WWE Raw Review: Roman Laid Out by Punk, Gunther Returns & Attacks Seth Rollins, Stephanie McMahon Returns

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania is just two weeks away, and last night, Monday
<v Speaker 1>Night Raw came to us from Madison Square Garden in
<v Speaker 1>New York City with a show that I think a
<v Speaker 1>lot of people expected a lot from, almost too much.
<v Speaker 1>I did a video on this where there were three
<v Speaker 1>potential even four potential big returns that were set up
<v Speaker 1>for Monday Night Raw, and that being the Rock, Gunther,
<v Speaker 1>Chris Jericho, and bron Breaker. And we got one of
<v Speaker 1>them in Gunther, which now we know who he's going
<v Speaker 1>to be facing at WrestleMania. And it is a bit
<v Speaker 1>of a shame given the fact that both Gunther and
<v Speaker 1>Seth are kind of being thrown together because they don't
<v Speaker 1>have opponents.
<v Speaker 2>That's what this is.
<v Speaker 1>And Seth doesn't have an opponent because he's still injured
<v Speaker 1>barring some crazy twists before WrestleMania, and Gunther, what the
<v Speaker 1>hell was he supposed to do? I mean, Gunther wasn't
<v Speaker 1>really out of trajectory to face anybody at Wrestleman. He
<v Speaker 1>was thrown in this week finally with a very short
<v Speaker 1>build now to WrestleMania to face Seth Rollins, But what
<v Speaker 1>was his original trajectory? What was he supposed to do.
<v Speaker 1>I know that many of us thought it was Chris Jericho,
<v Speaker 1>which it could have been and still could be, I guess,
<v Speaker 1>but they feel like two ships that are colliding for
<v Speaker 1>no good reason other than, hey, bron Breaker's not ready
<v Speaker 1>and what we were going to do with gun Thro
<v Speaker 1>and WrestleMania can't happen now. It could be a happy accident.
<v Speaker 1>These two are going to work very well together, but
<v Speaker 1>I don't feel the story doesn't make me excited for
<v Speaker 1>the story? Does it get you excited? Yes, the quality
<v Speaker 1>of the match is what we should be focusing on here.
<v Speaker 1>If you're looking at this glass half full, Seth Rollins
<v Speaker 1>major Star, Gunther major Star, and this could be a
<v Speaker 1>very good match, and it should be a very good match.
<v Speaker 1>But what exactly is on the line? Again, exactly is
<v Speaker 1>this about?
<v Speaker 2>Well?
<v Speaker 1>I guess we'll find out next week from a promo,
<v Speaker 1>presumably from Gunther. So I'm kind of feeling a little
<v Speaker 1>bit in between. I mean, I'm glad that Gunther's on
<v Speaker 1>the card. I'm glad that Seth is on the card,
<v Speaker 1>But I think many of us expected bron Breaker to
<v Speaker 1>show up in some form or fashion last night. He
<v Speaker 1>must not be ready. Doctors must think he's not ready.
<v Speaker 1>And if he's not ready, he's not ready, then there's
<v Speaker 1>nothing you can do about it. It's just black and white.
<v Speaker 1>Either he's clear to compete or he's not, and apparently
<v Speaker 1>he's not. So tough break for bron Breaker punintended, I guess,
<v Speaker 1>and Gunther has an opponent. Could Chris Jericho still show
<v Speaker 1>up at WrestleMania. Yes, In fact, i'd say there's a
<v Speaker 1>good chance of it. Could bron Breaker still show up
<v Speaker 1>at WrestleMania, Yes, he could. There's a good chance that
<v Speaker 1>ron Breaker shows up in some form to deliver a
<v Speaker 1>spear to perhaps Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. Because I don't
<v Speaker 1>believe that this Gunther and Seth Rollins program is going
<v Speaker 1>to go beyond WrestleMania. I just don't see it. They're
<v Speaker 1>just being They're doing what they can with the talent
<v Speaker 1>that they have available. So I don't blame them. This
<v Speaker 1>is not WWE's fault. I blame WWE and created for
<v Speaker 1>a lot of stuff. But injuries are hard to predict
<v Speaker 1>and difficult to prevent sometimes, and now that we have
<v Speaker 1>gun they're available, we have Seth available, who's cleared Bron's
<v Speaker 1>not there.
<v Speaker 2>Whatever you got it. What you gotta do.
<v Speaker 1>You gotta put a card together, and you can't leave
<v Speaker 1>Seth and Gunther off the card. You just can't. So
<v Speaker 1>I don't fault them. We are victims of our circumstance
<v Speaker 1>here and we'll have to just make the best of it.
<v Speaker 1>And it sounds like I'm a spoilt fan complaining about
<v Speaker 1>Gunther and Seth, but I just I'm a big story fan,
<v Speaker 1>and there's no story here. It's we know the real story.
<v Speaker 1>So whatever they concoct over the next few weeks are
<v Speaker 1>just We're not even few. A couple weeks is all
<v Speaker 1>just nonsense, and they're doing what they can. Yeah, I'm
<v Speaker 1>actually going to defend the company on this because out
<v Speaker 1>of all the options, at least the ones that are available,
<v Speaker 1>I think they made the right call. Here a couple
<v Speaker 1>more things before we get going in a detailed Monday
<v Speaker 1>Net raw review. One, you can always go to Patreon
<v Speaker 1>and go add free at patreon dot com. Slash WWE
<v Speaker 1>podcast that's a great place. You can give us a
<v Speaker 1>five star rating on Apple or Spotify. That helps us out.
<v Speaker 1>Also in other news, two K twenty six released a
<v Speaker 1>patch one point oh seven. If you're a video game fan,
<v Speaker 1>if you are a two K twenty six purchaser consumer, Well,
<v Speaker 1>they updated some things in the way that the Ringside
<v Speaker 1>Pass works. They updated the usual bugs and glitches and
<v Speaker 1>all the rest of it. But the Ringside Pass fix,
<v Speaker 1>so to speak, has been it's been improved, but I
<v Speaker 1>don't think it's been still, you know, ideal for me.
<v Speaker 1>I would just get rid of the Ringside Pass period.
<v Speaker 1>I mean that would be ideal for me. I don't
<v Speaker 1>like this subscription in season bullshit. That is just a
<v Speaker 1>way to squeeze more money out of the fans, any
<v Speaker 1>consumer base that purchases the way that these video games
<v Speaker 1>are now promoted, which is like seasons, so you have
<v Speaker 1>to spend more money to continue to get the best
<v Speaker 1>content instead of just having it available free to you
<v Speaker 1>since you already purchased the damn game. So that's where
<v Speaker 1>we live in now. But they made some improvements, made
<v Speaker 1>it easier to get through to unlock what you want
<v Speaker 1>to unlock, and there's other stuff as well if you
<v Speaker 1>want to go read the notes, So good news on
<v Speaker 1>that front. Also, there's been a video surfacing and comments
<v Speaker 1>surfacing from Stephanie Vacaire about a fan that recently was
<v Speaker 1>filming her getting into an uber or waiting for an uber,
<v Speaker 1>and the fan interaction didn't go well, and Stephanie Vacare
<v Speaker 1>is not happy about it. The fan's not happy about it.
<v Speaker 1>So I have some pretty strong thoughts on this that
<v Speaker 1>I will share in a video going to Patreon and
<v Speaker 1>to TikTok and some other places if you're interested in
<v Speaker 1>seeing that, I will be filming that and posting it
<v Speaker 1>shortly after this podcast is complete, So that'll be another
<v Speaker 1>five to ten minute video about stepanieva Care and that
<v Speaker 1>whole interaction. So let's get into it. Monday night, Raw
<v Speaker 1>came to us, as mentioned from Madison Square Garden and
<v Speaker 1>the show opened with Cody Rhods coming out and he
<v Speaker 1>stopped to hug a fan in the crowd because that's
<v Speaker 1>who Cody is, and he said, you know, what do
<v Speaker 1>you want to talk about? That still has not caught on.
<v Speaker 1>Four years later, it still has not caught on.
<v Speaker 2>Cody.
<v Speaker 1>For all of your gifts, the way you can talk
<v Speaker 1>on the mic, and the seemingly high level of intelligence
<v Speaker 1>you have, you still have not grasped the fact that
<v Speaker 1>the what do you want to talk about has not
<v Speaker 1>caught on because it's the way that it's set up.
<v Speaker 1>Can't have the fans sing along or respond. There's no
<v Speaker 1>unified answer to that. They can't they can't say it
<v Speaker 1>along with you. It's just a weird thing you have
<v Speaker 1>that you're trying to make into a thing, but it's
<v Speaker 1>not built for crowd interaction. But anyway, he continues to
<v Speaker 1>try to make it work, and immediately Stephanie McMahon comes out,
<v Speaker 1>interrupts Cody Rhodes and the uh I mean Cody was surprised.
<v Speaker 1>Everybody was surprised to see Stephanie and she asked why
<v Speaker 1>and or rather, Cody said he was surprised, and she
<v Speaker 1>asked why and said that her last name is McMahon
<v Speaker 1>and called Madison Square Garden the house that her grandfather built.
<v Speaker 1>And Cody asked Stephanie what she wanted to talk about,
<v Speaker 1>and she said she was She wanted to talk to
<v Speaker 1>him about his match with Randy at WrestleMania, and Stephanie
<v Speaker 1>said Cody believes he can bring out the best in people,
<v Speaker 1>but he won't be able to this time. Stephanie said
<v Speaker 1>this version of Orton is diabolical and that Cody needed
<v Speaker 1>to think like Orton. She said her father was great
<v Speaker 1>at doing that and could get down and dirty with
<v Speaker 1>the best of them. And Stephanie said, from what I've
<v Speaker 1>seen so far, you're not your father. And this version
<v Speaker 1>of Cody Rhodes can't beat this version of Randy Orton.
<v Speaker 2>You have no idea who you're dealing with.
<v Speaker 1>And Cody said, the last thing he wanted to do
<v Speaker 1>was to be rude to Stephanie, but he knew everything
<v Speaker 1>about Orton. Cody recalled Orton punting his father. He said
<v Speaker 1>some things, some of the things Orton did couldn't be
<v Speaker 1>shown today, including the things Orton did to Stephanie, which
<v Speaker 1>is very true and one of the highest viewed clips
<v Speaker 1>on WWE's YouTube channel period. I believe, if not the
<v Speaker 1>single highest viewed video is the interaction with Randy Orton
<v Speaker 1>and Stephanie McMahon prior to the match that Orton and
<v Speaker 1>Triple H had at WrestleMania. I think it was like
<v Speaker 1>two thousand and nine something like that, maybe earlier, but yeah,
<v Speaker 1>they won't show it. And Cody recalled being a babysitter
<v Speaker 1>for Orton and said he had to pull over the car,
<v Speaker 1>turn down the radio, and make sure Orton was still
<v Speaker 1>breathing while he drooled all over himself, which is actually
<v Speaker 1>there's a lot of truth of that with Orton and
<v Speaker 1>drug problems. Cody said, he's not the student. He's not
<v Speaker 1>afraid of Orton. You want to bring up fathers, Cody asked,
<v Speaker 1>I'm not mine, and with all due respects, Stephanie, you're
<v Speaker 1>not yours either, and she slaps Cody across the face
<v Speaker 1>and told Cody that there that because she cared about Cody,
<v Speaker 1>that's why she was there, and said this version of
<v Speaker 1>Orton doesn't need a babysitter. She said Orton isn't listening
<v Speaker 1>to the voices in his head. He is beckoning them
<v Speaker 1>because he loves what they say, and Stephanie said it
<v Speaker 1>was clear that Orton was also listening to someone else.
<v Speaker 1>Stephanie told Cody that he had to learn to think
<v Speaker 1>like Gorton or Wrestlemanie would be his last time he's
<v Speaker 1>introduced as champion, and she shoved the microphone in Cody's chest,
<v Speaker 1>but Cody grabbed her arms spun her around, and that's
<v Speaker 1>what you're thinking, you know, in the old days, when
<v Speaker 1>he spun her around, I mean you're thinking she's going
<v Speaker 1>to get a finisher hit on her. But it's twenty
<v Speaker 1>twenty six and women are invincible and untouchable simply for
<v Speaker 1>the fact that they're women, which is so stupid. But
<v Speaker 1>this is also not Cody Roads's character, because he's the
<v Speaker 1>pocket watch, suspenders wearing Gucci suit, slicked hair, manicured, feminine
<v Speaker 1>version of a champion. Now that's what he is, albeit
<v Speaker 1>extremely talented. See, he can be both, and I can
<v Speaker 1>give him credit for that. I'm just not a fan
<v Speaker 1>of the presentation of this Cody Roads. However, we have
<v Speaker 1>him just say I've got two words for you time,
<v Speaker 1>and the fans say suck it. But of course that's
<v Speaker 1>not gonna be what he says. He says, thank you.
<v Speaker 2>That was it.
<v Speaker 1>Interesting way to start the show, certainly unexpected, with Stephanie
<v Speaker 1>showing up and saying what he said and saying what
<v Speaker 1>she said, and also with Cody saying what he said.
<v Speaker 1>But I also don't understand the slap. The slap from
<v Speaker 1>Stephanie to Cody is what that you're not your father? Okay,
<v Speaker 1>shouldn't that be a compliment depending on how you look
<v Speaker 1>at it? Like that slap I don't think was warranted
<v Speaker 1>because the way it was left too vague as to
<v Speaker 1>is that an insult, does it not? If all due respect, Stephanie,
<v Speaker 1>you're not yours either, Okay. Now, it's interesting that that's
<v Speaker 1>the first time that Vince McMahon, albeit not by name,
<v Speaker 1>was named on ww television. It would be very interesting
<v Speaker 1>if it is Vince McMahon on the other end of
<v Speaker 1>that line with Randy Orton. If it's Vince McMahon, Like
<v Speaker 1>I said, I would almost rather have it be Vince
<v Speaker 1>McMahon than the Rock who's on the other end of
<v Speaker 1>that phone with Randy, or they would be I think
<v Speaker 1>even more interesting than the Rock. Do I think it's
<v Speaker 1>gonna be Vince. No, it's probably the Rock.
<v Speaker 2>On the other end of that line.
<v Speaker 1>But Stephanie McMahon being involved and trying to tell Orton
<v Speaker 1>about or tell Cody about Orton. It makes sense given
<v Speaker 1>her history with Randy Orton and the diabolical things that
<v Speaker 1>he did to her into Triple H during their program
<v Speaker 1>fifteen years ago. So there is some history there that
<v Speaker 1>makes sense. But it's the time first time that a
<v Speaker 1>McMahon now has really been involved in some kind of
<v Speaker 1>story outside of just Welcome to wrestle Mania, which I'm
<v Speaker 1>sure we'll get all that crap because Triple H and
<v Speaker 1>Stephanie now not really Stephanie, but Triple H can't help
<v Speaker 1>himself but be on TV, and so we'll get that
<v Speaker 1>usual bullshit from Triple H to open WrestleMania, which we
<v Speaker 1>don't need, but we'll get anyway. But it's the first
<v Speaker 1>time that McMahon has really been involved in a story,
<v Speaker 1>so it does kind of lend itself to a little
<v Speaker 1>bit evidence that it could be a Shane or Vince
<v Speaker 1>McMahon the under the other end of that line. So
<v Speaker 1>if you're looking for some kind of eviden that is
<v Speaker 1>some certainly. Now there's also this part here with Stephanie
<v Speaker 1>McMahon and she's trying to I don't know if she's
<v Speaker 1>playing the heel of the baby face here. I don't
<v Speaker 1>really know. I don't know if the fans really know
<v Speaker 1>what's going on either. If it's not Revents here, then
<v Speaker 1>what's Stephanie doing here?
<v Speaker 2>I don't know.
<v Speaker 1>I guess it's just name value. It's a little bit
<v Speaker 1>of shock that Stephanie's back, at least for.
<v Speaker 2>The night, not for any kind of length of time.
<v Speaker 1>But we do have an interesting dynamic here with Stephanie,
<v Speaker 1>and she ends up just leaving and Cody's like, thank
<v Speaker 1>you and after, you know, thanks for hitting me that
<v Speaker 1>I have woken up, after she just was told by Cody, Yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I know him. So now you're gonna slap me, and
<v Speaker 1>then I'm gonna thank.
<v Speaker 2>You for it.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it does this the message gets sent any
<v Speaker 1>louder that the women just can't be touched no matter
<v Speaker 1>what the men do or what the women do. It's
<v Speaker 1>just it's so stupid. Anyway, interesting way to start the show.
<v Speaker 1>I didn't hate it. Stephanie McMahon, she has just she's
<v Speaker 1>got it on the microphone. She comes off way better
<v Speaker 1>on the mic in front of a live crowd than
<v Speaker 1>she does on a podcast. She's so good on the mic,
<v Speaker 1>so good. I don't think we give her enough credit
<v Speaker 1>for how good she has been on the microphone over
<v Speaker 1>the years. Consistently she's one of the best heels in
<v Speaker 1>the company, well at least in the history of the company.
<v Speaker 1>I think she's one of the best heels ever. So
<v Speaker 1>Stephanie McMahon just is so gifted on the mic. But
<v Speaker 1>there all right, So that's an interesting open to the Show.
<v Speaker 1>We then have backstage I Show Speed. I don't give
<v Speaker 1>a shit about I Show Speed. I don't care. It
<v Speaker 1>seems like a gen X thing with all these YouTube stars.
<v Speaker 1>I just don't care about how at all. He means
<v Speaker 1>absolutely nothing to my wrestling life at all. Maybe Brown
<v Speaker 1>Breaker will show up just to spear him out of
<v Speaker 1>this earth. But he showed up task Adam Pierce where
<v Speaker 1>Dan Housen was, and Dan Housen popped up and got
<v Speaker 1>a big pop, and Kofi Kingston and Grayson Waller could
<v Speaker 1>be seen having a conversation in the background, and then
<v Speaker 1>I Show Speed told him that his life has been
<v Speaker 1>a disaster since he's been cursed, and he asked Dan
<v Speaker 1>Housen to uncurse him, and he asked for a billion
<v Speaker 1>dollars the rights to his streaming service as a personal
<v Speaker 1>assistant a camera boy for himself, and Speed said he
<v Speaker 1>couldn't do that, and Pierce told Speed not to worry
<v Speaker 1>about curses because he gave him a front row seat
<v Speaker 1>for the tag title match, and Pierce introduced La Knight
<v Speaker 1>as a special commentator, and he turned. Pierce turned around
<v Speaker 1>and Dan Housen was still there, and Pierce asked if
<v Speaker 1>Dan Hausen was supposed to disappear and he said, oh yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Which so Dan Housen is me.
<v Speaker 1>Hey, what can I say about him? He's a fun
<v Speaker 1>little break throughout the show gets a good pop. I
<v Speaker 1>don't know if wrestling will actually ruin his character because
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if the fans want to see him wrestle,
<v Speaker 1>because I don't know if that'll sour how his momentum
<v Speaker 1>is really taking off backstage, it may stunt some of
<v Speaker 1>that growth because his character is innately built for this
<v Speaker 1>type of interaction. Backstage, it's it is, it's entertaining.
<v Speaker 2>What can I say?
<v Speaker 1>So then we get Jimmy Usso and Jay Uso versus
<v Speaker 1>Look and Paul In Austin Theory in a street fight
<v Speaker 1>for the world tag team titles. La Knight was in
<v Speaker 1>on commentary and he once again almost slipped off of
<v Speaker 1>the mental rope. The dude is just on ice skates
<v Speaker 1>all the time. He has some kind of just curse
<v Speaker 1>or I know. The ropes are slippery. I get it,
<v Speaker 1>especially when they start getting used and the oil from
<v Speaker 1>the guys and gals gets you know, you come in
<v Speaker 1>contact with their skin and it's gonna come off on
<v Speaker 1>the ropes. But in this case, there's no real excuse
<v Speaker 1>because this was the first match of the night, no
<v Speaker 1>one had competed yet, the ropes should be clean. So
<v Speaker 1>La Knight just cannot catch a break with those ropes.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, this is like the.
<v Speaker 1>Third or fourth time that he's had an issue with
<v Speaker 1>slipping off the ropes. He was within an inch of
<v Speaker 1>slipping backwards. Even jay Uso caught him and laughed. Jimmy
<v Speaker 1>was laughing. I mean, what can you do? He just
<v Speaker 1>he's a bumbling, fumbling mess anytime he gets on the
<v Speaker 1>second or third ropes. And I commend him for doing
<v Speaker 1>the moves he does, but this wasn't a move.
<v Speaker 2>It was just his entrance.
<v Speaker 1>It is innately harder to stand the way he stands
<v Speaker 1>during his entrance on the rope, facing with his back
<v Speaker 1>to the ropes. I get it, and I've always looked
<v Speaker 1>at that and gone, man, that's a cool different way
<v Speaker 1>to stand in the ropes. But also it looks much
<v Speaker 1>more risky because you could slip, and he almost did
<v Speaker 1>here on Monday night raw. Okay, so this match here
<v Speaker 1>for the World tag titles ended with Logan Paul and
<v Speaker 1>Austin Theory winning the World tag team titles. A third
<v Speaker 1>major title change just a couple of weeks before WrestleMania.
<v Speaker 1>What the hell is going on?
<v Speaker 2>Man? I have not seen this before so now.
<v Speaker 1>There sometimes can be reasons for this, but three major
<v Speaker 1>title changes count them this far. Three the world title
<v Speaker 1>Cody Rhodes beating Drew Mcatire, We had the Intercontinental Championship
<v Speaker 1>with Trick Williams or sorry, Sammy's Ain winning it unsmacked
<v Speaker 1>down from Carmarlo Hayes. And then tonight last night, we
<v Speaker 1>had the world tag titles get moved to Logan Paul
<v Speaker 1>and Austin Theory. And this one isn't so bothersome maybe
<v Speaker 1>as the other two, because Logan Paul and Austin Theory
<v Speaker 1>need the belts. The USOS have done nothing with them
<v Speaker 1>since they won them, and Paul Hayman has said over
<v Speaker 1>and over to Austin Theory and Logan Paul Hey, in
<v Speaker 1>order to get power and get back where we need
<v Speaker 1>to be, we need gold. So I think this makes sense,
<v Speaker 1>and I actually thought that would win them a few
<v Speaker 1>weeks ago, but they waited two weeks to WrestleMania to
<v Speaker 1>do it. It's just incredible. I cannot think of another
<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania season where three major championships were moved within just
<v Speaker 1>a couple of weeks of WrestleMania itself.
<v Speaker 2>It's wild.
<v Speaker 1>So it just shows you again. I think I talked
<v Speaker 1>about this on my last show that if you come
<v Speaker 1>out of Elimination Chamber as champion, there is now no
<v Speaker 1>guarantee that you're going into WrestleMania as champion. I don't
<v Speaker 1>care what championship you have across to your waist, doesn't matter. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>so we then have.
<v Speaker 2>Right Live.
<v Speaker 1>Morgan deliver an in ring promo about her Women's championship
<v Speaker 1>match in WrestleMania. She said, you're done for a bitch,
<v Speaker 1>and Morgan said regarding Stephanie Vicaire, and she insulted Vicaire's
<v Speaker 1>mother in Spanish. That's when Stephanie came out and brawled
<v Speaker 1>with Morgan. Once she came in the ring, she got
<v Speaker 1>the better of Morgan and had her down and she
<v Speaker 1>grabbed a chair. That's when rox Sane Perez came in
<v Speaker 1>the ring and hit Vicaire from behind. She's been out
<v Speaker 1>with injury. I actually forgot about that Roxan Perez, that
<v Speaker 1>is Morgan and Perez then beat down Thecaire and Morgan
<v Speaker 1>hits her the most devastating finish in all of her
<v Speaker 1>wrestling that no one kicks out of oblivion and hits
<v Speaker 1>it on a chair. So it's double uh, you know,
<v Speaker 1>double the kryptonite here. So Morgan looks dominant. Stephanie Vicaire
<v Speaker 1>is left laying after the numbers game overtakes her, and
<v Speaker 1>we got two more weeks here, so there's time for
<v Speaker 1>step Into care to regain her momentum and she'll probably
<v Speaker 1>do that next week, and Morgan oill get the upper
<v Speaker 1>hand the following week, as is the rule of thumb,
<v Speaker 1>but not set in stone that the heel usually will
<v Speaker 1>look strong in the week before WrestleMania. Okay, then we
<v Speaker 1>get the next match here, which is Ni Jackson Lash
<v Speaker 1>Legend taking on Lyra and Bailey for the women's tag titles.
<v Speaker 1>The match ended, let's see here, with a no contest.
<v Speaker 1>That's right, in a ten minute and forty five second
<v Speaker 1>matchup for the women's tag titles, so no titles change hands.
<v Speaker 1>But this was a clusterfuck. I mean, I just have
<v Speaker 1>to say this was not especially the end of the match.
<v Speaker 1>The crowd didn't care, they didn't know what was going on.
<v Speaker 1>Seems like they're going for a some kind of multi
<v Speaker 1>woman tag team match, which is as per usual. And
<v Speaker 1>the finish though, by the way, just so you can
<v Speaker 1>keep this straight, we had all four of the legal
<v Speaker 1>women in the match down. That's when our beloved Brion
<v Speaker 1>Nikki Bella come in and then Charlotte and Alexa come
<v Speaker 1>in and the two teams were bickering.
<v Speaker 2>Lyra.
<v Speaker 1>Valkyria went out tried to talk to them, but Jack
<v Speaker 1>shoved her into Flare and Bliss and the champions put
<v Speaker 1>the Bellas down, and then Jacks returned to the ring
<v Speaker 1>while a legend put Bailey down on the floor and
<v Speaker 1>then Jax hit a spinebuster on Valkyria that did not
<v Speaker 1>look good. Then Flair and Bliss came in and attacked
<v Speaker 1>Jacks to end the match. You get all that again.
<v Speaker 1>This all equals clusterfuck. That's what this is. And it
<v Speaker 1>just I understand what they were going for. Not a
<v Speaker 1>new formula. It's not a new formula to bring out
<v Speaker 1>team after team or opponent after opponent of you're gonna
<v Speaker 1>have a fatal five way, six way whatever. That's how
<v Speaker 1>it kind of goes. It's like assembly line of people.
<v Speaker 1>You know, hit your mark, come out, and they did
<v Speaker 1>that with the tag teams tonight. It's like, okay, one
<v Speaker 1>team after another. We know what messages are sending. It's
<v Speaker 1>going to be a multi team match, got it. But
<v Speaker 1>the execution was sloppy as hell. It was just the
<v Speaker 1>moves didn't look good. Everything kind of was a schmase.
<v Speaker 1>You didn't know what to focus on. It was just
<v Speaker 1>poorly executed. And the crowd was also just totally unreactive
<v Speaker 1>to this, which they should have been. Crowd didn't give
<v Speaker 1>a shit about it because they're like, you know whatever,
<v Speaker 1>Like they had Bailey Charlotte, Alexa Bliss and every you know,
<v Speaker 1>Ni Jack's and the bell Is and everyone's just going, okay,
<v Speaker 1>like this is this is a shit show. Can we
<v Speaker 1>just move on? This did not look good. It's too
<v Speaker 1>much to absorb. But maybe that's how I felt anyway,
<v Speaker 1>Maybe somebody else viewed this differently. I felt it was
<v Speaker 1>a bit of a cluster. But I get the message
<v Speaker 1>they're sending and I have no problem with it. Fundamentally.
<v Speaker 1>I think it's fine. You want to have a multi
<v Speaker 1>woman tag team match, sure, fine. I still ultimately think
<v Speaker 1>that it should be Ni Jackson lash Legend that come
<v Speaker 1>out of that as champions to continue to momentum here.
<v Speaker 1>We don't need another Flare and Alexa run been there.
<v Speaker 2>God knows.
<v Speaker 1>The Bellas don't need it, nor do they have they
<v Speaker 1>earned anything since they've been back, you know how I
<v Speaker 1>feel about them. And then Bailey and Lyra are kind
<v Speaker 1>of just this goofy side show that you can ever
<v Speaker 1>take seriously and you know kind of where they stand
<v Speaker 1>in the pecking order. So lash Legend and Nijacks I
<v Speaker 1>think of the overwhelming favorites to retain the tag team
<v Speaker 1>championships at WrestleMania, but of course official predictions coming in
<v Speaker 1>a couple weeks. We get the video package recapping over
<v Speaker 1>Femi and Brock Lesner. That's when Brock comes out and
<v Speaker 1>Hayman introduced himself as he does, and he said he's
<v Speaker 1>the advocate for the Baddest dude walking on the planet
<v Speaker 1>and the real main event of WrestleMania. Hayman said Lesner
<v Speaker 1>was distracted by Seth and caught off guard by Obafemi
<v Speaker 1>two weeks ago and he wasn't dressed to fight, but
<v Speaker 1>Oba decided to pick a fight, and Hayman said Lesner
<v Speaker 1>was dressed to fight. Tonight, Lesner took the mic from
<v Speaker 1>Hayman and called out Obafemi and that's what Adam Pierce
<v Speaker 1>came out with a group of security guards and said
<v Speaker 1>that wouldn't be happening, and he asked Lesner and Hayman
<v Speaker 1>to leave. That's when Obafemi came out and they chanted
<v Speaker 1>his name and straruted to the ring. Security tried to
<v Speaker 1>stop Obafemi and he threw one of the security guards.
<v Speaker 1>I've never seen human being be.
<v Speaker 2>Thrown like that.
<v Speaker 1>He's probably my weight, I mean, my godd was probably
<v Speaker 1>a buck seventy five and he was just tossed like
<v Speaker 1>a as Jim Ross would say, a sack of potatoes.
<v Speaker 1>It was just it was hilarious, but all so kind
<v Speaker 1>of concerning for him, one of the local talent, obviously
<v Speaker 1>opposing as a security guard. It wasn't even safe, Like,
<v Speaker 1>why that is harder to land on than the ring.
<v Speaker 1>That guy is he must have some kind of massive contusions.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, he was hoisted eight feet into the air
<v Speaker 1>and landed, you know, on his side, kind of his back.
<v Speaker 1>It looked horrible. I've never seen anyone get thrown like that,
<v Speaker 1>So godspeed with that man, but Oba Femi comes out.
<v Speaker 2>Now there's there's a.
<v Speaker 1>Point that Bob Holly, out of all people, I don't
<v Speaker 1>think I've ever mentioned his name on this show, but
<v Speaker 1>Bob Holly made on X and he said that to
<v Speaker 1>the effect I'm paraphrasing that when you have a guy
<v Speaker 1>like brock Lesnar in the ring, it's Russell Mania time.
<v Speaker 1>You're trying to hype up a main event one while
<v Speaker 1>semi main and you have brocks opponent come out doing
<v Speaker 1>his silly choreograph strut to the ring kind of takes
<v Speaker 1>you out of the moment.
<v Speaker 2>Now.
<v Speaker 1>I know the strut is one of Obafemi's trademarks. I
<v Speaker 1>get it, you got the kids doing it everything else.
<v Speaker 1>But when you prioritize your gimmicked walk, you know, basically marketing,
<v Speaker 1>which is what that was for just actually being a
<v Speaker 1>real human being that you're about to fight brock Lesner,
<v Speaker 1>takes you out.
<v Speaker 2>Of the moment.
<v Speaker 1>You have to really do your stupid walk to the ring.
<v Speaker 1>Do you know what I'm saying. I have no problem
<v Speaker 1>with Obafemi, Like he is clearly going to be a
<v Speaker 1>big star. He's gonna be facing and likely beating brock
<v Speaker 1>Lesnan at WrestleMania. But when you still have to do
<v Speaker 1>your strut to the ring, it makes the whole program
<v Speaker 1>look foolish. That whole segment looks foolish.
<v Speaker 2>So that's how I feel about it.
<v Speaker 1>And I would also like to see Obafemi actually talk
<v Speaker 1>about why he's targeted brock Lesner. Have we even heard
<v Speaker 1>a reason yet? Or is he going to get his
<v Speaker 1>brock Lesnar going to get the brock Lesnar treatment, Meaning
<v Speaker 1>we're not going to ever know. We're just supposed to
<v Speaker 1>accept it at face value that it's just two alpha males.
<v Speaker 1>There's been no reasoning whatsoever I believe from Obafemi. So
<v Speaker 1>they went face to face and that's when we had
<v Speaker 1>to have Triple H because he can't hire any good security. Apparently,
<v Speaker 1>he gets in the ring between both guys and was,
<v Speaker 1>you know, just trying to look like they were just
<v Speaker 1>trying to pose for a photo op. It was kind
<v Speaker 1>of silly. First of all, Triple H did not need
<v Speaker 1>to be there. You did not need Triple H to
<v Speaker 1>be playing security guard. It was nothing more than Triple
<v Speaker 1>H trying to get some minutes in front of a
<v Speaker 1>live crowd at Madison Square guard That's it.
<v Speaker 2>End of story.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, Triple H can't help himself. I understand he
<v Speaker 1>still has that performer's itch in front of his in
<v Speaker 1>his mind, in his body. I get it, but it's
<v Speaker 1>so it's so apparent when he does this that it
<v Speaker 1>gets it gets under my skin and I don't know
<v Speaker 1>how you guys feel about it, but okay, let's move on.
<v Speaker 1>So he Yeah, they didn't do anything. It was just
<v Speaker 1>a big standoff. But we did have Lesnar hit an
<v Speaker 1>F five on a security guard and that was kind
<v Speaker 1>of it, and there was nothing else. They didn't even
<v Speaker 1>lay a hand on one another. We had a Finnbala
<v Speaker 1>promo video air. He said Judgment Day was family, and
<v Speaker 1>he said they ran raw for four years and said
<v Speaker 1>that he did some things he wasn't proud of, and
<v Speaker 1>he's made some enemies and bad decisions, but he said
<v Speaker 1>the worst was probably that he made was that he
<v Speaker 1>could make a man out of dom Mysterio.
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, it was fine.
<v Speaker 1>I was waiting for some kind of sit down or
<v Speaker 1>backstage or some kind of excuse me, some kind of
<v Speaker 1>pre taped promo and that that was good here. I
<v Speaker 1>had no issue with this at all. I think it
<v Speaker 1>reminded you about this program that I don't think is
<v Speaker 1>really getting the attention it deserves. And I hope we
<v Speaker 1>get some more builds coming up in the coming weeks,
<v Speaker 1>especially from dom side. We have then Penta come out
<v Speaker 1>and face Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship, and Penta
<v Speaker 1>retained the championship in ten minutes after hitting the Mexican Destroyer.
<v Speaker 1>After the match, Jackie Redman comes in and asks what
<v Speaker 1>was in store for him the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania,
<v Speaker 1>and Penta said he spoke to Adam Pierce and Penta
<v Speaker 1>said his title would hang above the ring at WrestleMania
<v Speaker 1>and he would defend it in a ladder match, and
<v Speaker 1>that was it. So that's about what I think a
<v Speaker 1>lot of people expected. It's another one of these matches.
<v Speaker 1>And again I don't have an issue with the ladder match.
<v Speaker 1>You know, are kind of the ladder match. You know,
<v Speaker 1>the caliber of the men that are in that division
<v Speaker 1>can more than deliver in a match like that. But
<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania has become a time and a place and a
<v Speaker 1>platform that everyone gets a jersey for when it should
<v Speaker 1>be the exact opposite.
<v Speaker 2>But that's it.
<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania's become almost too big for itself because it's become
<v Speaker 1>so it's become less about the wrestling and more about
<v Speaker 1>all the sideshow stuff and the celebrity stuff, and the
<v Speaker 1>video packages and the ads that are just plastered every
<v Speaker 1>four seconds, whether it's in a you know, a slimjym
<v Speaker 1>ad or the logos on the mat or whatever it is.
<v Speaker 1>It's become just commercialized. And wrestling is always been commercialized,
<v Speaker 1>but it's never been so blatantly at the expense of
<v Speaker 1>what this is, which is professional wrestling. And that's another
<v Speaker 1>deep dive that you could probably make a whole series
<v Speaker 1>of shows about, which is you know, just WrestleMania, and
<v Speaker 1>what's happened to it over the last ten years, why
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't feel like it anymore? Why had actually become
<v Speaker 1>the exact opposite of what it was intended to be.
<v Speaker 1>If anybody calls it the super Bowl of wrestling, they
<v Speaker 1>don't know what they're talking about. That analogy does not
<v Speaker 1>compute at all. But let's move on. So let's see
<v Speaker 1>here we had some more Paul Hammond stuff backstage, and
<v Speaker 1>let's see he played up logan Paul and Austin theory
<v Speaker 1>as New World tag Champs and tried to do something
<v Speaker 1>special for the fans. He said he was tried to
<v Speaker 1>and he tried to give them Brock versus a with Emmy,
<v Speaker 1>and he blamed Adam Pierce and called them names.
<v Speaker 2>So let's see. We had.
<v Speaker 1>Then Adam Pierce walk onto stage and ask Hayman if
<v Speaker 1>he checked his email, and he is. He just let
<v Speaker 1>him know. Hey, by the way, Seth had all charges
<v Speaker 1>dropped and he's clear to compete. But Paul Hammond had
<v Speaker 1>some great lines here. He talked about being the last
<v Speaker 1>promoter standing. You're thinking about it, like, yeah, Ted Turner
<v Speaker 1>and Eric Buschoff gone, obviously, the McMahon's gone. He's the
<v Speaker 1>sole one standing. Kind of incredible. Now, yeah he's working
<v Speaker 1>for WWE, but he's still the guy that's doing what
<v Speaker 1>he loves to do. He's the last manager from the eighties,
<v Speaker 1>he's the last promoter from the nineties. It's just it's
<v Speaker 1>some great stats and reminders of just Paul Hammond's longevity.
<v Speaker 2>So I loved it.
<v Speaker 1>But Seth Rollins comes out and hits Paul Hammond in
<v Speaker 1>the back with a chair and was about to stomp
<v Speaker 1>him on the chair when Gunther comes out put him
<v Speaker 1>in a sleeper hold, and Seth was drooling on the
<v Speaker 1>announced table passed out, and Cole said the career killer
<v Speaker 1>had another career in his sights come WrestleMania. Gunther somehow
<v Speaker 1>did also get a cut above his eye. Don't know
<v Speaker 1>how that happened, but it was cool. Nonetheless, Seth Rollins, though,
<v Speaker 1>can't have his career killed right now. That's not what
<v Speaker 1>the story should be. That that's that's because it's not believable.
<v Speaker 1>Seth Rollins isn't at the point of retiring. He talked
<v Speaker 1>to me in another three four five years and yeah,
<v Speaker 1>we're getting close, I think. But that's not a believable
<v Speaker 1>you know, a narrative that they can sell to the
<v Speaker 1>fans and have the fans go, oh my god, really
<v Speaker 1>he could end see he already beat AJ Styles and
<v Speaker 1>well we all knew AJ was on his way out.
<v Speaker 1>Seth isn't quite there yet. So if they try to
<v Speaker 1>sell us that he's gonna end Seth's care it's a
<v Speaker 1>bad narrative.
<v Speaker 2>To go with.
<v Speaker 1>Seth doesn't fit that mold. Chris Jericho, on the other hand,
<v Speaker 1>certainly does hint hint, but they have a match as
<v Speaker 1>I mentioned, and that's the glass half full perspective. Eosky
<v Speaker 1>versus Raquel Rodriguez, and we had this match go ten
<v Speaker 1>minutes and twenty five seconds, fairly long for this matchup
<v Speaker 1>that I thought was gonna go five. But Raquel Rodriguez
<v Speaker 1>ends up beating EO Sky, and the way that it
<v Speaker 1>ended was Sky spotting Osca mistreating Kyrie at ringside, and
<v Speaker 1>then EO hit a suicide dive that took out Oscar
<v Speaker 1>and also looked really bad. And can we just on
<v Speaker 1>a side note, stop doing suicide dives. That it's a
<v Speaker 1>high risk move for no reason. And also everyone does them,
<v Speaker 1>so it's not only is it higher risk than necessary,
<v Speaker 1>it also it doesn't mean much anymore because absolutely everyone
<v Speaker 1>does them, so it's kind of like, oh cool, yeah whatever.
<v Speaker 1>And he had EO Sky, you know, catch her foot
<v Speaker 1>on the bottom or the middle rope and that's the
<v Speaker 1>risk you pose, and it looked bad, but Sky popped
<v Speaker 1>up and spoke to saying before returning to the ring.
<v Speaker 1>Raquel grabbed Sky and hit her to hot a bomb
<v Speaker 1>to get the victory, and that was that. So it's fine.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, we had Rakel Rodigus look strong, EO Sky
<v Speaker 1>and Kyrie is really the story here though, as could
<v Speaker 1>Kyrie finally turn on Oscar or is she going to
<v Speaker 1>you know, show that her lord? So he still lies
<v Speaker 1>with Oscar as EO tries to bring her out of
<v Speaker 1>the darkness. That's in a nutshell where we're at with
<v Speaker 1>EO and Oscar and Kyrie. Okay, So here are the
<v Speaker 1>matches that were added to WrestleMania. Penta versus Dragon Ly
<v Speaker 1>versus Javan Evans versus RUSSEV versus j D mcdonnought in
<v Speaker 1>said ladder match for their Continental title dom versus Finn Balor,
<v Speaker 1>Naya Jacks and Lash Legend versus Charlotte Flair and Alexa
<v Speaker 1>Bliss versus Lyra and Bailey versus Brien Nicki in a
<v Speaker 1>four way women's tag team title match. And didn't talk
<v Speaker 1>about this yet. John Cena is going to be the
<v Speaker 1>host of WrestleMania.
<v Speaker 2>Now.
<v Speaker 1>I told you guys that when John Cena retired, even
<v Speaker 1>though he said he's done competing, he is not done
<v Speaker 1>in the ring. You are going to see him in
<v Speaker 1>the ring again. And it happened a lot sooner than
<v Speaker 1>I thought. But he's coming back as the host. It
<v Speaker 1>seems very much like it's trying to sell tickets and
<v Speaker 1>that's their job. But Johnsen is going to be the host. Now,
<v Speaker 1>could someone get an AA?
<v Speaker 2>I doubt it.
<v Speaker 1>He said he's done doing things in the ring, so
<v Speaker 1>he's probably not going to do that, but he could
<v Speaker 1>come face to face with somebody in a fun moment
<v Speaker 1>that leads nowhere, but it'd be a fun moment. Otherwise,
<v Speaker 1>he's just going to be the host. That what hypes
<v Speaker 1>everybody up. And yeah, he's going to be a face
<v Speaker 1>that everyone recognizes and it's WrestleMania. That's fine, Like I
<v Speaker 1>actually have no issue with this whatsoever. It's just yeah,
<v Speaker 1>when everybody said, oh, he's done, and John c and
<v Speaker 1>I swear I'm done, I'm done, I'm done again, I
<v Speaker 1>believe him from a match perspective. But that's kind of it,
<v Speaker 1>all right, So let's continue here. Not much left. Roman
<v Speaker 1>Reins comes out and asks the fans to acknowledge him
<v Speaker 1>and see him. Punk comes out and they immediately just
<v Speaker 1>start fighting. So the talkings over. As I said, we're
<v Speaker 1>into poll apart brawl season. Pretty much every program Rains
<v Speaker 1>try to toss Punk over the top rope.
<v Speaker 2>He reversed it.
<v Speaker 1>Blah blah, blah, back and forth. Adam Pierce comes out
<v Speaker 1>and does what he does best, blows a gasket and
<v Speaker 1>Rains comes back, sets up for a bomb, but he slipped.
<v Speaker 1>Punk slips away, hoists up Rains for a GTS, but
<v Speaker 1>the producers pull him down. Eventually, Punk does hit a
<v Speaker 1>GTS on Rains and then he power bombs Rains through
<v Speaker 1>the announced table. That was it, and.
<v Speaker 2>It was a It was a.
<v Speaker 1>Fine kind of retort from last week where Punk got
<v Speaker 1>put through the table. So if Punk, now, assuming Rains
<v Speaker 1>doesn't appear next week, they only have one show left
<v Speaker 1>to go, which I believe Punk is scheduled for. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>he's scheduled for next two weeks, but I think Rains
<v Speaker 1>is not scheduled for next week if I'm not mistaken,
<v Speaker 1>which is fine, I don't need I mean, what more
<v Speaker 1>than can they do here? I mean, they've already had
<v Speaker 1>three promos bouncing off one another. They've now had a
<v Speaker 1>couple weeks of back and forth brawling, and then next
<v Speaker 1>week is probably gonna be maybe a video package or
<v Speaker 1>a one sided promo from Punk, and then the final
<v Speaker 1>one will be a you know, a verbal altercation to
<v Speaker 1>sit down, which will you know, inevitably lead.
<v Speaker 2>To a brawl.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's that's all you can do. You're kind
<v Speaker 1>of at the end of your rope here. You just
<v Speaker 1>gotta give us the match and move on. So overall,
<v Speaker 1>I thought the raw was a good show. I don't
<v Speaker 1>think again that it warranted the ticket prices people pay for,
<v Speaker 1>especially a Madison Square Garden Monday night raw ticket. Good god, man,
<v Speaker 1>you're gonna get killed. You're gonna get killed with that.
<v Speaker 1>But nonetheless, I think it ended well and it pushed
<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania forward. WrestleMania is starting to feel a little bit
<v Speaker 1>more like WRESTLEMANI You've got Gunther now officially in the mix.
<v Speaker 1>You've got John Cena as the host of WrestleMania if
<v Speaker 1>you're looking for star power, and you have Stephanie McMahon
<v Speaker 1>back last night. It's kind of a surprise, quick cameo appearance.
<v Speaker 1>So I think we're you know, we're in WrestleMania season.
<v Speaker 1>It's better than it was I think just a few
<v Speaker 1>weeks ago.
<v Speaker 2>But it's to ww's.
<v Speaker 1>Defense, they probably didn't know where they were going with
<v Speaker 1>braun Is bron gonna make it he feels like he could.
<v Speaker 1>Then I'm guessing they got the no from the doctors
<v Speaker 1>this week. They probably put a cut off. Hey, you
<v Speaker 1>know as of Sunday night. If you can't come up
<v Speaker 1>with the being medically cleared, we got to cut you
<v Speaker 1>off WrestleMania. I mean, I'm sure bron Breaker is a
<v Speaker 1>week or two away from being able to do something,
<v Speaker 1>so I wouldn't be surprised if he does show up
<v Speaker 1>at WrestleMania, and I hope he does, and I think
<v Speaker 1>he'll get cheered massively. But all right, so some big
<v Speaker 1>reveals coming too, like I said with Randy Orton and
<v Speaker 1>his mystery caller. All right, well that will do it here.
<v Speaker 1>If you want to follow me on Patreon and go
<v Speaker 1>add free, you can do that Patreon dot com, slash
<v Speaker 1>WWE podcast, follow us on Spotify or Apple or anywhere
<v Speaker 1>that you are listening to this podcast. It's available everywhere,
<v Speaker 1>I believe. So we'll be back in a couple of days.
<v Speaker 2>Again.
<v Speaker 1>I'll be posting a video after this talking about the
<v Speaker 1>stepany of a care incident that is ridiculous, and check
<v Speaker 1>that out on Patreon and some other platforms. So thanks everybody,
<v Speaker 1>and we'll talk soon.
<v Speaker 3>Thanks for listening to the WWE podcast. Don't forget to
<v Speaker 3>subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss
<v Speaker 3>a show, or head to wwepodcast dot com and for
<v Speaker 3>all of these shows add free head over to Patreon
<v Speaker 3>dot com slash WWE podcast. Until then, we'll see you
<v Speaker 3>next time.