, with EO uncomfortable with the

1:17:50

prospect of Bayley choosing to challenge her or

1:17:52

Rhea for their respective titles. After

1:17:55

watching Punk and Drew's promo on Raw, I think the

1:17:57

final three could be Cody, Drew and Punk. But

1:18:00

could the rock be in the rumble? The rock could be, but

1:18:02

I don't think it should be. I think I'm

1:18:05

with you on Cody Drew Punk. It's the

1:18:07

final three. I'm fine with that. Reigns

1:18:10

to pin either Styles or Knight to retain

1:18:12

the title. No outside interference, so Roman can win

1:18:14

clean for once. I'm going to say this

1:18:16

right now. Please, for the

1:18:18

love of God, have Roman Reigns win

1:18:21

the fatal four-way at the

1:18:23

Royal Rumble with no outside interference.

1:18:25

It has to start happening. The

1:18:27

Bloodline story has to evolve. And

1:18:29

one of those evolutions as we

1:18:31

get to WrestleMania is that Roman

1:18:34

Reigns is truly a beast. Not

1:18:36

a beast by circumstance, but a

1:18:38

beast by birth. Show

1:18:40

us that Roman can win

1:18:42

this fatal four-way without outside

1:18:45

interference. I want more

1:18:47

than anything else for

1:18:49

Roman to put AJ

1:18:54

Styles on top of

1:18:56

Randy Orton, who's on top of LA

1:18:58

Knight, and have him pin all

1:19:02

three men, hearkening

1:19:04

back to WrestleMania

1:19:06

37 with

1:19:11

no outside interference. Please

1:19:14

give me that. I'm

1:19:16

with you. I'm with you. Elimination

1:19:19

Chamber. The Women's Chamber match – now,

1:19:21

for the record, Elimination Chamber isn't always

1:19:24

the winner gets a shot at WrestleMania.

1:19:26

Like, there have been tag team Elimination

1:19:28

Chamber matches. There have been United States

1:19:31

Championship Elimination Chamber matches. Elimination Chamber. The

1:19:33

Women's Chamber – I prefer the winner

1:19:36

of the Chamber gets the other shot at WrestleMania. That's

1:19:38

my preference, but I'm just saying. The

1:19:41

Women's Chamber match could consist of

1:19:43

Zoey Stark, Shayna Baszler, Asuka, Kaidi

1:19:45

Sane, Nia Jax, and Bianca

1:19:47

Belair, Belair Pinsjax, to win the match, potentially

1:19:49

setting up a triple threat at Mania with

1:19:52

Bayley and Io. I don't like that at

1:19:54

all. Could Rhea Ripley

1:19:56

defend her title against Becky Lynch, and could a jealous,

1:19:58

vindictive Nia Jax, and the WWE? after losing

1:20:00

the chamber match, screw Becky over. I

1:20:03

don't like that at all. I don't like it

1:20:06

for either of them. I don't like anybody getting

1:20:09

screwed out of a match at WrestleMania. The

1:20:13

men's chamber match could consist of Randy, Cody,

1:20:15

Waller, Theory, Solo, and The Rock. I don't

1:20:17

like that at all. Could

1:20:20

Solo or Randy be responsible for, Cody

1:20:23

could be removed from the match to your injury without

1:20:25

being pinned. I don't like that. Could Solo or Randy

1:20:27

be responsible? Oh, that, I'm okay, setting up to a

1:20:30

match with Cody. The final three could be Solo, Randy,

1:20:32

and The Rock. Solo pins

1:20:34

Randy, Rock pin Solo, just

1:20:36

set up WrestleMania 40 match with Roman. Look,

1:20:39

I think it's too predictable if the Rock's in

1:20:41

the chamber match. I

1:20:44

don't mind the Cody booking because

1:20:46

it does follow what I've been saying

1:20:48

about the story at WrestleMania should be,

1:20:51

Cody is not finishing the story. And

1:20:53

then Mania 40, Ripley versus

1:20:56

Lynch, or Ripley versus Lynch

1:20:58

versus Jax. Oh,

1:21:00

you said Nia J, I

1:21:03

don't know, cause you're, Jade Cardio's in

1:21:05

the conversation, there's a lot there. Belair

1:21:07

versus EO versus Bayley. No, EO versus

1:21:09

Bayley. Cody versus Orton. You

1:21:12

may be where you go. I'm not against it. Roman

1:21:15

defeats The Rock thanks to interference from Solo.

1:21:18

I would rather Roman Reigns beat The Rock clean. Punk

1:21:21

versus Rollins with a mid match cash-in

1:21:24

from Damian Priest. No way. Damian,

1:21:27

cause the reason the Rollins cash-in

1:21:29

worked so well and became so

1:21:31

legendary was because nobody wanted to

1:21:34

see Roman Reigns versus Brock Lesnar.

1:21:37

If you go back to WrestleMania push play,

1:21:39

WrestleMania 31, I remember I

1:21:42

was sitting in the second

1:21:45

row, I wanna say. I was

1:21:47

sitting with Kevin Undergaro and Maria Menounos. And

1:21:50

the billing was

1:21:53

packed, but expectations

1:21:55

were very low. People

1:21:57

were bummed that Roman Reigns was Roman

1:22:00

Reigns vs Brock Lesnar was the main

1:22:02

event. I mean that WrestleMania season was

1:22:04

terrible. Starting with

1:22:06

Roman Reigns winning a Royal Rumble that nobody wanted him to

1:22:09

win. Going to a main event

1:22:11

that nobody wanted to see. And

1:22:13

Seth coming in and messing that up. And

1:22:16

Roman Reigns not being the guy but Seth

1:22:18

being the guy made that so magical. The

1:22:21

problem is here, everybody wants to see

1:22:23

Punk vs Rollins. And people,

1:22:26

many want to see Punk have a moment. Others

1:22:29

will want to see Punk get defeated. But

1:22:31

people want Punk vs Rollins. So

1:22:33

that to me is why the mid-match cash-in doesn't

1:22:36

work at all. Maybe you could

1:22:38

have Damian Priest cash in on Punk the

1:22:40

night after WrestleMania and become the champion.

1:22:43

But yeah. I

1:22:46

would probably have Priest cash in on Punk after

1:22:48

WrestleMania, the night after. And

1:22:50

then do Rollins vs Priest, Punk

1:22:52

vs Cody Rhodes. But

1:22:56

I appreciate all the effort you put into that. Why did

1:22:58

that was good? Mainly because I agreed with it. This

1:23:01

is coming from Papa G. Greeting from

1:23:03

Drew Land. I don't know what that

1:23:05

is. Maybe Skeet Land? I was listening to

1:23:07

the last week's show and completely agree about Rockin' Roman and

1:23:10

Seth and Punk being the main events of both nights of

1:23:12

WrestleMania 40. Nice. But

1:23:14

when you discussed who could it have been that cost

1:23:16

Cody, I was thinking Drew on his current character arc.

1:23:19

But someone has to win the Rumble. I

1:23:21

think Punk and he faces Seth. I agree. Someone has

1:23:23

to win the Chamber. What do they get? We already

1:23:25

talked about that, buddy. I

1:23:27

mean, I know you said the email before this podcast

1:23:29

came out, but yeah, we talked about it. Mitch

1:23:34

in Seattle, Hobol

1:23:36

is well with you and your family. Appreciate that.

1:23:38

First time listener. Longtime listener. Oh,

1:23:40

it's about to say. First time emailer. Great. I

1:23:43

can't wait any longer to get your thoughts on

1:23:45

Nick Aldis giving the opening segment of SmackDown and

1:23:47

the series. And after the

1:23:49

series of Bloodline run-ins. How

1:23:52

long before we see Aldis in the ring? I mean, he's only 37

1:23:55

and has a laundry list of accomplishments outside of

1:23:57

WWE. And now the GM role has been a

1:23:59

collision court. with Roman after a number

1:24:01

of run-ins, possibly Randy after that RKO sequence.

1:24:03

And you know him and Cody can work

1:24:05

a program if Cody winds up on SmackDown

1:24:08

between now and the inevitable finishing the story.

1:24:10

A couple of manias from now. Is WWE

1:24:12

trying to create more awareness to the non-wrestling

1:24:14

super fans of who Aldis is before he

1:24:16

wrestles in WWE? Appreciate spending Monday mornings with

1:24:18

you, my man. Thank you, Mitch. I appreciate

1:24:20

you very, very much. I love that email.

1:24:24

Yeah, and I've heard the rumblings about Nick

1:24:26

Aldis wrestling. And I

1:24:28

think that it's worth discussing, certainly.

1:24:33

The problem for me is that he's doing an incredible

1:24:35

job as the GM right now. And

1:24:37

I don't want to disrupt Nick Aldis as

1:24:39

the GM. I think that most

1:24:42

WWE fans have never seen a Nick Aldis

1:24:44

match in their life. You

1:24:46

could tell them that he was a former

1:24:48

NWA champion. You could say he had a

1:24:51

match with Cody Rhodes at All In. There's

1:24:53

a lot of stuff you could talk about

1:24:55

his career in TNA. But

1:24:58

I think most WWE fans

1:25:00

did not know who he was when

1:25:03

he first showed up. And I don't think that that's

1:25:05

a slight on him whatsoever. I think that's just the

1:25:07

way WWE is. Look at the numbers WWE gets and

1:25:09

look at the numbers everybody else gets. Mathematically, there

1:25:12

are more people watching WWE than anything else. And

1:25:14

there are a lot of people watching WWE that

1:25:16

don't watch anything else. So I

1:25:20

think that

1:25:23

if you're going to put Nick Aldis in a wrestling

1:25:25

role, you better

1:25:27

have somebody good to replace him as GM. Because people

1:25:29

are very quickly falling in love with this guy as

1:25:31

GM. And number two, you

1:25:34

need to really get it

1:25:36

across that he's got the ability to wrestle.

1:25:39

Because otherwise, there's not much difference between him

1:25:41

and Adam Pearce. When Adam Pearce was about to

1:25:43

have a match with Roman Reigns, it was not

1:25:45

like, this wrestler we've been waiting to come out

1:25:48

of retirement is wrestling. It was the guy in

1:25:50

the suit is going to wrestle. Now,

1:25:52

Nick Aldis is clearly not just a guy in a

1:25:54

suit, because you could even see through his suit. He's

1:25:56

got these bulging biceps, the likes of which you very

1:25:59

rarely see. Do I

1:26:01

think Nick Allis will eventually wrestle in the

1:26:03

WWE? Yes, he's too good. And

1:26:07

I'm happy for that. But

1:26:09

I think it'll come in time. You

1:26:11

know, and maybe even after WrestleMania. But

1:26:14

who knows? Who knows? He

1:26:16

could be on a collision course. Look, I appreciate all you

1:26:18

guys emailing in. If you want to

1:26:21

keep sending emails in,

1:26:23

send them in to

1:26:26

notsamwrestlingatgmail.com. There's still

1:26:28

a bunch more. If I didn't get to them, just resend

1:26:30

them in. And

1:26:33

I'll get to him next week. Thank you for

1:26:36

tuning in once again Don't forget not sam live.com is

1:26:38

the place to get tickets to the Tampa show Not

1:26:41

sam shirts.com is the place to go for the merch that's

1:26:43

only going to be up for two weeks And

1:26:46

we will see you again here here on

1:26:48

Not Sam Wrestling.