6 YEARS AGO: Full Preview & Predictions for WWE Stomping Grounds

<v Speaker 1>Today's show, I'm joined by my co host antonvid Marco.
<v Speaker 1>We break down everything from ww this week and run
<v Speaker 1>down the Stomping Grounds pay per view match by match
<v Speaker 1>to give our predictions. Then I'll get started right after
<v Speaker 1>a word from our sponsor.
<v Speaker 2>Welcome to the WWE Podcast, your place for the most
<v Speaker 2>passionate wrestling analysis on the web.
<v Speaker 1>Just turn Roman Heel. What is WWE waiting for another
<v Speaker 1>wrestling podcast?
<v Speaker 2>Put you to sleep? You can count on the WWE
<v Speaker 2>Podcast to get you engaged and asking for more.
<v Speaker 1>I've been watching wrestling for over twenty years and that
<v Speaker 1>was one of the best matches I've ever seen.
<v Speaker 2>If you're easily offended, this may not be the show
<v Speaker 2>for you.
<v Speaker 1>Whatever happened to the men being able to physically retaliate
<v Speaker 1>against the women in WWE, This is a fantasy environment.
<v Speaker 2>This is unlike any other wrestling analysis. So without any
<v Speaker 2>further delay, let's get this show started right now.
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the WWE Podcast. On this Thursday, June twentieth,
<v Speaker 1>twenty nineteen, the last day of spring, so summer actually
<v Speaker 1>starts tomorrow, the longest day of the year for daylight anyway,
<v Speaker 1>and after that, sadly things start to turn the other
<v Speaker 1>way until we get to the winter beginning of winter
<v Speaker 1>in December. So longest day of the year tomorrow. Enjoy it.
<v Speaker 1>It'll be light at least where I am until probably,
<v Speaker 1>Like I mean, you can see the sunlight up until
<v Speaker 1>nine fifteen at night. It's just nuts. So enjoy that,
<v Speaker 1>and enjoy this podcast as well, because we have a
<v Speaker 1>great one for you might be And I keep saying this,
<v Speaker 1>but I keep topping myself. The longest show in the
<v Speaker 1>history of the WWE podcast, My co host Anthony DeMarco
<v Speaker 1>and I we chatted for over two hours about the
<v Speaker 1>status of WWE, the current product, Ron spack Down dove
<v Speaker 1>a little bit into the past because a lot of
<v Speaker 1>the past is now relevant for what's going on now.
<v Speaker 1>So some some cool tidbits there, and of course we
<v Speaker 1>give our our predictions for the Stomping Grounds pay per
<v Speaker 1>view this Sunday, so we get you all ready for
<v Speaker 1>that with some interesting selections and what is a pay
<v Speaker 1>per view that on paper looks very predictable, and so
<v Speaker 1>we've got a couple of swerve picks for you there
<v Speaker 1>and I think you'll enjoy it. But again, guys, if,
<v Speaker 1>by the way, if you guys don't like ads in
<v Speaker 1>the show, and you're like, oh my god, too many ads.
<v Speaker 1>Easy way to resolve that, number one, You could just
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<v Speaker 1>if you want ads to go away, here's your place
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<v Speaker 1>joining me, though, and please check out wwepodcast dot com,
<v Speaker 1>where I have published numerous articles over the past couple
<v Speaker 1>of days too talking about WWE, and I think you'll
<v Speaker 1>enjoy them. It's always a good read, not coming from me,
<v Speaker 1>not just my brain, other people's brains, which is a
<v Speaker 1>good thing. And so the site is growing in content,
<v Speaker 1>it's growing in general. This podcast is growing, as you
<v Speaker 1>guys know, and that's all thanks to you. So this
<v Speaker 1>will be the final show of the week, but I'll
<v Speaker 1>be starting a new week in just a few days
<v Speaker 1>on Sunday, when I do my Wrestling Nostalgia and or
<v Speaker 1>what If segment. I haven't decided yet, so what I've done,
<v Speaker 1>what I've decided to do, just so that you guys
<v Speaker 1>know my schedule is on Sunday, I'll be doing my
<v Speaker 1>typical what if and or Wrestling Nostalgia segment, and then
<v Speaker 1>I will be taking Monday off from doing audio, and
<v Speaker 1>then Tuesday I'll be doing a raw show. Wednesday I'll
<v Speaker 1>be reviewing SmackDown Live. Thursday will be my typical co
<v Speaker 1>hosting spot, and then I'll take Friday and Saturday off,
<v Speaker 1>So you guys will get me four days a week
<v Speaker 1>this week. I did experiment with five. I think four
<v Speaker 1>is more realistic for me just in terms of time
<v Speaker 1>and I have other projects going on, So I think
<v Speaker 1>that Sunday, Monday or Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday. So Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
<v Speaker 1>will be your audio audio pleasure of wrestling, and so
<v Speaker 1>I'll be off three days a week working four days
<v Speaker 1>a week for you. So just so you guys know,
<v Speaker 1>and thank you guys for listening. Thank you guys for
<v Speaker 1>making this a great show, a big show, and much
<v Speaker 1>more to come. As you guys know, this show is
<v Speaker 1>just getting started. So no further Ado, Let's just get
<v Speaker 1>you to the conversation with myself and Anthony and everybody.
<v Speaker 1>Enjoy your weekend. I'll be back Sunday. Take care. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>welcome to the WWE podcast. And this week I have
<v Speaker 1>my third co host in the rotating cast of three,
<v Speaker 1>Anthony DeMarco, who is officially on the show as a
<v Speaker 1>co host for the first time, and it's a blast
<v Speaker 1>to have him here. So Anthony, welcome to the show,
<v Speaker 1>and congrats on being the official co host of the
<v Speaker 1>ww podcast.
<v Speaker 3>Thank you so much, Matt. It's a real honor to
<v Speaker 3>get this position. I'd just like to thank everyone who
<v Speaker 3>voiced their opinion, who supported me and want to be
<v Speaker 3>wanted me to be a permanent co host, So thank
<v Speaker 3>you all, and especially thank you Matt.
<v Speaker 1>No, it's it's it's always great when I have an
<v Speaker 1>opinion that agrees with the masses, and you were one
<v Speaker 1>of the three that people were like, hell, you got
<v Speaker 1>to bring them back on, you got to make make
<v Speaker 1>him a co host. You guys had good chemistry, and
<v Speaker 1>so I was like, yes, all right, so I don't
<v Speaker 1>have to pick somebody that I didn't feel was the
<v Speaker 1>best choice. And I got my wish. So it's a
<v Speaker 1>it's a blast to have you on, and we certainly
<v Speaker 1>don't have any shortage of things to talk about this week.
<v Speaker 1>There are a lot of things going on in WWE.
<v Speaker 1>The some of them good, some of them not. With
<v Speaker 1>the lowest SmackDown rating in the history of WWE, that's
<v Speaker 1>a non holiday. That is a telling tale sign for WE.
<v Speaker 1>And you can't really blame it on any kind of
<v Speaker 1>sporting event. You can't blame it on Memorial Day, fourth
<v Speaker 1>of July. And so we'll get to SmackDown live. But
<v Speaker 1>so ay, let me just ask you this, out of
<v Speaker 1>this entire week in WWE, what are some of the
<v Speaker 1>things that really stood out and that you're like, we
<v Speaker 1>need to talk about this.
<v Speaker 3>Well, I think the biggest thing, and I'll start with
<v Speaker 3>a positive, is I actually like Seth Rollins's kind of
<v Speaker 3>changing character with the chair shot the business that he's
<v Speaker 3>on right now, it kind of adds a new element
<v Speaker 3>to his character. I feel like he was getting a
<v Speaker 3>bit stale there for a bit and it was just
<v Speaker 3>kind of getting repetitive. But it kind of gives him
<v Speaker 3>almost like a Steve Austin anti hero type of thing
<v Speaker 3>that I'm really liking, and I guess and then on
<v Speaker 3>a bit on the negative side of it, it's just
<v Speaker 3>kind of like the Shane McMahon in your face over
<v Speaker 3>over and over and over and over and over and
<v Speaker 3>over again of raw and SmackDown. It's just the same thing.
<v Speaker 3>It's like it's just getting repetitive a bit, and I'm
<v Speaker 3>just kind of kind of getting tired of it. So
<v Speaker 3>there's my big positive and there's my big negatives for
<v Speaker 3>this week so far.
<v Speaker 1>And so I want to touch on that. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>I'm with you about the Shane McMahon deal. I was
<v Speaker 1>a proponent and still I am a proponent of Shane
<v Speaker 1>McMahon staying heal. I think he's doing a very good
<v Speaker 1>job as a heel. But the problem is, Shane McMahon
<v Speaker 1>is not the future, right. Shane mcman' is a forty
<v Speaker 1>nine year old son of the promoter who is the
<v Speaker 1>head of this stable that has no name that I
<v Speaker 1>know of, that is that should be, And it's starting
<v Speaker 1>to transition to focusing on the wrestlers, Drew McIntyre and
<v Speaker 1>Elias who's just kind of there. So yeah, I'm with
<v Speaker 1>you about the Shane deal. I understand what they're going
<v Speaker 1>forward with the heat, but at some point this is
<v Speaker 1>going to need to come to an end. There needs
<v Speaker 1>to have a faction that stands up to them and
<v Speaker 1>just dismantles them and they all go their separate ways.
<v Speaker 1>But I'm with you on that. The chair shots with
<v Speaker 1>Seth Rollins, I'm all for too. I mean, that was
<v Speaker 1>a nice change, a nice big difference from what we
<v Speaker 1>have seen from Seth in the past of just kind
<v Speaker 1>of like talking and there was no real aggression. There
<v Speaker 1>was no sense of urgency from Seth. It felt like,
<v Speaker 1>and he has seemingly snapped and become the chairman of
<v Speaker 1>WWE and gone around and just pummeled anybody that has
<v Speaker 1>thought about being a special guest referee for Baron Corbyn.
<v Speaker 1>So I really liked that aggressiveness from Seth to it
<v Speaker 1>needed to be done. As you said, Seth has been
<v Speaker 1>feeling a bit stale and adding this to his his
<v Speaker 1>character is just another layer that we need to see
<v Speaker 1>from Seth. We needed that, and I was glad to
<v Speaker 1>see it Monday night and obviously bleeding into Tuesday night.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and it brings almost like a realistic sense to
<v Speaker 3>the character. Because anyone who's constantly being shadowed by a monster,
<v Speaker 3>by a guy like brock Lesner and toyed with the
<v Speaker 3>potential cash, and then you have Baron Corbin just always
<v Speaker 3>kind of like busting his balls in the background and
<v Speaker 3>like taking cheap shots at him. So it makes sense
<v Speaker 3>that eventually any normal person would come to this conclusion
<v Speaker 3>where you would snap eventually. So I like that it
<v Speaker 3>shows it's more like of a realistic feel from Seth
<v Speaker 3>Rawlins as opposed to just the repetitiveness that we both
<v Speaker 3>alluded to. But then to just go back to the
<v Speaker 3>shame thing a bit. I really do like what Chanine's doing.
<v Speaker 3>I've always been a big Shane McMahon fan, and I
<v Speaker 3>like the whole faction thing. I think factions are kind
<v Speaker 3>of a lost art in the WWE these days, or
<v Speaker 3>if they are, if they do get assembled, they're quickly
<v Speaker 3>died out like that awful faction the League of Nations
<v Speaker 3>way back in twenty fifteen or what was it. But yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I like it. I like that now it's transitioning onto
<v Speaker 3>Drew McIntyre. But I think just as a result of
<v Speaker 3>this stupid wildcard rule, it's kind of getting diluted a
<v Speaker 3>bit that we're seeing it on both shows for more
<v Speaker 3>than once per show. So I just wish they would
<v Speaker 3>tone it down of it because I loved the idea,
<v Speaker 3>I love the people in it, I love McIntyre, I
<v Speaker 3>love the revival, but I just think it's getting a
<v Speaker 3>bit too diluted.
<v Speaker 1>And you mentioned wildcard. What are your thoughts on the wildcard.
<v Speaker 1>I'm hearing a lot of conflicting opinions, very strong opinions
<v Speaker 1>one way and the other. What are your thoughts on
<v Speaker 1>this wildcard rule?
<v Speaker 3>If it was used to the pure definition of it,
<v Speaker 3>just like three random wrestlers per week could go on,
<v Speaker 3>maybe I could get behind it. Like I told you
<v Speaker 3>the first time I was on the show, before I
<v Speaker 3>was a permanent co host. I grew up in the
<v Speaker 3>ruthless Aggression era, and that's when the brand split was
<v Speaker 3>in full force, and that was like no one crossed
<v Speaker 3>over brands and the only time you saw crossovers was
<v Speaker 3>at the Royal Rumble. Now I understand it's not like
<v Speaker 3>that anymore, but and I know they're more loosely with
<v Speaker 3>the rules, so like I'm trying to be open to
<v Speaker 3>the idea, you know, times change, but it's not even
<v Speaker 3>random three on each shows. It's now four or five
<v Speaker 3>or six, and it's always the same four or five
<v Speaker 3>or six. They're just using the wild card to use
<v Speaker 3>the same wrestlers weekend week out on both shows. It's
<v Speaker 3>not changing. It's always Samy Zing going to SmackDown, Alexa
<v Speaker 3>Bliss going to SmackDown, Drew going to SmackDown. It's always
<v Speaker 3>Roman coming to Raw, Kevin Owen's coming to Raw, Bailey
<v Speaker 3>coming to Raw. It's not being creative, and I thought
<v Speaker 3>the whole point was to give more creativity to the
<v Speaker 3>writing and make it more unpredictable, but it's actually become
<v Speaker 3>the exact opposite. It's predictable, same thing, same thing, every week.
<v Speaker 3>And I absolutely hate it. Honestly, I can't stand it.
<v Speaker 3>And we're not seeing other wrestlers being you so like
<v Speaker 3>we've barely seen Cedric Alexanderson's he came up, and you're
<v Speaker 3>supposed to be like the big graduation from cruiser Weight
<v Speaker 3>to Raw. So yeah, I just think it's done more
<v Speaker 3>harm than good.
<v Speaker 1>And it's also I think an admission, although it would
<v Speaker 1>never be admitted, but it's kind of been a subset
<v Speaker 1>admission by WWE that they're of their failure to create
<v Speaker 1>big stars that can hold down both brands, so they
<v Speaker 1>have to take their biggest stars and put them on
<v Speaker 1>both shows. And as you just said, you already know
<v Speaker 1>who's going to be there. So this this quote, this
<v Speaker 1>idea that the wild card is supposed to add this
<v Speaker 1>this unpredictability factor that anything could happen at any time,
<v Speaker 1>it's done the opposite because you know which stars are
<v Speaker 1>going to show up, and they've taken their top stars
<v Speaker 1>and just just diluted the entire product with those stars.
<v Speaker 1>And now you've overexposed them on both shows twice a week.
<v Speaker 1>So it's not you're doubling down on the problem by
<v Speaker 1>doing this, which is it's really unbelievable when you think
<v Speaker 1>about it, that this rule was supposed to be doing
<v Speaker 1>the opposite of what it's actually doing. And if it was,
<v Speaker 1>as you said, implemented to a t in the exact
<v Speaker 1>way that it was meant to. Yes, this could be
<v Speaker 1>a very cool idea if NXT stars could do it.
<v Speaker 1>Have we seen an NXT star come up and utilize
<v Speaker 1>this wildcard rule? I mean anybody. And furthermore, and I've
<v Speaker 1>said this before and I won't get too much more
<v Speaker 1>into it, but how is this done. Nobody has explained
<v Speaker 1>to the fans how it's decided who shows up. They
<v Speaker 1>just I don't understand as it first come for surf
<v Speaker 1>first to the building. Nobody's explained this, so that furthermore
<v Speaker 1>is diluding this whole wild card thing, which is just
<v Speaker 1>it's nonsensical. But as you said, I would love them
<v Speaker 1>to go back to totally Sprint lands, Sprint split brands,
<v Speaker 1>I'll get it right. And they just have one world
<v Speaker 1>living in it of itself and an island another island,
<v Speaker 1>and they never ever ever cross has unless there's an
<v Speaker 1>absolute big reason to do it. Maybe it's WrestleMania. As
<v Speaker 1>you said, I remember when Goldberg and brock Lesner were
<v Speaker 1>on separate brands, and I mean back in two thousand
<v Speaker 1>and four when they had their terrible match of WrestleMania twenty.
<v Speaker 1>But I remember how crazy it was to see, Oh
<v Speaker 1>my god, Goldberg's on SmackDown. He's not supposed to be here,
<v Speaker 1>and it just felt like it felt much more exciting
<v Speaker 1>when it genuinely felt as if somebody was invading the
<v Speaker 1>other opposing brands show. So we don't have that. Nothing's surprising.
<v Speaker 1>You know who's going to be there. And this whole
<v Speaker 1>thing is not even a wild card. It's just a
<v Speaker 1>it's a quasi brand split, but really there's no brand
<v Speaker 1>spit anymore.
<v Speaker 3>So oh yeah, and that's exactly it. And it just
<v Speaker 3>feels like they knew the ratings were down, so they
<v Speaker 3>wanted a reason to get top superstars from both brands
<v Speaker 3>and just use them on Raw and smack them. Like
<v Speaker 3>look look at this past week on Raw, Daniel Bryan
<v Speaker 3>Russeth rawlins of that kind of match, zero build to it,
<v Speaker 3>no law behind it, Like it makes no sense and
<v Speaker 3>you're just wasting it. And was it a good entering match?
<v Speaker 3>Of course it was. It's two of the best wrestlers there,
<v Speaker 3>but you're just wasting this to get cheap ratings, in
<v Speaker 3>my opinion, because you advertise this big time match and
<v Speaker 3>I just I can't. I think you're you're a big
<v Speaker 3>proponent of this. I don't care if the match is
<v Speaker 3>super good. If the story is garbage or in this case, nonexistent,
<v Speaker 3>I'm not gonna care about it. I won't. I've never
<v Speaker 3>been a big guy of like, Okay, well we'll throw
<v Speaker 3>two really technical guys together out of nowhere and you'll
<v Speaker 3>draw attention. No, I'll get behind a really good story
<v Speaker 3>even if I know that the in ring product won't
<v Speaker 3>be its best, Like shit, Shane mcmanhn versus Vince McMahon
<v Speaker 3>at Wrestling A seventeen that like, we knew that the
<v Speaker 3>entering product wasn't gonna be too good, But I to
<v Speaker 3>this day go back and watch that match because I
<v Speaker 3>remember the build to it, and the build of Shane
<v Speaker 3>coming to his mother's aid and all this in the
<v Speaker 3>street fight and Dad versus Son and this and that
<v Speaker 3>and now with this wildcard world like except for like
<v Speaker 3>the same stories of Roman against Shane or a Lexa
<v Speaker 3>Bliss against Bailey, and then somehow, some way, Kevin Owens
<v Speaker 3>and Sammy Zine always weasel their way in as just
<v Speaker 3>guys who lose. Because that's why I just feel like
<v Speaker 3>they are now guys to put over the good guys.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know, it's it's just really bothersome to me
<v Speaker 3>that they're just using this to be creative, but it's
<v Speaker 3>the opposite, and it's just the same thing, weak and
<v Speaker 3>weak out and just the stories have just gotten so
<v Speaker 3>diluted and just poorly written.
<v Speaker 1>And and we're not gonna beat it at horser But yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, we've said everything there is to say in
<v Speaker 1>terms of the wild card execution, and I don't think
<v Speaker 1>we're being unfair. This is just the truth. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>the fact that you can bring a team over and
<v Speaker 1>only consider them as one out of the four wild
<v Speaker 1>cards is preposterous, because why doesn't everybody just say they're
<v Speaker 1>a team and oh, we're all just considered one. So
<v Speaker 1>I mean, like, it's just the ridiculousness of this and
<v Speaker 1>the fact that they don't ever take the time to
<v Speaker 1>just give us basic details of how this works is
<v Speaker 1>maddening and insults fans intelligence. And it's lazy, sloppy booking
<v Speaker 1>to allow themselves leeway to book however they want without regulation,
<v Speaker 1>to fit whatever story they want to fit at the time,
<v Speaker 1>even if there's no parameters for it. It's it's the
<v Speaker 1>worst possible storytelling that you could make if you're if
<v Speaker 1>you're an author of any book. It's just terrible. So
<v Speaker 1>moving on, though I want to, I'm going to move
<v Speaker 1>away from this because I could, I could run about
<v Speaker 1>the wild card for a while. I'm not gonna do that.
<v Speaker 1>So what about Dolf Ziggler? Do you are you? Are
<v Speaker 1>you thinking like, hey, does Dolf Zigler even belong in
<v Speaker 1>the main event picture? Do you think that Dolf Ziggler
<v Speaker 1>is deserving? Do you like that he is saying it
<v Speaker 1>should have been me? What's your take on Ziggler and
<v Speaker 1>Kofi Kingston.
<v Speaker 3>Oh? Well, I've always like Dolf Ziggler because he's kind
<v Speaker 3>of a diverse character. You can kind of give him
<v Speaker 3>anything and he'll spin it into gold if you will.
<v Speaker 3>But I, as we talked about when I came on
<v Speaker 3>the show about a month ago, I really liked at
<v Speaker 3>the beginning. I feel like this should have been me
<v Speaker 3>saying the promos. It's starting to get a little bit repetitive,
<v Speaker 3>but I still like it. But even though he's kind
<v Speaker 3>of referring back to like his screaming thing, now, the
<v Speaker 3>one thing about golf, and I'm happy that he's getting
<v Speaker 3>a second match because I thought it was just gonna
<v Speaker 3>be a one and done in a super Showdown. But
<v Speaker 3>I still feel like he's just a placeholder challenger, and
<v Speaker 3>it just it gets that feeling because he doesn't really
<v Speaker 3>like even though he's the number one contender for the
<v Speaker 3>w Championship, he's still kind of just on the side
<v Speaker 3>of it. Like he comes out at the first segment
<v Speaker 3>of the show, he wrestles a match against Zevier Woods,
<v Speaker 3>and he's done, and then the guy who he's challenging
<v Speaker 3>for the belt on Sunday is often a completely irrelevant
<v Speaker 3>tag team match. So even though I like for the
<v Speaker 3>most part what he's doing and I think that he
<v Speaker 3>should have been there, no play intended, even though I
<v Speaker 3>think that he belongs to be there, it just it
<v Speaker 3>gives off this feel. And this is more on the
<v Speaker 3>writing than him, that I'm not taking him seriously as
<v Speaker 3>a potential winner and they're just kind of finding a
<v Speaker 3>placeholder challenger until they can find something more concrete heading
<v Speaker 3>into SummerSlam.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, he does. He feels like a placeholder. And I
<v Speaker 1>said this last night on the show that I did
<v Speaker 1>with for the SmackDown review, is that Dolf Ziggler he
<v Speaker 1>the thing is his character has been educated to fans
<v Speaker 1>for how many years now that he can wrestle his
<v Speaker 1>ass off, he can sell his ass off, he can
<v Speaker 1>cut a good promo. He's not a bad character. He's
<v Speaker 1>not bad on the mic. He's decent on the mic.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, aside from his screaming. And even when he's screaming,
<v Speaker 1>you're still paying attention. There are certainly worse guys in
<v Speaker 1>the business on the promo than Dolf Ziggler. I would
<v Speaker 1>say good to above average. And so the problem, though is,
<v Speaker 1>no matter what how good his problem is, no matter
<v Speaker 1>how good he is in the ring, you just know,
<v Speaker 1>because of years and years and years of booking, that
<v Speaker 1>Dolf Ziggler is going to lose the big match, because
<v Speaker 1>we have been educated to believe that, and I have
<v Speaker 1>no reason to believe otherwise until proven wrong. Dolf Ziggler's
<v Speaker 1>character has been a victim of creative booking and just
<v Speaker 1>just booking that has destroyed the credibility of his character.
<v Speaker 1>Anytime he tells us he's going to win, he has
<v Speaker 1>to win. I will beat you. It's like, but you're
<v Speaker 1>not going to Like Dolph, Let's be real, you're not
<v Speaker 1>gonna win. We all know you're not going to win.
<v Speaker 1>And that's the problem with his character. Beyond the fact
<v Speaker 1>that he is one of the best in the ring
<v Speaker 1>and has been for quite some time, and is a
<v Speaker 1>he can make his opponent look like a million bucks.
<v Speaker 1>That's a huge asset. But as you just said, uh,
<v Speaker 1>Kofi Kingston, I think is on a roll and he
<v Speaker 1>is a a people's champion, no pun intended. And anytime
<v Speaker 1>that and I've said this before too, anytime Kobe Kingston
<v Speaker 1>or anytime a champion wins the championship at WrestleMania, it's
<v Speaker 1>a championship win that needs to stick for six months.
<v Speaker 1>And I really believe that you can't just have a
<v Speaker 1>champion win it WrestleMania and then have them lose the
<v Speaker 1>next month or two months after, because then it really
<v Speaker 1>means nothing. WrestleMania is the reset button, Wrestlemani's the end
<v Speaker 1>all be all, And on top of it, it doesn't
<v Speaker 1>hurt that Kobe Kingston's a black man. I mean, let's
<v Speaker 1>be honest, he is the perfect candidate right now for
<v Speaker 1>WWE's progressive ideology to play. Kate, Hey, we have an
<v Speaker 1>African American champion. I mean, I don't think he's being
<v Speaker 1>used for that, but it certainly doesn't hurt that he
<v Speaker 1>is the face of WWE right now. There's a lot
<v Speaker 1>of things going against Dolf Ziggler, and those are just
<v Speaker 1>a couple of them. But overall, look, I am a
<v Speaker 1>fan of Dolph Ziggler to a point. You know, I'm
<v Speaker 1>not gonna go there and scream my face off like
<v Speaker 1>a thirteen year old girl for him. But I think
<v Speaker 1>that he has a lot of good qualities and it's
<v Speaker 1>just unfortunate that they didn't strike while the iron was hot.
<v Speaker 1>And when I think the iron was the most hot
<v Speaker 1>for him was I think it was the night after
<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania at twenty seven, don't quote me on maybe twenty
<v Speaker 1>seven to twenty eight, and he cashed in and won
<v Speaker 1>the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto del Rio And he
<v Speaker 1>was a placeholder champion then and he feels like a
<v Speaker 1>placeholder contender now.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, because I if memory shouldn't correctly, they ended up
<v Speaker 3>at the end of that feud, it culminated in a
<v Speaker 3>double term turn with him and Alberto do Rio, if
<v Speaker 3>I'm not mistaken, where like in one match they swapped
<v Speaker 3>heel and face positions and honestly, like that whole feud,
<v Speaker 3>Like I just hated Alberto do Rio. I thought he
<v Speaker 3>was the most boring thing I'd ever seen, and they
<v Speaker 3>were just kind of recreate Eddie Guerrero to be honest,
<v Speaker 3>but yeah, to get back on Dolf Ziegler, like it's
<v Speaker 3>just kind of been the same thing over and over
<v Speaker 3>and over again with them. I did think they were
<v Speaker 3>kind of rejuvenating it with his initial phase run when
<v Speaker 3>they first the brand split in twenty sixteen or the
<v Speaker 3>second brand splint, I must say, because he was the
<v Speaker 3>initial number one contender to Dean Ambrose at the time
<v Speaker 3>on SmackDown to the w W Championship. They actually had
<v Speaker 3>a title match at SummerSlam that year, and then he
<v Speaker 3>kind of had that feud with the Mizz of the
<v Speaker 3>Intercontinental Championship, and I thought that there was going places,
<v Speaker 3>and then it just kind of died again. And then
<v Speaker 3>he did the whole like the no music thing, the
<v Speaker 3>no entrance themes thing, and then he walked out after
<v Speaker 3>winning the US titles. So I just found that his
<v Speaker 3>character has been kind of hard to follow. He's all
<v Speaker 3>over the place. He was somewhat relevant when he teamed
<v Speaker 3>with Braun and McIntyre last year when he was on Raw.
<v Speaker 3>It's just and I feel bad because I do like
<v Speaker 3>the wrestler for the most part, but it's just been
<v Speaker 3>way too hard to follow because it's been all over
<v Speaker 3>the place. He's been faced, he's been heel, he's been
<v Speaker 3>kind of cocky and arrogant, or now he's kind of psycho.
<v Speaker 3>It's just too much, and I just I don't see
<v Speaker 3>how there's any way that he actually wins this title
<v Speaker 3>or how I can even take him seriously.
<v Speaker 1>You can't. And that's a good point too, that his character,
<v Speaker 1>there's zero consistency in his not just as you said
<v Speaker 1>heal and face, just his personality, like we don't know
<v Speaker 1>who he is outside of a great in ring wrestler.
<v Speaker 1>We just don't know who he is. And I'm sure
<v Speaker 1>that him as a as a person is extremely frustrated
<v Speaker 1>with Creative just not giving him a clear path and saying, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>you're this this month, this next month, but you know,
<v Speaker 1>we'll see how this goes and then we pull back
<v Speaker 1>and then there's just stop, start, stop, start, go over here,
<v Speaker 1>go over there, And when you get to that point,
<v Speaker 1>no matter how good you are in the ring, fans
<v Speaker 1>get complacent. They just go who cares? I mean, like this,
<v Speaker 1>this guy's clearly not the guy that WW is gonna
<v Speaker 1>get behind. How can we get behind him if we
<v Speaker 1>know that he's going nowhere? And that's exactly where Dolf
<v Speaker 1>Ziggler is. And it's really unfortunate because I really think
<v Speaker 1>he could have been He could have been a top
<v Speaker 1>top guy had they given him a serious run and
<v Speaker 1>go all in with him at one point. But they
<v Speaker 1>never have. So let's let's get to something that we
<v Speaker 1>like and something that I like. And I think I
<v Speaker 1>brought this up last time, but it is a shining
<v Speaker 1>light in my week of WWE, and that's a Firefly
<v Speaker 1>fun House. Now I can't remember. Are you a fan
<v Speaker 1>of the Firefly fun House?
<v Speaker 3>Yes? Very much?
<v Speaker 1>So Okay, now now that we're what almost two months,
<v Speaker 1>probably closing in maybe on two months of this, are
<v Speaker 1>you still as big of a fan? Are you ready
<v Speaker 1>to just say, oh my god, just debut you already?
<v Speaker 1>Where do you stand with this?
<v Speaker 3>I've loved it. There was a point where that one
<v Speaker 3>episode of him when he was like dancing and it
<v Speaker 3>was almost like a your music video and I looked
<v Speaker 3>at my girlfriend, I'm just like, did we take LSB
<v Speaker 3>and I didn't know, but on his ears note, there
<v Speaker 3>was a point where I was like, Okay, it's hanging old.
<v Speaker 3>But it actually worked out perfectly because they dropped the
<v Speaker 3>whole fiend thing for a bit and there's either two
<v Speaker 3>or three weeks where you didn't really see him, and
<v Speaker 3>now he pulls you back in. And this episode was
<v Speaker 3>just amazing because now it's kind of it's starting to
<v Speaker 3>make a lot more sense that, like, from what I'm
<v Speaker 3>taking from it is that he's saying like he was
<v Speaker 3>always rejected, so he created this altered ego to protect
<v Speaker 3>himself from it, And I just think it's amazing. I
<v Speaker 3>think they're really pushing the boundaries here of PG. Again,
<v Speaker 3>I think you shared the same concern, or the only
<v Speaker 3>concern I may have is that I just hope that
<v Speaker 3>when he finally does debut, they execute it properly, because
<v Speaker 3>they've built it so well better than anything they've done
<v Speaker 3>in the last number of years that it would just
<v Speaker 3>kill me to see them just butcher it when he
<v Speaker 3>finally does debut. But as of right now, I think
<v Speaker 3>it's the best thing they have going.
<v Speaker 1>WWA cannot under any circumstances screw this up. They can't.
<v Speaker 1>This is one of the best things, as you said,
<v Speaker 1>that they have had going in. I can't remember the
<v Speaker 1>last time. When is the last time that WWE has
<v Speaker 1>utilized Vignette's videos, promos, whatever to this extent to where
<v Speaker 1>there's this much anticipation for not only the video itself,
<v Speaker 1>but also when is he going to debut? I can't wait.
<v Speaker 1>What's gonna happen? How's it going to be? Is he
<v Speaker 1>going to come out in a sweater vest? Is he
<v Speaker 1>gonna come out as a fiend? How's it going to work?
<v Speaker 1>Is he gonna be like Finn Balor and kind of
<v Speaker 1>a regular guy but bring out the demon when he
<v Speaker 1>needs to? I don't know, And I think that's the
<v Speaker 1>interesting part, but also the part that I'm scared of,
<v Speaker 1>Like I'm nervous that they are going to really really
<v Speaker 1>mess this up and they can't. And bray Wyatt has
<v Speaker 1>done an amazing, amazing job going all in with this character.
<v Speaker 1>Like when I look at bray Wyatt, I believe that
<v Speaker 1>he's like that in real life. He's gotten me to
<v Speaker 1>that point where I believe that he is this crazy.
<v Speaker 1>Of course I still know it's fantasy, but at the
<v Speaker 1>same time, and I'm watching I Get Lost, and that's
<v Speaker 1>what I miss watching w w A, and I just
<v Speaker 1>I watch this this firefly finouse every week and I'm
<v Speaker 1>looking for Easter eggs and I'm looking for hints, and
<v Speaker 1>there are there's so many layers to every episode that
<v Speaker 1>he's done that you could spend hours every week dissecting
<v Speaker 1>just that episode because of just all the all the
<v Speaker 1>different things that he's put in each episode, between the
<v Speaker 1>characters' names and the things that he says, the looks
<v Speaker 1>that he gives, the way he says things. There are
<v Speaker 1>so many different things that you could dissect that it's
<v Speaker 1>just it's so complex, but it's easy to follow at
<v Speaker 1>the same time. And he is he's a he's a
<v Speaker 1>master at making you just pulling you in right now.
<v Speaker 1>He's he's masterful at that. And he has got us hooked.
<v Speaker 1>And it's been two months, I think around two months,
<v Speaker 1>probably a little bit less, but it's been to the
<v Speaker 1>I don't think it's I'm not to the point of,
<v Speaker 1>oh my god, I'm sick of this. Let's just get
<v Speaker 1>him in the in the ring. I want this to
<v Speaker 1>go as long as it needs to go. And I
<v Speaker 1>want creative behind the scenes and Vince McMahon to make
<v Speaker 1>sure they have all of their ducks in a row
<v Speaker 1>and have a long term plan for Bray Wyatt, not
<v Speaker 1>just well, we're debuting against I don't know Matt Hardy
<v Speaker 1>and see how he does. No, no, No, they need
<v Speaker 1>to have a vision and stick by their guns and
<v Speaker 1>go all out with this character and see their plan through,
<v Speaker 1>which hopefully is a three to six month maybe even
<v Speaker 1>longer plan for Bray White. I need this to succeed.
<v Speaker 1>Bray needs us to succeed in Wwe cannot flop on this.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and I'm really hoping that when he does come out,
<v Speaker 3>it's not just him, you know, squashing people like just
<v Speaker 3>no names or really bottom card guys. Because you mentioned
<v Speaker 3>this the last time we spoke about it. He's already
<v Speaker 3>an established wrestler. Sure he's been repackaged to the fullest extent,
<v Speaker 3>but people know who Brainwytt is. He's been a WW champion,
<v Speaker 3>he's been around since twenty twelve or whatever it is.
<v Speaker 3>He can just come in and you know, squash like
<v Speaker 3>Apollo Cruise or whatever. When the guy's chasing the twenty
<v Speaker 3>four seven title, he has to come in and get
<v Speaker 3>into a few that's worthwhile, like come in and attack
<v Speaker 3>Roman Reigns or take or fight with Kofi Kingson. I
<v Speaker 3>want him to come in and make an impact, because
<v Speaker 3>already his story of the Firefly Funhouse is making such
<v Speaker 3>an impact that he's not even in the ring. So
<v Speaker 3>I don't want him to show up on either Raw
<v Speaker 3>or SmackDown or at this straat both and take a
<v Speaker 3>back seat. I want him to come in and I
<v Speaker 3>want this story to be the focal point of the
<v Speaker 3>show because I think it can be, and I think
<v Speaker 3>people want it to be. And he's just such a
<v Speaker 3>mastermind at it as you brought up, and he's good
<v Speaker 3>in the ring. We've seen him be good in the ring.
<v Speaker 3>I just think that when he comes out, they better
<v Speaker 3>pick their spot properly, because it can't just be a
<v Speaker 3>storyline on the back burner. It has to be front
<v Speaker 3>and center. It has to be in a major your
<v Speaker 3>storyline or possibly for a title. I don't know what
<v Speaker 3>they're gonna do, but I just know that they have
<v Speaker 3>to make it worthwhile. It can't just be an afterthought, No.
<v Speaker 1>It absolutely can't. WW has no choice on this one.
<v Speaker 1>And I don't say that lightly. I don't know if
<v Speaker 1>I've set that in quite a while, but if they
<v Speaker 1>botched this, there's gonna be I think a lot of
<v Speaker 1>angry fans that that are. I mean, they might I
<v Speaker 1>don't want to say the rebel, but you could turn
<v Speaker 1>a lot of fans off very quickly if this is
<v Speaker 1>is failed. And it's failed on the part of WWE,
<v Speaker 1>and Bray White has put so much effort into this
<v Speaker 1>and has done an amazing job. So let's touch on
<v Speaker 1>the women's division, and I just have to put some
<v Speaker 1>quick thoughts. So in general, you know, for a while,
<v Speaker 1>it felt as if Becky Lynch, I think has been
<v Speaker 1>cooled off and I think that she has been kind
<v Speaker 1>of just flopping out there since WrestleMania. I alluded to
<v Speaker 1>a few weeks ago that maybe it's because she hasn't
<v Speaker 1>had the great dance partner of Ronda Rowsey hanging around,
<v Speaker 1>which I think is a big contributing factor. And you
<v Speaker 1>have Lacy Evans who's been put front and center against
<v Speaker 1>Becky Lynch. And while some people may really really dislike
<v Speaker 1>Lacy Evans and thinks she's undeserving, and yes, she had
<v Speaker 1>a terrible match against Charlotte A number of weeks ago.
<v Speaker 1>Of course it was awful. It was probably the worst
<v Speaker 1>match of the year. But you need to establish new
<v Speaker 1>stars and build new stars. You can't just have all
<v Speaker 1>the time stars against stars. You need to have people
<v Speaker 1>that are up and coming, and after WrestleMania is the
<v Speaker 1>perfect time to do it, to build that new star
<v Speaker 1>for the new year. And I think overall, Lacy Evans
<v Speaker 1>has done a good job as the heel. I don't
<v Speaker 1>think she's masterful in the ring. She does need work,
<v Speaker 1>but that'll come in time. She's got her promo down
<v Speaker 1>better than most do when they come up from NXT,
<v Speaker 1>even though she does speak a little litle bit slow,
<v Speaker 1>and Becky Lynch alluded to that pretty well on Monday
<v Speaker 1>net Raw. But I think she's She's got a good presence.
<v Speaker 1>I don't mind her right now is the challenger because
<v Speaker 1>I want to see Lacy Evans get her ass kicked
<v Speaker 1>and that's what I want to feel. And Becky Lynch,
<v Speaker 1>on the other hand, has kind of felt luke warm.
<v Speaker 1>I haven't got that spark, that energy that I want
<v Speaker 1>a as Becky Lynch really had when she turned heel
<v Speaker 1>and turned her really into the biggest babyface in WWE,
<v Speaker 1>but has since cooled off and right now she's I
<v Speaker 1>don't think going to be getting back to that status
<v Speaker 1>when she's in a program with Lacy Evans. However, right
<v Speaker 1>now I'm fine with Lacy Evans going against Becky Lynch.
<v Speaker 1>We all know Lacy Evans isn't going to win the championship,
<v Speaker 1>at least not at this time. So those are my thoughts.
<v Speaker 1>What do you think about the women's division, and not
<v Speaker 1>just even Becky and Lacy Evans, but the SmackDown women's
<v Speaker 1>division as well well.
<v Speaker 3>I think the women's division as a whole has kind
<v Speaker 3>of I won't see torpee, but it hasn't been as
<v Speaker 3>good as it was pre Wrestlingia because leading up to WrestleMania,
<v Speaker 3>I would argue that it was much more entertaining than
<v Speaker 3>the men's division. But since WrestleMania, you know, Charlotte's kind
<v Speaker 3>of she's been there, but now like the past few weeks,
<v Speaker 3>she's kind of not been around. Sasha Banks has been
<v Speaker 3>on a hiatus. We haven't really seen Naomi or Ember
<v Speaker 3>Moon in prominent roles, so it's kind of just been Bailey,
<v Speaker 3>Becky and Lacy Evans. Becky I find she's gotten really stale.
<v Speaker 3>You know, I feel like her promos have just become
<v Speaker 3>the same thing, calling people blokes or what have you.
<v Speaker 3>And I won't say that I'm happy that she's cooled
<v Speaker 3>off to this extent, but I am also because I
<v Speaker 3>think people took Ronda Rousey for granted and they didn't
<v Speaker 3>realize just how good Rowsey was in promos and in
<v Speaker 3>the ring, and as you said before, she was a
<v Speaker 3>great dance partner for Becky. I personally really like Lacy Evans.
<v Speaker 3>Obviously she does need work in the ring, but I
<v Speaker 3>think she's hammered down her character perfectly. Her promos are good,
<v Speaker 3>you understand her standpoint, and she's just not quite there
<v Speaker 3>to elevate Becky's game. I just think that Becky's become
<v Speaker 3>just repetitive and it's the same thing and we know
<v Speaker 3>that people have held you down and blah blah blah,
<v Speaker 3>and I don't know. I just I've had a hard
<v Speaker 3>time getting behind Becky lately. But as for Lazy, I
<v Speaker 3>think she's been the best part of the women's division
<v Speaker 3>up until Alexa Bliss getting back into entering competition. Because
<v Speaker 3>I think that Alexa Bliss Bailey storyline is much more
<v Speaker 3>intriguing aside from the fact that Alexa Bliss is a
<v Speaker 3>raw competitor fighting for the Smackdowens title, but we already
<v Speaker 3>touched the wildcard rule. But as a whole, I think
<v Speaker 3>that storyline of Bailey and Alexa is much more intriguing
<v Speaker 3>than Becky and Lazy right now.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, and I'm glad you brought up Becky and Alexa
<v Speaker 1>because that's something I wanted to talk to about as well.
<v Speaker 1>But just to finish up on Becky and Lacy, I
<v Speaker 1>really think that they as you said, Lacy Evans has
<v Speaker 1>her character. She down more than most do and more
<v Speaker 1>than some more established stars do. And she has come
<v Speaker 1>up from NXT and made it impact, made it impact quickly,
<v Speaker 1>and that's what you want. And she feels different than
<v Speaker 1>most of the women. That's what you want to you
<v Speaker 1>want to differentiate yourself from the pack. She's done that.
<v Speaker 1>She's the sassy Southern bell or whatever cute nickname they
<v Speaker 1>give her. But she plays the part. She goes all in.
<v Speaker 1>That's what I want, and she does it, and she's
<v Speaker 1>got a really good looking finish. I like the woman's right,
<v Speaker 1>it's it's nice. It's kind of the female version of
<v Speaker 1>Big Shows WMD Weapon of Mass Destruction. I'm fine with it.
<v Speaker 1>I think it's it's unique. And you know, on top
<v Speaker 1>of that, Becky, as you said, has kind of just
<v Speaker 1>spun her wheels. I mean that's kind of a that's
<v Speaker 1>a good analogy. She's just there running on old fumes,
<v Speaker 1>not giving us something new to get behind her on.
<v Speaker 1>She's just still kind of in WrestleMania post match mode
<v Speaker 1>instead of looking ahead and just saying the same things
<v Speaker 1>you said, it good. I mean, she's just saying, everybody's
<v Speaker 1>held me down. I've done this all my life. I've
<v Speaker 1>put dopes down like you. Okay, well come up, we
<v Speaker 1>need something more, Becky. Please. Right now, I'm starting to
<v Speaker 1>lose a little bit of interest in Becky Lynch. She's
<v Speaker 1>nowhere near how hot she was. If you would put
<v Speaker 1>her out a ten from how hot she was the
<v Speaker 1>night after the Royal Rumble, I'd say she's about a
<v Speaker 1>three or a four right now. That's based on crowd reaction,
<v Speaker 1>that's just based how I feel sitting at home watching her.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I'm interested when she comes out, but I
<v Speaker 1>don't have that unpredictable feeling. I don't have the rebellious nature,
<v Speaker 1>that instinct that I felt when Becky Lynch came out.
<v Speaker 1>She's just kind of another one of the women, and
<v Speaker 1>she happens to be champion, and I don't want that
<v Speaker 1>for Becky Lynch. As far as Bailey and Alexa go Man,
<v Speaker 1>that promo they had on SmackDown. While they clearly booked
<v Speaker 1>it for a work shoot promo, it came across very
<v Speaker 1>real and I'm sure that a lot of that, some
<v Speaker 1>of that material was instinctual and from their own brains
<v Speaker 1>in the moment, and that's what I love too. When
<v Speaker 1>Alexa noted to Bailey, Hey, you know you peaked an NXT?
<v Speaker 1>What have you done since you got here? And boy
<v Speaker 1>is that true? Since Bailey got here outside of her
<v Speaker 1>being the I don't know she was some surprise tag
<v Speaker 1>team partner. I forget what pay per view. She has
<v Speaker 1>just gone up, down, up, down, down, down, down, down down,
<v Speaker 1>and her and Sasha going back and forth and the
<v Speaker 1>love you Hate You mode for a year and a
<v Speaker 1>half and the Bailey this is your life that she
<v Speaker 1>had with ironically Alexa Bliss a year and a half ago.
<v Speaker 1>None of that didn't hurt anything. And the promo they
<v Speaker 1>had it brought it all back together. It made Bailey
<v Speaker 1>human again. It It really also kind of made me
<v Speaker 1>side with Alexa because she had a lot of good
<v Speaker 1>valid points that as a heel I typically don't. I'm
<v Speaker 1>not supposed to. I feel like I agree with and
<v Speaker 1>you know, see that they see their side of it.
<v Speaker 1>But they both had some scathing things to say. And yes,
<v Speaker 1>of course it was a workshoot promo, but I don't know,
<v Speaker 1>I loved it. What did you think about that on
<v Speaker 1>SmackDown Lives?
<v Speaker 3>Oh, it was really good. It felt real, it felt authentic.
<v Speaker 3>I liked it. I well, in general, I've liked the
<v Speaker 3>Nikki cross element to it. I like that, like, you know,
<v Speaker 3>the whole manipulation on the part of Alexa Blizz and yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I just think that a lot of it felt like
<v Speaker 3>it came from the gut with them. It's made me
<v Speaker 3>care about Bailey. It's not just like she you know,
<v Speaker 3>she was the cartoon character and at first it was fine,
<v Speaker 3>but then the fire die I know quick, but lately,
<v Speaker 3>like I like seeing her come out just in street
<v Speaker 3>clothes and jeans and a T shirt and regular girl
<v Speaker 3>heels or whatever, and it just felt like she's more
<v Speaker 3>relatable now, and so it makes me care about Bailey,
<v Speaker 3>it makes me want to support her. And Alexa well,
<v Speaker 3>she's just always been great as a heel and getting heat.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, I'm really invested in this match. I'm looking
<v Speaker 3>forward to this match as opposed to the raw one
<v Speaker 3>where I just really couldn't care at this point. But yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I really like what Bailey and Alexa have done and
<v Speaker 3>that problem they had on SPACT that was amazing.
<v Speaker 1>And it, like you said in One Fell Swoop, they
<v Speaker 1>made me care about this program more than they have
<v Speaker 1>ever since they started having a few, and that was
<v Speaker 1>years ago too. This this is not something I want
<v Speaker 1>to see all the time. I don't need this workshoot
<v Speaker 1>style every single time. But when it's done in dribs
<v Speaker 1>and drabs here and there, when you don't see it coming,
<v Speaker 1>that's when it's the most effective. So just because it
<v Speaker 1>was super effective this week doesn't mean I want to
<v Speaker 1>see it every single week. I don't mind the you know,
<v Speaker 1>the typical WWE created promo. Sometimes that's not a bad
<v Speaker 1>thing to have. I don't want to make it feel
<v Speaker 1>like they're reading lines. But I also don't need the
<v Speaker 1>shoot aspect all the time. Because it just it takes
<v Speaker 1>me out of the moment. I need I need it occasionally.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, the street clothes thing, and while Alexi said
<v Speaker 1>it looks like you're working at you know, forever twenty one,
<v Speaker 1>which made me laugh, it did humanize her, just as
<v Speaker 1>it did with Drew McIntyre, not constantly seeing him in
<v Speaker 1>street clothes or in in his wrestling gear and having
<v Speaker 1>him just wear jeans and his shirt or whatever. Just
<v Speaker 1>the simple thing of that humanizes people quickly. And Bailey
<v Speaker 1>was a cartoon character Bailey Buddies. I just like to
<v Speaker 1>hug people. I come out and I'm all colorful. I
<v Speaker 1>want to who's Bailey? I need to know who you
<v Speaker 1>are as a person and what your mission is. Apparently
<v Speaker 1>you're done giving hugs, but your Bailey buddies are still here.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. I don't know. But the Nicky Cross
<v Speaker 1>thing is interesting too. And for Bailey to say to NICKI, Hey,
<v Speaker 1>do you remember Naya Jax? What did Alexa do to
<v Speaker 1>Nia JACKX? Do you remember Mickey James? What did she
<v Speaker 1>do to Mickey James? How do you not see this coming?
<v Speaker 1>And interestingly too, I don't know if this was by
<v Speaker 1>design or not but Niki Cross never actually punched, kicked,
<v Speaker 1>did anything too to Bailey to pull her off of Alexa.
<v Speaker 1>Other than just pull her off. There was no actual
<v Speaker 1>physical exchange between the two, So whether Nicki Cross turns
<v Speaker 1>on Alexa or not remains to be seen. But it
<v Speaker 1>was just interesting that they never actually had a physical
<v Speaker 1>exchange in that moment that she could have and there was.
<v Speaker 1>There was also a pause or a hesitation by Nicki
<v Speaker 1>after Bailey had started attacking Alexa, So that's just something interesting.
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, to take Nicky Cross into this, it does
<v Speaker 1>add another layer. I don't know what the endgame is
<v Speaker 1>for Nicky, but I hope it ends with Nicky not
<v Speaker 1>looking like a fool.
<v Speaker 3>You know, Matt, you said something in there that I
<v Speaker 3>wanted to touch on because it doesn't have to do
<v Speaker 3>with the women particularly, but you said that it worked
<v Speaker 3>this week, So I hope they don't keep using it
<v Speaker 3>and gets diluted because they think we've touched on. When
<v Speaker 3>Vince McMahon likes something, he beats that thing to death.
<v Speaker 3>And one thing that I don't understand why he keeps
<v Speaker 3>going to is Sammy Sane and Kevin Owens. You know,
<v Speaker 3>I don't understand why that these two constantly have to
<v Speaker 3>be paired together as just glorified trolls, and because they
<v Speaker 3>have relatively big names attached to them that like their
<v Speaker 3>losses will automatically put over the over guys. And it's
<v Speaker 3>just been something bothering me that like these guys, like
<v Speaker 3>I've has had seen them, been building matches like final
<v Speaker 3>time ever culmination of for her best friends, they won't
<v Speaker 3>meet again now one's on raw, ones unsmacked up, but
<v Speaker 3>then for some reason they're always just put back together
<v Speaker 3>as giant trolls. And it's just it's bothered me that,
<v Speaker 3>like it's been going on for so long now, because
<v Speaker 3>now we're coming up on two years that the whole
<v Speaker 3>thing started with the angle against ironically Shane McMahon, that
<v Speaker 3>that's all that they've been and since the days where
<v Speaker 3>Sammy Sing was actually a somewhat relevant mid card guy
<v Speaker 3>and Kevin Owens was a competitor against aj Styles for
<v Speaker 3>the US title and the Universal Championship, and now I
<v Speaker 3>just feel like because their whole slightly heeled comedic act work,
<v Speaker 3>but that's all they use these guys for, and I
<v Speaker 3>just feel like these guys are being wasted big time.
<v Speaker 1>Now I'm gonna try to remain a little calm here,
<v Speaker 1>because last night I went, I went off on this
<v Speaker 1>topic that that Kevin Owens and Sammy Zy they are
<v Speaker 1>sorely underutilized, and that is being the most mild that
<v Speaker 1>can be. They have such an upside. I don't care
<v Speaker 1>if Vince McMahon looks at Kevin Owens and says, look
<v Speaker 1>at him, he's got a beer gut. He can't be
<v Speaker 1>the face of the WWE. I mean, I feel like
<v Speaker 1>that's what Vince McMahon is thinking. And I don't know
<v Speaker 1>why they put him as Universal champion. And since that
<v Speaker 1>time after Triple H handed it to him, if we
<v Speaker 1>all forgot he lost to Goldberg and then we have
<v Speaker 1>he just spiraled down into an abyss. And once he
<v Speaker 1>was doing these promo videos to come back, if you
<v Speaker 1>want to call him promo videos. He's in a bowling
<v Speaker 1>alley with his kids, he's at a movie theater and
<v Speaker 1>he comes back as a baby face and I'm like,
<v Speaker 1>all right, cool, Like I want to see how this
<v Speaker 1>Kevin Owens babyface run goes. And they cut that so
<v Speaker 1>quickly that I well, I mean, everyone said all they
<v Speaker 1>shouldn't have done it that quick, and I'm kind of
<v Speaker 1>torn because we all knew the other shoe was gonna
<v Speaker 1>drop and it was a matter of time when he
<v Speaker 1>turned here. Okay, so he turns heel, He's back to
<v Speaker 1>where we all thought he was going to be anyway.
<v Speaker 1>But then they just have him lose and lose and lose.
<v Speaker 1>What has Sammy done since he came back and was
<v Speaker 1>a critic of the critics, which I think has gotten
<v Speaker 1>good momentum and I actually enjoy It's something different, unique,
<v Speaker 1>And they bring out an electric chair one week, which
<v Speaker 1>made no sense, but they had an interaction with fans
<v Speaker 1>and it seemed legitimate. It didn't seem like they were
<v Speaker 1>plants in the audience. You get to ask Sammy zaying
<v Speaker 1>questions and he attacks the fans and he's the critic
<v Speaker 1>of the critics. I think that was great, it was original.
<v Speaker 1>I am enjoying it, and they gave him a lot
<v Speaker 1>of time to do it. And yet braun Stroman comes
<v Speaker 1>out flattens him. You know, Kofi Kingston beats him like there,
<v Speaker 1>And I know wins and losses don't really matter too
<v Speaker 1>much in the in the world of professional wrestling. This
<v Speaker 1>fantasy environment but I can't get behind characters that lose
<v Speaker 1>and lose and lose and lose, and two guys that
<v Speaker 1>could easily either one be a top guy and I'm
<v Speaker 1>talking champion, just as Samoajo. And maybe we'll touch on
<v Speaker 1>Samoojo too. You can put some o Joe in this
<v Speaker 1>argument too. All three guys, why are they being just
<v Speaker 1>just pushed to the side, not given an opportunity to
<v Speaker 1>take the ball and just go to the end zone
<v Speaker 1>when they could easily do it. All three are very
<v Speaker 1>experienced independent scene. They've had their independent scene run. They
<v Speaker 1>know who they are, they are, they understand the business,
<v Speaker 1>they understand the psychology. They can work a crowd, they
<v Speaker 1>can have amazing matches, and yet they lose week after
<v Speaker 1>week after week. And maybe, and I said this last night,
<v Speaker 1>maybe it's because for Kevin Owens anyway, that he's being
<v Speaker 1>punished by management for not going to Saudi Arabia. I
<v Speaker 1>don't know, I don't know the reasoning, but it is
<v Speaker 1>maddening that three, these three guys who could if my god,
<v Speaker 1>maybe they're eyeing AW because if they ever go to
<v Speaker 1>AW and are allowed to just creatively do whatever they want,
<v Speaker 1>look out. I mean I'm sure they feel handcuffed. I'm
<v Speaker 1>sure all three feel frustrated, so I'll just stop there.
<v Speaker 3>Well, yeah, and we saw glimpses of the old Kevin
<v Speaker 3>Owens when he was like that vicious heel and he
<v Speaker 3>could really be a force to you. Reckon with sam
<v Speaker 3>he's ay, it feels as though like, unless he's just
<v Speaker 3>riding shotgun with Kevin Owens, he's a nobody to them.
<v Speaker 3>And it's kind of weird because when he first came
<v Speaker 3>back and he was the critic of the critics, you
<v Speaker 3>thought like, Okay, they're finally gonna let him go off
<v Speaker 3>on his own, but no, he just somehow inexplicably used
<v Speaker 3>the wild card rule again, jumped a SmackDown, and now
<v Speaker 3>him he's basically riding shotgun with Kevin. Like I just said.
<v Speaker 3>As for Samoa Joe, it's just it's feeling like bray
<v Speaker 3>Wyan all over again, where he's like this vicious, like
<v Speaker 3>evil heel and like no one can stop him. And
<v Speaker 3>then he I remember you talked about how like Somojo
<v Speaker 3>has this aspect that even when he loses, he makes
<v Speaker 3>you believe that he's gonna come back better than ever.
<v Speaker 3>But even when he loses now, he always has that
<v Speaker 3>like look of shock on his face. I don't know
<v Speaker 3>if you know what I'm talking about, where he gets
<v Speaker 3>rolled up and he's like completely distraught. But it happens
<v Speaker 3>so often. He loses so much that that look on
<v Speaker 3>his face it's not even realistic anymore. It's always funny
<v Speaker 3>to me because you're just like, how is he shocked?
<v Speaker 3>This always happens to me. He always loses. And I
<v Speaker 3>know that they put the US title back on him,
<v Speaker 3>which I am happy about because I think he's a
<v Speaker 3>guy that could benefit from it and the title could
<v Speaker 3>benefit from him as well. I still find it ridiculous
<v Speaker 3>that he got it because Raymond Steer has vacated it.
<v Speaker 3>I remember you touched on it, Like, when has that
<v Speaker 3>ever happened before? The title never just gets vacated and
<v Speaker 3>then handed to someone. It always has to be fought for,
<v Speaker 3>like what happened with Roman Rains when he had to
<v Speaker 3>go away for his leukemia. So even though they put
<v Speaker 3>the belt back on Joe, it doesn't mean anything because
<v Speaker 3>they just handed it to him. But another thing is like,
<v Speaker 3>do titles mean anything anymore? Obviously, the two major titles
<v Speaker 3>of the Universal and the WWE means something. But again,
<v Speaker 3>Finn Baler, besides his win against Andradi a Super Showdown,
<v Speaker 3>I don't even know if I've seen him on television,
<v Speaker 3>let alone win a match since he's been drafted the SmackDown.
<v Speaker 3>Samoa Joe is the US champ, but I don't think
<v Speaker 3>he's won a match since being the US champ. And
<v Speaker 3>as for the tag team titles, well, Hawkins and Ryder
<v Speaker 3>literally lost it their first titled event since WrestleMania, and
<v Speaker 3>that's just ridiculous to me, Like, I think people have
<v Speaker 3>forgotten that they had these titles and that's why they
<v Speaker 3>eventually just put them back on the Revival. So yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I think Joe at this point is just a very
<v Speaker 3>big victim of just how badly they use the titles
<v Speaker 3>right now.
<v Speaker 1>It's a crime. I mean, I feel like this could
<v Speaker 1>be a felony of sorts, Like there's got to be
<v Speaker 1>some kind of penal code for this. It's awful. And
<v Speaker 1>Samoa Joe is a guy that would easily be a
<v Speaker 1>top guy, you know. And when I said that about
<v Speaker 1>Smojo and his promos, he he is. You could have
<v Speaker 1>him lose and his promo the next night would make
<v Speaker 1>you feel like he won and you want to see
<v Speaker 1>him you lose again. He's got that ability, and that
<v Speaker 1>is an ability I don't really know anybody has that
<v Speaker 1>I can think of beyond Smojoe. It is such a
<v Speaker 1>good quality. But he loses and loses and loses. It's
<v Speaker 1>it's as if his one win was a fluke win
<v Speaker 1>and it happened to be for a championship and since then,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, he constantly loses. At WrestleMania, I said, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>here we go. He beat Raymisterio in like a blink
<v Speaker 1>of an eye. They're gonna finally strap the rocket to him.
<v Speaker 1>He's just gonna tear through in the SmackDown Live roster
<v Speaker 1>and they're just gonna have him be a bulldozer. And
<v Speaker 1>he loses and loses and loses on roll ups and
<v Speaker 1>roll ups and roll ups, and it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous
<v Speaker 1>that Smojo would lose on a roll up, the guy
<v Speaker 1>that nearly beat brock Lesner straight up. So but as
<v Speaker 1>far as the tag team champions go, if we're going
<v Speaker 1>to jump into that realm the revival, yeah, I think
<v Speaker 1>it's simply because they are associated with Shane McMahon and
<v Speaker 1>they want to get more heat on that faction that
<v Speaker 1>they have the gold and they were told if you
<v Speaker 1>bring the gold, you can come to the party. Well,
<v Speaker 1>they brought the gold and now they're invited to that
<v Speaker 1>backstage champagne lobster whatever it was that Roman reigns ended
<v Speaker 1>up crashing. But on the flip side, I'm really liking
<v Speaker 1>Rowan and Brian as champions on SmackDown Live and Heavy Machinery.
<v Speaker 1>I really think that they are good, formidable opponents for
<v Speaker 1>Daniel Brian and for Rowan. Rowan, who has been reinvented
<v Speaker 1>from the really the third wheel of the Wyatt family
<v Speaker 1>and has been re educated to us as a legitimate threat,
<v Speaker 1>a legitimate big man, a guy that can take a
<v Speaker 1>lot of punishment, kick out of finishers, and is the
<v Speaker 1>heavy for Daniel Bryan. And I'm really liking this duo
<v Speaker 1>the Planet's champions. I think that Daniel Brian has done
<v Speaker 1>a great job with his veganism brought to the max
<v Speaker 1>to be arrogant and an obnoxious and they're doing a
<v Speaker 1>really good job despite the fact that they are not
<v Speaker 1>being booked to be anywhere near the focal point of
<v Speaker 1>the show. They are always a highlight of the show
<v Speaker 1>because Daniel Brian is so believable and his delivery is
<v Speaker 1>always very smooth. It's easy to understand and it's they're
<v Speaker 1>arrogant and the fact that Daniel Bryan has been able
<v Speaker 1>to pull the wool over fans eyes and in a
<v Speaker 1>way that you resent Daniel Brian now, a character that
<v Speaker 1>we never thought we'd hate again is just a tribute
<v Speaker 1>to the genius and mastery that is Daniel Brian and
<v Speaker 1>he's and Rowan is certainly benefiting from this, and that's
<v Speaker 1>always a plus.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Daniel Brian is brilliant. I think he's one of
<v Speaker 3>the best talkers right now. He's a great wrestler and
<v Speaker 3>he's just great in whatever rule he does. He's really
<v Speaker 3>taking the ball and run with it in his full
<v Speaker 3>blown Heel Vegan mode. And I think Rowan is really excelled.
<v Speaker 3>He got a shot and he's really like taken advantage
<v Speaker 3>of it, and I really it's good to see how
<v Speaker 3>well they're doing because it seemed as though before WrestleMania
<v Speaker 3>SmackDown was loaded with tag teams and now all of
<v Speaker 3>a sudden, there's none. You know, Jeff Hardy got hurt
<v Speaker 3>so they're so the Hardy Boys don't exist right now.
<v Speaker 3>The USOS went to Raw, the New Day have basically
<v Speaker 3>been taken out because of what's gone on with Kofe,
<v Speaker 3>the bar inexplicably dismembered, and now Cizarro is off being
<v Speaker 3>some weird character on Raw that we'll get to. But yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I really like what they've done on SmackDown Rowan and
<v Speaker 3>Brian that is. I like how Brian has alluded to
<v Speaker 3>the fact that SmackDown has no formidable tag team challengers.
<v Speaker 3>As for Heavy Machinery, I really like them. They feel
<v Speaker 3>like an old school type tag team. I find them
<v Speaker 3>funny too, and they're well plays comedy because it's organic
<v Speaker 3>they don't go out of their way to but they
<v Speaker 3>also are good in the ring. I find them entertaining,
<v Speaker 3>and I think it's a good kind of feud because
<v Speaker 3>obviously Heavy Machinery are rather heavier set guys. So Daniel
<v Speaker 3>Brian can kind of like, you know, grasp onto that
<v Speaker 3>about like the whole vegan thing and being healthy and
<v Speaker 3>not stuff in your face with gluten. But yeah, that's
<v Speaker 3>been a really bright spot. I've always liked Daniel. Brian
<v Speaker 3>Rowan's been nice touch and they've had good chemistry with
<v Speaker 3>heavy machinery.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And while we're on that subject, as you said
<v Speaker 1>about Cizarrow, though I don't know what they're doing with Ciarrow.
<v Speaker 1>I don't think Cesarrow knows what they're doing with Czarrow.
<v Speaker 1>It's just another iteration of them trying to find and
<v Speaker 1>Cesarrow trying to find who he is. We all know
<v Speaker 1>he is freakishly strong in the ring, he's a great competitor,
<v Speaker 1>he is in incredible shape. All of that is true,
<v Speaker 1>check check check. The problem is he has never been
<v Speaker 1>able to orgain it, connect with the fans on a
<v Speaker 1>level that's outside of the tag team of the bar.
<v Speaker 1>And even the bar didn't really like it. Never connected
<v Speaker 1>with me, like I understood who they were, but I
<v Speaker 1>never was saying, oh hey, yeah, I understand what you
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I connect, I feel what you're doing. They
<v Speaker 1>just kind of came up with the catchphrase that you
<v Speaker 1>know we are we aren't the bar, we set the bar,
<v Speaker 1>you know whatever, And they never just felt like they
<v Speaker 1>were something that would be long term. They were just
<v Speaker 1>in good in ring competitors announce Czar, as you said,
<v Speaker 1>is doing this whatever he's doing with new music, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>he's refreshed with new music. I'd like to see a
<v Speaker 1>promo from him to let us know who he is.
<v Speaker 1>But his in ring competition on Monday Night certainly spoke
<v Speaker 1>for itself. And that's where he does most of his
<v Speaker 1>talking is in the ring.
<v Speaker 2>Uh.
<v Speaker 1>And in his crazy strength that he you know, what
<v Speaker 1>he showed against bron Strohman was just otherworldly. Uh. And
<v Speaker 1>you know he has that ability to go toe to
<v Speaker 1>toe with anybody and put on a five star match
<v Speaker 1>if given the time. So, I mean, obviously that match
<v Speaker 1>was really more focused to Brown bron Strowman, who tossed
<v Speaker 1>everybody around for you know, half the match until he
<v Speaker 1>was eliminated by two guys who were already eliminated, and
<v Speaker 1>then hit you know about three finishers on him before
<v Speaker 1>he was taken out of the match. So what did
<v Speaker 1>you think about that match and what did you think
<v Speaker 1>about Cizarrow getting kind of repackaged.
<v Speaker 3>Well, the match was good, the match was entertaining. I
<v Speaker 3>think it was like a cool aspect that it was
<v Speaker 3>the elimination factor. As for Cizarrow, I think it's never
<v Speaker 3>been in doubt how good he is in the ring.
<v Speaker 3>I remember, even before the bar he had one or
<v Speaker 3>two really really good matches with John cenn Raw, and
<v Speaker 3>people were always kind of waiting for him to break out,
<v Speaker 3>and then when he got paired with Seamus, I was
<v Speaker 3>personally a fan of the Bar. I liked them. I've
<v Speaker 3>always liked Shamus, and I found that they were also
<v Speaker 3>kind of like an old school like brutish tag team.
<v Speaker 3>But ever since he's been repackaged, it kind of made
<v Speaker 3>me realize why he was an a tag team because
<v Speaker 3>I don't know who he is. I don't know what
<v Speaker 3>his character is, and I found it weird because they
<v Speaker 3>feel like there was even confusion between him and the
<v Speaker 3>creative because when he first started coming out on Raw
<v Speaker 3>solo post WrestleMania without Seamus, he came out using Seamus's
<v Speaker 3>music and then they quickly switched it to new music.
<v Speaker 3>But then for the biggest while, he was still coming
<v Speaker 3>out with the bar wrestling attire and doing the sign
<v Speaker 3>coming to the ring while the commentators were making no
<v Speaker 3>reference to the Bar. And it's only been the past
<v Speaker 3>few weeks where he's got rid of the sign and
<v Speaker 3>got rid of the attire, so it's almost been me
<v Speaker 3>just not taking him seriously because obviously he's good in
<v Speaker 3>the ring, and no one can take that away from him,
<v Speaker 3>But it's just the whole character direction just doesn't make sense.
<v Speaker 3>He hasn't said a word since coming over to Raw
<v Speaker 3>and being dismembered from the bar. So I can get
<v Speaker 3>behind him because I just don't know who he is.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know why he's there. I don't know why
<v Speaker 3>him and Shamus broke up. I know, for real reasons.
<v Speaker 3>I think Seamus left to go fill him teenage mutan,
<v Speaker 3>Ninja turtles or something. But just tell me, why, tell
<v Speaker 3>me what happened, Just tell me anything, you know. It
<v Speaker 3>could be as easy as when Bobby Rood and Chad
<v Speaker 3>Gables split and Ruge just said, ah, he was weighing
<v Speaker 3>me down and I shed two hundred pounds of nothing. Okay,
<v Speaker 3>at least I get it, at least I know why.
<v Speaker 3>But like, I have no reason as to why won
<v Speaker 3>the most successful tag teams over the last two and
<v Speaker 3>a half years randomly dismembered. So yeah, but it's just
<v Speaker 3>been kind of hard for me to get behind him
<v Speaker 3>when it's like there's been no explanation as to why
<v Speaker 3>he's solo.
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of a funny point, I mean, when you
<v Speaker 1>see Cesarro outside of a tag team, you just said it.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, you go, oh, that's why they put him
<v Speaker 1>in a tag team, and him and Seamus before they
<v Speaker 1>became the bar. We're having a best of seven series
<v Speaker 1>and if you remember, they got to game seven, if
<v Speaker 1>you will, they got to the seventh match, of course,
<v Speaker 1>and I believe that match ended in a draw.
<v Speaker 3>Uh.
<v Speaker 1>And so Mick Foley decided to put them together, and
<v Speaker 1>they reluctantly were together for I don't know how many
<v Speaker 1>months before they finally started to gel and just accepted
<v Speaker 1>each other, and the fans got behind him for a while.
<v Speaker 1>It was Boo Shamus, yay Cesarrow, Boo Shamus yay Czarrow,
<v Speaker 1>and then they just kind of morphed into one and
<v Speaker 1>you know, outside of their catchphrase, they didn't say a
<v Speaker 1>whole lot. It was just their catchphrase. And so now
<v Speaker 1>that he's on his own, he needs to tell us
<v Speaker 1>his identity and tell us it fast. While you while
<v Speaker 1>you kind of alluded to it, and I agree that
<v Speaker 1>I'll get behind him because I like Cesarrow as an
<v Speaker 1>in ring performer. I respect him so much and he's
<v Speaker 1>so good that I'll get behind him until they tell
<v Speaker 1>me otherwise. But I'm not going to get super excited
<v Speaker 1>about who he is or where he's going until I'm
<v Speaker 1>told who he is, until they tell me something. But
<v Speaker 1>WWE doesn't care about detail, and Vince McMahon you can
<v Speaker 1>hear him backstage. Oh, people don't remember that. People don't care.
<v Speaker 1>They just want to be entertained. Well, here's how you
<v Speaker 1>entertain people by telling them detail and rewarding them for
<v Speaker 1>paying attention to detail. But that's not gonna happen. You know,
<v Speaker 1>we'll never get an explanation, just as and I don't
<v Speaker 1>know why I keep bringing this up, but it irks me.
<v Speaker 1>Charlotte got a SmackDown Women's Championship title match a week
<v Speaker 1>before WrestleMania, yet and she won. I mean there was
<v Speaker 1>no zero explanation against Oscar for that. I mean things
<v Speaker 1>like that. How can you overlook that? How can you
<v Speaker 1>not tell fans why this is happening or how it's happening. Obviously,
<v Speaker 1>Cizarro and Seamus breaking up I don't think is on
<v Speaker 1>the scale of Charlotte winning the SmackDown Women's Championship a
<v Speaker 1>week before WrestleMania. But it's that same logic, that same
<v Speaker 1>mentality that WWE has creatively vince McMahon that we don't
<v Speaker 1>need to tell him, we'll come up with something later,
<v Speaker 1>gonna ask, Well, we're asking, we're asking why wouldn't we
<v Speaker 1>want to know? And it's a fundamental problem with WWA.
<v Speaker 3>And you know what, I like that you brought up
<v Speaker 3>the lack of logic because this is something and it's
<v Speaker 3>been amplified by the wildcard rule that's been bothering me.
<v Speaker 3>Why is it that heels who have never come into
<v Speaker 3>contact before, or heels that have had past beef with
<v Speaker 3>each other, just because their heels they're friends? Like why
<v Speaker 3>do Sammy Zin and Kevin Owens inexplicably have the back
<v Speaker 3>of Baron Corbyn? Why is it that like Baron Corbyn
<v Speaker 3>can bump into Bobby Lashley backstage and all of a
<v Speaker 3>sudden their buddies and it goes on to SmackDown Seam
<v Speaker 3>mc mahan's walking into the building, Sammy Zane and Kevin
<v Speaker 3>Owens are there to greet him and kiss his ass.
<v Speaker 3>Do we not remember what went on a year and
<v Speaker 3>a half ago that lasted six months between Sea McMahon
<v Speaker 3>and Kevin Owens and Sammy Zin. It's just like I
<v Speaker 3>understand the premise of it that eventually heels will side
<v Speaker 3>with heels and babyfaces will side with baby faces, But like,
<v Speaker 3>let me know why you guys are siding like with
<v Speaker 3>each other. I always found it cool when heels would
<v Speaker 3>come into contact with each other and they would actually
<v Speaker 3>like have a bit of beef and say like, oh,
<v Speaker 3>you know, like I don't like you, but the the
<v Speaker 3>enemy of my enemy is my friend or whatever it is.
<v Speaker 3>But like, just give me something, like I just can't
<v Speaker 3>get behind like, okay, they're together because they're two heels. No,
<v Speaker 3>why are they together? Why is this guy backing this guy?
<v Speaker 3>And it's just it's too much of just like it's
<v Speaker 3>just lazy, like oh yeah, like you mentioned Evince we met.
<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, they will remember that Sammy Sane and Kevin
<v Speaker 3>Owens and made the shame McMahan's life a living hell
<v Speaker 3>for five or six months on end. It's just like,
<v Speaker 3>give me something. It just can't be so easy as
<v Speaker 3>heels are friends of heels and babyfaces are friends of babyfaces.
<v Speaker 1>I think maybe the logic would be, if you're if
<v Speaker 1>I'm talking to Vince McMahon, why are all heels automatically friends?
<v Speaker 1>Maybe his explanation would be, well, fans aren't gonna care
<v Speaker 1>about two heels fighting each other. There's no investment there.
<v Speaker 1>They have nobody to get behind. And that's probably what
<v Speaker 1>he would say, is that's the reason that no one
<v Speaker 1>would care who wins if they got in in any
<v Speaker 1>kind of argument or program, because no one would care. However,
<v Speaker 1>you could create a new star and see who the
<v Speaker 1>fans would organically get behind by putting two heels together.
<v Speaker 1>They did that, maybe you remember or not with Kurt
<v Speaker 1>Angle and Triple H when Kurt Angle was getting with
<v Speaker 1>Stephanie McMahon and getting a little close, but Triple H
<v Speaker 1>was still the heel. So do you side with Angle?
<v Speaker 1>Do you side with Triple H? And ww left it
<v Speaker 1>up to the fans to decide. That's how you create.
<v Speaker 3>It, Yeah, and exactly culminated at Sumrslim two thousand and
<v Speaker 3>a triple threat match with The Rock, and it actually
<v Speaker 3>happened where the Kurt Angle and Triple H brawled for
<v Speaker 3>about ten minutes before the Rock even got to the ring.
<v Speaker 3>And now I'm not I'm not like you are right,
<v Speaker 3>because why would heels like go against each other? The
<v Speaker 3>fans might get behind it. I'm not saying that, but
<v Speaker 3>it's it's also it's more so in the fact that, like,
<v Speaker 3>why are Sammy Zing and Kevin Ohens so behind helping
<v Speaker 3>Baron Corbin out? Why can heels trying to undercut each other?
<v Speaker 3>Like I liked it a bit when Baron Corbin tried
<v Speaker 3>to like take advantage of Drew McIntyre in a Number
<v Speaker 3>one Contenders match something like that. I just I want
<v Speaker 3>a bit more of, like a bit more meat behind
<v Speaker 3>the storyline, Like explain to me why they're helping him.
<v Speaker 3>I'm not saying that they have to, you know, go
<v Speaker 3>against each other, because you are right there. I don't
<v Speaker 3>think there would be too much emotional investment in it
<v Speaker 3>from the fans. But at the same time, it can't
<v Speaker 3>just be Okay, well, they're both bad guys, so he's
<v Speaker 3>gonna automatically come out to help him, like what happened
<v Speaker 3>at the end of Raw, where like all these different
<v Speaker 3>people were coming out, like the Ussos came out to
<v Speaker 3>help the Fate the the New Day just because they're
<v Speaker 3>both good guys, like in the Daniel Brian and seth
<v Speaker 3>Rawlins match. I just don't like how, just like all
<v Speaker 3>these different storylines will intertwine, and people will side with
<v Speaker 3>each other just because ones are booked at baby faces
<v Speaker 3>and the other ones are booked as heels, and that's
<v Speaker 3>the only explanation we get for it.
<v Speaker 1>I think it's just reasons. I mean, that's just reasons.
<v Speaker 1>I mean that you're right that there are no inexplicable
<v Speaker 1>rational reasons why heels and heels and faces and faces
<v Speaker 1>are all just we Oh, well, you're on my side
<v Speaker 1>of the land. Here, on my side of the train tracks,
<v Speaker 1>we all like you. Once you cross over, we automatically
<v Speaker 1>dislike you. I mean, it's not reality, that's not life,
<v Speaker 1>but it's the it's the life of WWE's interpretation of
<v Speaker 1>professional wrestling. So now I do want to get to
<v Speaker 1>stomping grounds. But before I get into stomping grounds, is
<v Speaker 1>there anything else that maybe I didn't touch on from
<v Speaker 1>this week that you wanted to get to.
<v Speaker 3>Well, there was one little tidbit of SmackDown that happened backstage,
<v Speaker 3>and it was the whole Apollo Cruise Androtti part where
<v Speaker 3>you know, Androtti basically god Selina Vega to goat in
<v Speaker 3>Apollo Cruz and then he attacked him. And I actually
<v Speaker 3>liked that story and I'm just like, oh, you know,
<v Speaker 3>this is like a cool, fresh storyline. And then it
<v Speaker 3>made me realize, like, you know, because of the wildcard rule,
<v Speaker 3>all these guys got in this week a WWE programming
<v Speaker 3>was a minute and a half of a backstage segment.
<v Speaker 3>But that's why I liked the brand split, because guys
<v Speaker 3>like Androtti and Apollo Cruz would get screen time and
<v Speaker 3>it was fresh feuds. And those are two guys that
<v Speaker 3>Androtti much more so than Apolo Cruz, But those are
<v Speaker 3>two guys that are very good in the ring and
<v Speaker 3>I think have potential, but they're just buried because Raw
<v Speaker 3>and SmackDown are constantly being taken up by the same
<v Speaker 3>guys and the same storylines. And I just feel like,
<v Speaker 3>if they just let the brand split alone, these are
<v Speaker 3>two guys that could actually have a really good undercard
<v Speaker 3>feud and maybe eventually culminating an Intercontinental Championship match or
<v Speaker 3>Number one Contenders match. And again, like, where is Finn Bowler?
<v Speaker 3>And I think he's also a victim of this wildcard rule.
<v Speaker 3>So that whole segment backstage made me realize that I
<v Speaker 3>want to see your wrestlers, and I like a lot
<v Speaker 3>of the wrestlers are not using and just kind of
<v Speaker 3>makes me despise the wild card that much more.
<v Speaker 1>We keep coming back to the wild card, but a
<v Speaker 1>lot of a lot of the source of the problem
<v Speaker 1>is the wildcard that's been implemented, and that is a
<v Speaker 1>side effect, a negative side effect. Another that we can
<v Speaker 1>just tally up on this bandwagon of just terrible ideas,
<v Speaker 1>is that, yes, because you are now bringing in the
<v Speaker 1>same predictable wrestlers into each show. Now, that takes away
<v Speaker 1>from the guys that would have gotten the screen time
<v Speaker 1>to build new stars for the guys that are already here,
<v Speaker 1>to just kind of run the same main storyline through
<v Speaker 1>and have the leftovers on SmackDown and the real the
<v Speaker 1>progression of the storylines on Raw and then oh, the
<v Speaker 1>leftovers are smacked down. It's the same thing over and
<v Speaker 1>over and over now since it's been implemented. And guys
<v Speaker 1>like Andrade, who, as you said, Andrade is so damn
<v Speaker 1>good in the ring. He's so damn good. Zelena Vega
<v Speaker 1>adds so much to his character. I love that pairing.
<v Speaker 1>They are so good together. Apollo Cruz, who I think
<v Speaker 1>inarguably may have been one of the I'd say least
<v Speaker 1>successful NXT call ups since NXT has been a thing,
<v Speaker 1>and he was actually, I believe one of the first
<v Speaker 1>NXT call ups. Yeah, that could be that the spark
<v Speaker 1>for Apollo Cruz that he needs in his career going
<v Speaker 1>against Andrade, who could make him look really good in
<v Speaker 1>the ring. It was and it is a few that
<v Speaker 1>I want to see, but it's a blink of an
<v Speaker 1>eye in in terms of the airtime that it's given
<v Speaker 1>because we got to worry about Shane McMahon and his
<v Speaker 1>faction or is Roman Reigns gonna come out here? I mean,
<v Speaker 1>it's the same thing as Seth Ronin's going to attack
<v Speaker 1>somebody from behind with a chair, which I like, But
<v Speaker 1>again it's it's over exposing the top guys when I
<v Speaker 1>want to see less of them, which makes it more
<v Speaker 1>special to see them, and I want to see newer
<v Speaker 1>stars built. That's the cycle of professional wrestling, and right
<v Speaker 1>now we're not getting that.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's that's exactly because I remember days of pay
<v Speaker 3>per views, especially when they were Brad exclusive pay per views,
<v Speaker 3>where I would look forward to some of the undercard
<v Speaker 3>matches and I would look forward to the US title
<v Speaker 3>feuds and the Intercontinental Championship feuds, Like I find it
<v Speaker 3>kind of crazy that, like, yes, the match was great,
<v Speaker 3>but the US Number one Contender Championship match of the
<v Speaker 3>Fatal five Way where Ricochet ended up winning, I find
<v Speaker 3>it kind of insulting to that whole group of wrestlers
<v Speaker 3>that they were given just to build a feud with
<v Speaker 3>Samojo for a title before a pay per view event.
<v Speaker 3>And as I brought up several times already, but Finn
<v Speaker 3>Baller holding one of the most prestigious titles on the
<v Speaker 3>main roster is just irrelevant and we just don't see
<v Speaker 3>him and there's not even a challenger for him, Like,
<v Speaker 3>no one brings up the Intercontinental Championship. And that's after
<v Speaker 3>years and years and years of the Miz repeatedly saying
<v Speaker 3>that he was trying to elevate it and make it relevant.
<v Speaker 3>And again, I just think it all comes back to
<v Speaker 3>the Wild Carnival because they're just devoting so much time
<v Speaker 3>to the same three or four storylines and then recycling
<v Speaker 3>it and as you said, Raw gets the main advancement
<v Speaker 3>and then SmackDown kind of just picks up the scraps.
<v Speaker 3>So I just find it really a disservice to a
<v Speaker 3>lot of these wrestlers who are very talented that they
<v Speaker 3>can't get the proper airtime. Now, obviously, Apollo Cruz like,
<v Speaker 3>you know, I wish you'd stop smiling. Damn it, you know,
<v Speaker 3>like it's kind of the same thing over and over again.
<v Speaker 3>But maybe if he got a somewhat relevant feud, he
<v Speaker 3>could become something. I think on Drowni's one of the
<v Speaker 3>best up and comers they have. But how are they
<v Speaker 3>supposed to take that next step and advance themselves when
<v Speaker 3>all they get is a minute and a half of
<v Speaker 3>backstage airtime and a few that we don't even really
<v Speaker 3>know why it's happening.
<v Speaker 1>You can't. The answer is you can't. You can't succeed
<v Speaker 1>with that little airtime. I know that the old adage
<v Speaker 1>is maximize your minutes. Well, when you don't even get
<v Speaker 1>minutes you get minute, you can't do it. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>it's just not feasible, it's not realistic, and it's not
<v Speaker 1>fair to expect any performers to excel if they're getting
<v Speaker 1>that little airtime. And it's unfortunate because I understand that
<v Speaker 1>there are some wrestling fans out there that don't have
<v Speaker 1>the patience to build new stars, and that they just
<v Speaker 1>want to see all the big names all the time,
<v Speaker 1>and they don't care about these people that we don't
<v Speaker 1>know their names. Well, why don't you learn their names?
<v Speaker 1>Because eventually the people that you like to see all
<v Speaker 1>the time and that's all you care about. You want
<v Speaker 1>to see your favorite moves and your biggest stars, they
<v Speaker 1>will be cycled out because Father time wins all the time.
<v Speaker 1>You need to constantly have people up and coming. You
<v Speaker 1>need to have that farm system, which is why NXT
<v Speaker 1>is so brilliant. And credit Triple H for his vision
<v Speaker 1>and his execution of it, because that is the breeding
<v Speaker 1>ground for the stars of tomorrow. And so when you
<v Speaker 1>don't have that mentality on the main roster, eventually you're
<v Speaker 1>gonna be so reliant and heavy on the top stars
<v Speaker 1>that you are quote top stars of Roman and Seth
<v Speaker 1>and Drew. Whatever. What if they get injured, what if
<v Speaker 1>they decide to leave and their contract expires, they go
<v Speaker 1>to a different promotion. There are so many variables and
<v Speaker 1>factors that I understand. You can't get everybody hot all
<v Speaker 1>the time, but you certainly can add new things to
<v Speaker 1>their character. You can progress them in different ways. There
<v Speaker 1>are ways to advance characters and move them along and
<v Speaker 1>give everybody an equal share of the time that is
<v Speaker 1>allotted unsmackedown. I know SmackDown's two hours, which is why
<v Speaker 1>I enjoy the show more. But they need to understand
<v Speaker 1>that while all the big star do indeed draw ratings,
<v Speaker 1>you need to also build new stars and you can't
<v Speaker 1>do that if the current stars are sucking up all
<v Speaker 1>the airtimes. So one more thing I want to get
<v Speaker 1>to and then I want to talk about stomping grounds
<v Speaker 1>and get your predictions. What are your thoughts on the
<v Speaker 1>twenty four to seven Championship? Still still fun kind of
<v Speaker 1>corny in between, I.
<v Speaker 3>Think that it's done better than I would have anticipated.
<v Speaker 3>I'll give them that They've come up with some creative
<v Speaker 3>things to like keep me interested, Like you know, the
<v Speaker 3>whole elevator scene is kind of funny. I found the
<v Speaker 3>whole airplane thing going to Jetta funny. How our Truth
<v Speaker 3>covered Jinner Mahal and then everyone chased them through the plane.
<v Speaker 3>I think that given my ultra low expectations for it,
<v Speaker 3>it's really succeeded. I think that they've timed it properly,
<v Speaker 3>unlike how when it originally started I think they've kind
<v Speaker 3>of reduced how many times they use it on a
<v Speaker 3>programming show. So yeah, I think even though it started
<v Speaker 3>maybe a bit too much to just get the point across,
<v Speaker 3>I think the past month or so they've done a
<v Speaker 3>pretty good job with it.
<v Speaker 1>I'll second that. I mean, I was a lukewarm proponent
<v Speaker 1>of it when Mick Foley introduced it in front of
<v Speaker 1>my hometown crowd that gave it no reaction, So congratulations, Albany.
<v Speaker 1>I was a proponent of it, and it was we
<v Speaker 1>all kind of alluded to it as the PG hardcore
<v Speaker 1>title because it's got the same rules, and we all
<v Speaker 1>kind of we all poo poo on what it looks like,
<v Speaker 1>and it looks like awful. I don't need the belt
<v Speaker 1>to look good. I don't really care about that part
<v Speaker 1>of it. I don't care what the belt looks like
<v Speaker 1>so much because it's not a belt that I'm supposed
<v Speaker 1>to take seriously anyway. But in execution, they are certainly
<v Speaker 1>going wild with the creative on this, and the creative
<v Speaker 1>is the upside is there is no limit to what
<v Speaker 1>they could do, the scenarios that could happen, and I
<v Speaker 1>think that it adds a little bit to that unpredictability
<v Speaker 1>that Vince McMahon is looking for. But at the same time,
<v Speaker 1>they need to be careful to not undermine their own
<v Speaker 1>product with such a joke of a championship, And there's
<v Speaker 1>that fine line, and right now I think they're teetering
<v Speaker 1>on it. I love Our Truth as champion. I loved
<v Speaker 1>the Drake Maverick interaction because Drake Maverick has been going
<v Speaker 1>all in on his character on social media, putting up
<v Speaker 1>wanted signs for Our Truth, just saying you know, I'm
<v Speaker 1>gonna find you. He bumps into him backstage a couple
<v Speaker 1>of weeks ago. They look at each other and Our
<v Speaker 1>Truth takes off. They have a really good chemistry right now,
<v Speaker 1>at very unexpected chemistry with Drake Maverick and Our Truth.
<v Speaker 1>And Our Truth obviously loses this week because Drake Maverick
<v Speaker 1>dresses up as Carmela, which was really funny, and Drake
<v Speaker 1>Maverick ends up tweeting out that you guys don't know
<v Speaker 1>how much those fake boobs cost or something like that. Like,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, just the hilarity of it is it does
<v Speaker 1>make me chuckle. It is a nice bit of a
<v Speaker 1>comedy segment to cut through all of the quote serious storylines.
<v Speaker 1>I'm I'm fine with it right now. I think that
<v Speaker 1>eventually that it will get boring and we'll all go home.
<v Speaker 1>My god, Okay, what are they doing this week? This
<v Speaker 1>is getting boring, This is stupid, this is totally unbelievable.
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure we'll get there. I mean, this has a
<v Speaker 1>shelf life. This championship does have a shelf life. But
<v Speaker 1>for the moment, I'm enjoying it. I love the the
<v Speaker 1>completely impossible scenarios that happen. Do I enjoy that our
<v Speaker 1>Truth is constantly being chased in it by don't know,
<v Speaker 1>the same five, six, seven, eight guys that aren't having
<v Speaker 1>anything going on backstage, and they all just chase them
<v Speaker 1>in a straight line all the time. I mean, it
<v Speaker 1>gets a little bit cartoonish, but I'm enjoying it for
<v Speaker 1>what it is right now, and I'm on board. It'll eventually,
<v Speaker 1>you know, wear itself out, and the expiration date will happen.
<v Speaker 1>But I'm fine with it.
<v Speaker 3>One thing about one of the wrestlers that's constantly chasing
<v Speaker 3>our truth, because I think the Our Truth has been
<v Speaker 3>fantastic doing it. I love what Drake Maverick is done.
<v Speaker 3>I really enjoyed that elevation. I found that pretty comedic.
<v Speaker 3>But I don't know about you, Matt, but how lost
<v Speaker 3>does EC three look? In every single segment? He looks
<v Speaker 3>like just completely lost. Like in that elevator scene, I
<v Speaker 3>remember when everyone's fighting each other, he was literally being
<v Speaker 3>restrained by the ref but the ref wasn't even looking
<v Speaker 3>at him, Like it's just like it's like he couldn't
<v Speaker 3>get around the five foot five ref and I just
<v Speaker 3>he it's almost distracting that like as soon as the
<v Speaker 3>segment comes out, like I automatically focus on him and
<v Speaker 3>he's just just so bad And I don't want to
<v Speaker 3>be mean, but he's just bad. And he's never even
<v Speaker 3>said a word. And like, okay, his segment on Raw
<v Speaker 3>when he got clobbered by Seth but the chair was
<v Speaker 3>purely funny. But aside from that, just like the twenty
<v Speaker 3>four to seven Championship moments, like he's so he stands
<v Speaker 3>out in the worst ways and I just cannot understand
<v Speaker 3>how clumsy he is.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this is a tough one with EC three. As
<v Speaker 1>you said, with the elevator segment, Yeah, I'm on board
<v Speaker 1>with that. It made no sense that he couldn't get
<v Speaker 1>past the referee. It's just preposterous, I mean ridiculous. And
<v Speaker 1>he when he game to the main roster, I believe
<v Speaker 1>he was in a very very short program with Dean Ambrose.
<v Speaker 1>I think he lost one week and one another week.
<v Speaker 1>The crowd didn't react to him in any kind of
<v Speaker 1>significant way, and he's just all over the place in
<v Speaker 1>the twenty four seven Championship trying to be a referee.
<v Speaker 1>They don't know what the hell to do with him.
<v Speaker 1>I mean it's very clear right now. They're going here, there, up, down,
<v Speaker 1>left and right. And what's very interesting, though, beyond this
<v Speaker 1>this disaster that he has so far had in WWE,
<v Speaker 1>is that when they were doing all of the promos
<v Speaker 1>for hey, We're bringing up new stars, and Lars Sullivan
<v Speaker 1>was one of the freaks. And obviously he's injured for
<v Speaker 1>the next six to nine months the knee injury, which
<v Speaker 1>is I'm kind of sad about. Honestly. I think that
<v Speaker 1>when you have EC three as one of the stars
<v Speaker 1>of that promo, if you remember, it was just craziness.
<v Speaker 1>I mean they were talking about all these new stars
<v Speaker 1>that are gonna come up boom boom boom, and then
<v Speaker 1>it slowed down and was EC three walking into a
<v Speaker 1>room in a suit, and you were like, oh, well,
<v Speaker 1>they're clearly going to focus on him because he seems
<v Speaker 1>to be the focal point of this promo video that
<v Speaker 1>they aired like four hundred times leading up to all
<v Speaker 1>of these this change that they were implementing, and since
<v Speaker 1>then they've done absolutely nothing, zero less than zero with
<v Speaker 1>EC three. He doesn't look lost. He looks like he's
<v Speaker 1>in another universe right now. He looks like he's he
<v Speaker 1>doesn't know what to do, where to go, And I
<v Speaker 1>really hope that they know and figure out what to
<v Speaker 1>do with him.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think it hurts his reputation and more that
<v Speaker 3>there was so much hype behind him, and like, okay,
<v Speaker 3>his initial feud with Dean Ambrose was underwhelming, but he
<v Speaker 3>can't just pour cold water on him. I'm not gonna lie.
<v Speaker 3>I'm not the biggest fan of him, and I wasn't
<v Speaker 3>as soon as he debuted it. But like, what are
<v Speaker 3>you saying to the other guys coming up from NXT
<v Speaker 3>that you build and hype up this guy so much
<v Speaker 3>and so much and then he's just become such an
<v Speaker 3>utter joke. Like I don't know how he could ever
<v Speaker 3>come back from what happened to him on Raw where
<v Speaker 3>he got obliterated with the chair and then the New
<v Speaker 3>Day mocks him where again like, come on, really like
<v Speaker 3>he's that like they were acting as if he was dead,
<v Speaker 3>Like let's be real, like I'm all about comedy, but
<v Speaker 3>after a certain point it just kind of becomes hokey
<v Speaker 3>and unrealistic. But aside from that, like that segment alone
<v Speaker 3>buried him. There's no way that he can ever come
<v Speaker 3>back from this and be a somewhat relevant wrestler or superstars,
<v Speaker 3>they like to say. And I just I can't understand
<v Speaker 3>how that early into this guy's career, especially after all
<v Speaker 3>of this high behind him and you thought that they
<v Speaker 3>were gonna give him this big push, especially that he
<v Speaker 3>had that opening feud with Dean Ambrose. Obviously Ambrose was
<v Speaker 3>on his way out, so he wasn't held in as
<v Speaker 3>fire regard, But it's just how could you bury a
<v Speaker 3>guy so so fast and not even give him a
<v Speaker 3>chance to Breathe.
<v Speaker 1>Well, they're doing it and it again. I didn't follow
<v Speaker 1>EC three too much before his WWE entrance, to be
<v Speaker 1>honest with you, like I knew a little bit about him,
<v Speaker 1>I didn't follow him beyond or before that too much.
<v Speaker 1>So if you didn't know anything about him before, you
<v Speaker 1>would just think that this guy is here to be
<v Speaker 1>used as an enhancement talent. And like you said, he's
<v Speaker 1>basically laying there like a corpse after a few chair shots. Really,
<v Speaker 1>all he did was get hit in the back. You
<v Speaker 1>didn't get hit in the skull. Chair shots of the
<v Speaker 1>skull are gone. I mean, you got knocked out from
<v Speaker 1>being hit in the back, really, I mean, and then
<v Speaker 1>they made a reference to weekend at Bernie's and all
<v Speaker 1>that stuff. I mean, it was clearly just the segment
<v Speaker 1>to try to make people laugh or Vince McMahon, you know,
<v Speaker 1>sitting backstage, you know, Nie slapping and chuckling, and a
<v Speaker 1>lot of this humor seems to be Vince McMahon driven,
<v Speaker 1>and any nine times out of ten, Vince McMahon humor
<v Speaker 1>is not the majority of the audience's taste in humor.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, it's really just a shame that they're doing
<v Speaker 1>with him. Find something for him, do anything anything, I
<v Speaker 1>don't care what it is, but find something in stick
<v Speaker 1>with it. And right now they don't have a direction,
<v Speaker 1>So let's get to stomping grounds, and I want to
<v Speaker 1>start right at the top of the card here, not
<v Speaker 1>waste any time. I'm gonna go with the universal championship
<v Speaker 1>of Seth Rollins and Baron Corbin. That floating guest referee
<v Speaker 1>is out there. I think we all know who it's
<v Speaker 1>going to be, so I won't steal your thunder. What
<v Speaker 1>are your thoughts on this match? Who's that special guest
<v Speaker 1>referee going to be?
<v Speaker 3>If I were to take a guess, I would have
<v Speaker 3>to guess Elias, But again, I'm not too sure of it.
<v Speaker 3>You seem more sure than me, but I was gonna
<v Speaker 3>guess Elias. I think that no matter who the guest
<v Speaker 3>referee is gonna be, I think Seth Rollins is gonna win,
<v Speaker 3>and I just think that Baron Corbin's have a placeholder
<v Speaker 3>challenger right now. I do like what they've done with
<v Speaker 3>Baron Corbin, but just not enough to overtake Seth Rawlins
<v Speaker 3>for the title.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, I agree with the outcome, so I'm gonna second
<v Speaker 1>that that Seth Rollins isn't gonna lose. He's on fire.
<v Speaker 1>Baron Corbin's champion would be a disaster, ratings disaster more
<v Speaker 1>than it is now. Seth has really got a lot
<v Speaker 1>of momentum to use the corporate buzz word. He is
<v Speaker 1>on a tear and he won it WrestleMania. Again, my
<v Speaker 1>argument that WrestleMania Championship wins need to stick and this
<v Speaker 1>one will. So my pick though for referee, and I'm
<v Speaker 1>only saying this confidently because I had heard someone suggest
<v Speaker 1>it and go, oh, how is this person not going
<v Speaker 1>to be the special guest referee? And that is one
<v Speaker 1>and only brock Lessner as a special guest referee, because
<v Speaker 1>if Baron Corbin has him as a special guest referee,
<v Speaker 1>then it would essentially put doom and gloom to Seth
<v Speaker 1>Rollins as champion. I mean, at least in the story
<v Speaker 1>arc of brock Lesner being the special guest referee, and
<v Speaker 1>if he is and then Baron Corbin, which I think
<v Speaker 1>he's going to lose somehow, Seth Rollins wins the match,
<v Speaker 1>but he'll be beaten down and worn down from the match,
<v Speaker 1>which would put brock Lesner in a very advantageous position,
<v Speaker 1>which Brockleser would want to be in if he was
<v Speaker 1>a special guest referee to cash in his money in
<v Speaker 1>the bank contract. Do I think he's going to cash in.
<v Speaker 1>Maybe not, but the scenario just seems to make sense
<v Speaker 1>that brock Lesner would be the special guest referee. What
<v Speaker 1>do you think about that?
<v Speaker 3>I think that would be great. I think it would
<v Speaker 3>be really cool. I didn't even think about brock Lesner.
<v Speaker 3>I was just under the impression that they were gonna
<v Speaker 3>kind of let Brock sit a bit and lurk in
<v Speaker 3>the weeds and aka let him have time off that
<v Speaker 3>we all know he loves. But know, if that's the case,
<v Speaker 3>I think it would be the best case scenario. It
<v Speaker 3>would kind of suck to have him, you know, take
<v Speaker 3>the belt away from Seth because one thing I'll say
<v Speaker 3>about Brock is that they can have another failed cash in.
<v Speaker 3>So the only reason why I think they may not
<v Speaker 3>do that is to build up when you said they
<v Speaker 3>want Seth to run with the belt here have a
<v Speaker 3>good long title run, but they can have another failed
<v Speaker 3>cash into the third year in a row or also
<v Speaker 3>just diminish the value of the money in the bank.
<v Speaker 3>So I think that's a really cool concept. I'm just
<v Speaker 3>not sure if they would go with that and have
<v Speaker 3>Brock failed cash it in.
<v Speaker 1>Very possible. Yeah, I don't think a failed cash in
<v Speaker 1>by brock Leaser, especially, would I don't. I think that
<v Speaker 1>would be disastrous. As much as nobody really wants to
<v Speaker 1>see Brocklezer's champion anymore, I think the prestige and value
<v Speaker 1>of the money the bank briefcase is worth more at
<v Speaker 1>this point because Seth could come back the next night,
<v Speaker 1>challenge Brock somehow and even win it back the next
<v Speaker 1>night unraw. I mean, it's very possible, so that, you know,
<v Speaker 1>brock Leser could cash in, and maybe he does, and
<v Speaker 1>maybe we just say, okay, good, Brock doesn't have a championship,
<v Speaker 1>he doesn't have money in the bank, go away for
<v Speaker 1>a little while, and we keep thinking Brock's just gonna
<v Speaker 1>kind of go away. And every time we think he's
<v Speaker 1>gonna go away and sit on his farm in Minnesota,
<v Speaker 1>he ends up showing up out of nowhere. And I
<v Speaker 1>like that to a point because it's not predictable. But
<v Speaker 1>at the same time, brock Lesnar needs something in his
<v Speaker 1>character as well. It's just kind of the same old Brock.
<v Speaker 1>He's brock freaking Lesnar. I mean, think about who he is.
<v Speaker 1>He doesn't need to pick people apart at their weakest moment.
<v Speaker 1>He is the guy that was the UFC champion and
<v Speaker 1>came in and dominated the sport. He's the guy that
<v Speaker 1>came in and demolished the WWE stars, the wrestlers. Think
<v Speaker 1>about who he's beaten. He's beaten Goldberg, he's beaten Big Show,
<v Speaker 1>He's beaten the Rock. Like, you don't need to have
<v Speaker 1>Brock Lesnar playing this heel character as this guy that, oh,
<v Speaker 1>I'm only gonna I'm only gonna cash in when you're
<v Speaker 1>at your weakest. Brock doesn't need to be that. And
<v Speaker 1>I know he's a heel, but that's not Brock. I
<v Speaker 1>need Brock to be Brock. And Brock hasn't felt like
<v Speaker 1>himself for quite some time now.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and and that's why, like, I found it kind
<v Speaker 3>of weird that he like planned his cash in after
<v Speaker 3>the Super Showdown, which I know how you felt about
<v Speaker 3>that show because I listened to your random about it.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, I think that a scenario of Brock being
<v Speaker 3>the ref and then cashing in on vulnerable sent rawlins,
<v Speaker 3>I don't think that would be too good for his character.
<v Speaker 3>I think, as you mentioned, they should get brought back
<v Speaker 3>on the whole train of doing everything face to face,
<v Speaker 3>beating the hell out the guy's face to face. He
<v Speaker 3>doesn't need any advantages. That's why I did find it
<v Speaker 3>a bit weird that they put the money in the
<v Speaker 3>bank on him so quickly. But look look at the
<v Speaker 3>braun Stroman how he did it last year. Obviously it
<v Speaker 3>was a failed cash in, but in a similar aspect,
<v Speaker 3>he wanted to face Roman face to face. So I
<v Speaker 3>think Brock will eventually do that, but I'm highly expecting
<v Speaker 3>something more down the line towards SummerSlam a bit because
<v Speaker 3>as of right now, I think people are still like
<v Speaker 3>on their heels for Brock to come back, because we
<v Speaker 3>had what three four weeks of Brock consistently being on
<v Speaker 3>television for a bit. So I think now they want
<v Speaker 3>to let people kind of forget about Brock a little
<v Speaker 3>bit and then finally come in and actually surprise people
<v Speaker 3>when he does show up.
<v Speaker 1>Very possible. I mean, that was just a logical choice
<v Speaker 1>that I was like, oh, because I didn't think of
<v Speaker 1>it either, And I'm like, how did I not think
<v Speaker 1>of that? But it would make sense for him to
<v Speaker 1>commit as a special guest referee. I'm fine with the
<v Speaker 1>long periods of time without seeing Brock Lesner, at least
<v Speaker 1>in his current incantation. I want to see a different
<v Speaker 1>brock Lesner, maybe one that even if he cuts his
<v Speaker 1>own promos or whatever, they're just short, sweet, to the point,
<v Speaker 1>because that's where brock Lesner lives and thrives. He's never
<v Speaker 1>been a good long promo guy. That's why Paul Haym
<v Speaker 1>is with him and is a perfect mouthpiece for him. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>but I would also like to see somebody get an
<v Speaker 1>advantage on brock Lessner, or face him face to face
<v Speaker 1>and get an advantage without having to kick him in
<v Speaker 1>the nuts. Like the only way that seth Rollins has
<v Speaker 1>been able to get an advantage is by kicking him
<v Speaker 1>between the legs. That has been the only way. And
<v Speaker 1>as a babyface, I'm just like, come on, even the
<v Speaker 1>Undertaker didn't when he faced brock Lesner a couple of
<v Speaker 1>years ago. I don't want that. I want to see
<v Speaker 1>a baby face be able to go on, like you know,
<v Speaker 1>Manda Man, toe to toe and be able to find
<v Speaker 1>a way to get an advantage on brock without having
<v Speaker 1>to resort to that. And it's just it diminishes the
<v Speaker 1>babyface's credibility every time I see it.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And I think that's just it shows just how
<v Speaker 3>much Stock convinces put into Brock Lesner and that he
<v Speaker 3>wants to build Brock as like this bigger than life
<v Speaker 3>character that even the best of the best wrestlers need
<v Speaker 3>to cheat to beat him. But you're right, it takes
<v Speaker 3>away from the whole baby face because yes, Seth climb
<v Speaker 3>that mountain and finally beat Brock on the grandest stage
<v Speaker 3>of them all, but like, at what cost did he
<v Speaker 3>have to do that? So yeah, I would like to
<v Speaker 3>see someone be brought clean. Well, obviously we know Triple
<v Speaker 3>H did it and Goldberg did it, but like it
<v Speaker 3>doesn't always have to be the select few that Vince chooses,
<v Speaker 3>and as we brought up before, like he always relies
<v Speaker 3>on like the established legends, but like, let Seth beat
<v Speaker 3>him clean as Roman did, because it always kind of
<v Speaker 3>leaves that Asterix beside him or that that stain on him.
<v Speaker 3>And even now you know, like Seth beat the holy
<v Speaker 3>hell out of him a super showdout, but you did
<v Speaker 3>it with a low blow and twenty four times you
<v Speaker 3>hit him with a chair. So again, like it's cool
<v Speaker 3>to see him get the better of Brock because it
<v Speaker 3>shows that he's smart and he'll do anything, but it
<v Speaker 3>takes to win the title and take Brock down, which
<v Speaker 3>I could kind of get behind, but again, it would
<v Speaker 3>be nice to actually see him be able to be
<v Speaker 3>brought clean and true baby faced fashion.
<v Speaker 1>So I think we're both on board with Seth retains
<v Speaker 1>as long as Brock doesn't cash in.
<v Speaker 3>Yes, all right?
<v Speaker 1>So with that said, moving on to the other big
<v Speaker 1>championship match, Kobe Kingston against Dolf Zigler in a steel cage.
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna take a breath and a pause. What are
<v Speaker 1>your thoughts?
<v Speaker 3>Uh? I think Kofe's gonna win. I think Kofe's gonna
<v Speaker 3>win clean. Because obviously Xavier got involved in the match
<v Speaker 3>at the Super Showdown, which I liked because it allowed
<v Speaker 3>for the storyline to advance a bit and set up
<v Speaker 3>a rematch. I think it's probably going to be the
<v Speaker 3>match of the night. These two guys inside the steel
<v Speaker 3>cage is gonna be something to be seen. But I
<v Speaker 3>think that eventually KOFE will come out on top. He's
<v Speaker 3>gonna win, and then they'll finally close the book on
<v Speaker 3>this storyline and move on to bigger and better things.
<v Speaker 3>But I will add one tidbit that I do think
<v Speaker 3>that when Brock does cash it, it will be on
<v Speaker 3>Kofi and not Seth.
<v Speaker 1>Hmm. I was thinking the same thing, really yeah, And well,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if it'll happen on Sunday night, but
<v Speaker 1>people keep thinking it's definitely gonna be Seth. It's gonna
<v Speaker 1>be Seth, It's gonna be Seth, and you're not even
<v Speaker 1>thinking about Kofe, And I think it very well could be.
<v Speaker 1>And think about the heat that that would put on
<v Speaker 1>brock Les and to beat Kofee Kingston, that feel good
<v Speaker 1>story comes crashing down to a guy that is going
<v Speaker 1>to hold that the WWE Championship, which has a hell
<v Speaker 1>of a lot more prestige in the Universal Championship does
<v Speaker 1>in lineage and hold that championship hostage for months or
<v Speaker 1>maybe even years at a time. I wouldn't put it
<v Speaker 1>pad past Vince McMahon to do that. And it could
<v Speaker 1>very easily happen because we've seen Brock and we've seen
<v Speaker 1>Seth a couple of times, and now it's time for
<v Speaker 1>maybe a new opponent, and when the guy we're not
<v Speaker 1>thinking of is Kovie Kingston. But to the match on Sunday,
<v Speaker 1>assuming again Brock doesn't cash in on Kofee is I'm
<v Speaker 1>looking forward to this match. You hit it on the head.
<v Speaker 1>This could easily be, and should be, on paper, the
<v Speaker 1>best match of the night if given enough time. Both
<v Speaker 1>of them are very similar styles, they both sell well.
<v Speaker 1>They they do have a lot of parallels which Dolf
<v Speaker 1>alluded to, and they do. They are both very good
<v Speaker 1>in the ring, and if given enough time, this could
<v Speaker 1>be a classic. And so my prediction is KOFE wins
<v Speaker 1>hands down, Dolph goes away, and so let's get that
<v Speaker 1>out of the way. The only thing, the only tidbit
<v Speaker 1>I have and an issue I have, is just the
<v Speaker 1>premise of a steel cage match itself. And I went
<v Speaker 1>off a little bit on this last night. I don't
<v Speaker 1>understand that why and how escaping a cage or walking
<v Speaker 1>through a door is a legal way of winning a match. Basically,
<v Speaker 1>whoever can run away from their opponent the fastest or
<v Speaker 1>the best wins the match. And think about this. All
<v Speaker 1>you have to do, if you're a super athlete is
<v Speaker 1>you could throw somebody in the other side of the ring,
<v Speaker 1>and if you really wanted to, you could climb over
<v Speaker 1>the cage in the blink of an eye. And think
<v Speaker 1>about I mean, think about all these athletic crazy things
<v Speaker 1>that they do, but they just somehow can't get up
<v Speaker 1>that cage in time and draw it out. I don't
<v Speaker 1>like the fact that you can open a door and
<v Speaker 1>walk out and win. In what world is that a
<v Speaker 1>legal way of winning any sports sports situation, whether I
<v Speaker 1>don't care what sport you're talking about in you know,
<v Speaker 1>whether it's a competitive sport, professional wrestling, it just doesn't
<v Speaker 1>make sense. And the fact that we're supposed to believe
<v Speaker 1>that a steel cage always keeps out interference, there's nobody
<v Speaker 1>gonna be able to help you. You're not gonna have
<v Speaker 1>any help, it's just you and me. Well, the last
<v Speaker 1>time I checked, a steel cage match is a no
<v Speaker 1>disqualification match, which means the world could come in that match,
<v Speaker 1>the entire locker room could come in that match, and
<v Speaker 1>it would still be legal. So it just every time
<v Speaker 1>I hear that and hear those two arguments, it's it
<v Speaker 1>just hurts my brain. It should be pinfall or submission
<v Speaker 1>only inside of a steel cage.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I know, I've always personally hated the walk through
<v Speaker 3>your door and the walk through your doorway to victory
<v Speaker 3>because you're right like anyone, if they try hard enough,
<v Speaker 3>could scratch and claw their way out of there or
<v Speaker 3>weasel their way out. And I don't think I've ever
<v Speaker 3>seen someone actually win by going out of the door.
<v Speaker 3>I don't so much mind the over the top of
<v Speaker 3>the cage thing, because at least that proves an obstacle,
<v Speaker 3>like you have to actually climb the damn thing and
<v Speaker 3>go over it before the guy can come up and
<v Speaker 3>stop you. But yeah, the whole like argument of like
<v Speaker 3>oh yeah, like there's gonna be no more interferences side,
<v Speaker 3>like oh come on. You know, one of the most
<v Speaker 3>iconic steel cage matches, well maybe not iconic, but one
<v Speaker 3>that sticks out of my mind is the one that
<v Speaker 3>the Rock and Stone Gould had after wrestling its seventeen
<v Speaker 3>when Vincent Triple Ah got in the cage and they
<v Speaker 3>just beat the holy hell out of the Rock and
<v Speaker 3>formed the two man power trip. And I'm just like, Okay, well,
<v Speaker 3>what the hell was applying that they just basically trapped
<v Speaker 3>the Rock inside and destroyed them. But yeah, I've hated
<v Speaker 3>that whole narrative and it's gone on for as long
<v Speaker 3>as I could remember about like, oh, well, no one's
<v Speaker 3>gonna get in now it's just you and me. Then
<v Speaker 3>maybe I've just become accustomed to it and I don't really,
<v Speaker 3>you know, react to it the same way anymore. But yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I'm with you there, the whole notion of being able
<v Speaker 3>to walk out of the door and win, or that
<v Speaker 3>we're supposed to believe that no one's going to get
<v Speaker 3>inside like and I think what makes it worse is
<v Speaker 3>that we all know that when it's actually a match
<v Speaker 3>where no one's getting inside, it's the hell in the cell.
<v Speaker 3>And I think that makes it a bit more or
<v Speaker 3>less believable for us, because WWE has an exact other
<v Speaker 3>match that does that exact purpose that the steel cage
<v Speaker 3>match pretends to do.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, they do, they do. But as much as I
<v Speaker 1>would love to make the hell in a selly prestigious
<v Speaker 1>match and make it only for extremely deserving heated rivalries,
<v Speaker 1>that you know, you've gone from a standard wrestling match,
<v Speaker 1>maybe into a street fight, then you go to the
<v Speaker 1>steel cage and the blowoff as a hell in a cell.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it doesn't have to happen like that all
<v Speaker 1>the time, but that to me would be how a
<v Speaker 1>natural progression of a heated blood feud would end, and
<v Speaker 1>that Helen Cel would be the blowoff of that feud,
<v Speaker 1>and the Helen of Cel pay per view unfortunately dissolves
<v Speaker 1>all of the mistique of the Helen a Cell because
<v Speaker 1>it's built into the pay per view schedule, so we're,
<v Speaker 1>you know, whatever FEU's happened to be going on at
<v Speaker 1>that time, Well, just Sticky in the cell because it's
<v Speaker 1>a cute gimmick and it's killed the hell and a cell.
<v Speaker 1>To me, the hell in a cell is such a
<v Speaker 1>sacred special place that so many amazing matches have happened,
<v Speaker 1>so many amazing moments, from the very first one with
<v Speaker 1>Shawn Michaels an Undertaker, which was the very first program
<v Speaker 1>that I remember watching, and it just that drew me in,
<v Speaker 1>like I MS hooked forever because of that program, all
<v Speaker 1>the way obviously mcfoley's fall off the cage to Cactus
<v Speaker 1>Jack retiring at the hands of Triple H and I
<v Speaker 1>believe it was two thousand when he pedigreed him on
<v Speaker 1>top of the cell to the Armageddon pay per view
<v Speaker 1>and Rakishi got choke slammed off of it into like
<v Speaker 1>a bunch of wood chips. I mean, there's so many
<v Speaker 1>things that happened inside the cell that are special that
<v Speaker 1>when you put it into a pay per view schedule,
<v Speaker 1>completely kills the mistique of it. But I'm getting way
<v Speaker 1>off track, but you're right. They have a structure that
<v Speaker 1>could do exactly what they're telling us could do. There's
<v Speaker 1>no roof on the set, on the cage, it's just
<v Speaker 1>a it's not even a cage by definition, has a roof.
<v Speaker 1>This is like a a four walled you know, I
<v Speaker 1>don't know what you'd call it. It's not a true
<v Speaker 1>a true cage. So yeah, they they are making us
<v Speaker 1>supposed to believe that nobody can interfere. But even in
<v Speaker 1>Hell and a Cell, you've seen people hide under the
<v Speaker 1>ring up until the point when they're supposed to come out.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, you've seen wacky things happen, but less so.
<v Speaker 1>But back to this match, I'm really looking forward to it.
<v Speaker 1>I think they could blow the roof off the place,
<v Speaker 1>and I'm expecting a lot of high spots, a ton
<v Speaker 1>of near falls, a zigzag off the top. I'm expecting
<v Speaker 1>some crazy crap because these two are capable of it,
<v Speaker 1>and I expect Kofei to come out on top in
<v Speaker 1>the end. So Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre. I am
<v Speaker 1>just I'm a little bit torn on this. I don't
<v Speaker 1>think this one's as easy as most people think. The
<v Speaker 1>reason is Drew McIntyre has been groomed over the past
<v Speaker 1>couple of months to be a top guy. Yet Roman
<v Speaker 1>Reigns is the elder statesman of Vince McMahon being the
<v Speaker 1>top guy. Romans he's the big dog, he's the he's
<v Speaker 1>the gatekeeper to being, you know, the top guy. But
<v Speaker 1>we saw them face at WrestleMania, which we're all supposed
<v Speaker 1>to forget. This time around, I think the program has
<v Speaker 1>been built much better, much more properly. I'm much more
<v Speaker 1>invested in this program than it wasn't WrestleMania, which kind
<v Speaker 1>of felt like a last minute We'll throw these two
<v Speaker 1>big guys together and they'll have a match. Roman came
<v Speaker 1>out on top of that match. I wouldn't be so
<v Speaker 1>sure that Roman comes out on top of this match
<v Speaker 1>as revenge. I think since this is the first time
<v Speaker 1>that they're officially meeting. And I say that in air quotes,
<v Speaker 1>I say Drew McIntyre wins this, and I say that
<v Speaker 1>because I think Drew needs to win more than Roman does,
<v Speaker 1>what do you think.
<v Speaker 3>I'm with you. I think Drew's gonna win this. I
<v Speaker 3>think that they're fully behind building this stable with Shane
<v Speaker 3>and Drew and the Revival. But I think, like you said,
<v Speaker 3>I think Drew needs to win more. He hasn't really
<v Speaker 3>had a big time pay per view victory in a
<v Speaker 3>while now, and he's and I think they want him
<v Speaker 3>to be established as an actual threat, not just a
<v Speaker 3>lackey or just the right hand man of Shane, a man.
<v Speaker 3>They want him to be his own guy and be
<v Speaker 3>able to fight Roman reigns on his own and be
<v Speaker 3>able to take him out. Now in saying that, I
<v Speaker 3>don't think he's gonna win clean. I think there will
<v Speaker 3>be outside of the ring shenanigans from obviously Shane, maybe
<v Speaker 3>the Revival, maybe Elias or what have you. But I
<v Speaker 3>think when it all comes, when it all finishes, it
<v Speaker 3>will be Drew McIntyre coming on top and in some way,
<v Speaker 3>shape or fashion. I feel like this is all gonna
<v Speaker 3>culminate at SummerSlam, but you know, Shane gets that win
<v Speaker 3>against Roman at Super Showdown. I think They're gonna make
<v Speaker 3>Roman lose again here due to outside interference and just
<v Speaker 3>keep Roman's frustrations building and boiling and culminate down the line.
<v Speaker 3>But as for this match on Sunday, I think Drew
<v Speaker 3>comes out with the win and get some more momentum
<v Speaker 3>behind them.
<v Speaker 1>They have to. It's almost as if Drew has to
<v Speaker 1>win this because of everything that they've put in front
<v Speaker 1>of him and everything he's talked about and said he
<v Speaker 1>has to back up his words. I don't care if
<v Speaker 1>it's a clean win over Roman Reigns. And you know what,
<v Speaker 1>I would actually prefer a clean win. I know he's
<v Speaker 1>a heel, and heels traditionally win by hooker crook low
<v Speaker 1>blows feet on the ropes, refezent looking for an object.
<v Speaker 1>I want to see Drew outright beat Roman Rains with
<v Speaker 1>the claymore, which has been established as a killer move,
<v Speaker 1>and it looks like Drew McIntyre is. It looks like
<v Speaker 1>a shotgun going off. I mean, it's sold really well,
<v Speaker 1>nobody's kicked out of it. It's a money finisher, and
<v Speaker 1>I would like to see Drew McIntyre outright beat Roman Reigns.
<v Speaker 1>I would that, to me, would be the most beneficial
<v Speaker 1>to Drew. It would establish him as a credible threat,
<v Speaker 1>not just a guy that uses any means necessary. All
<v Speaker 1>heels don't have to do that. You could be a
<v Speaker 1>guy that beats your opponent clean as a heel, but
<v Speaker 1>you're what you stand for is is demonic. It's it's
<v Speaker 1>just nasty. Who you are as a person is terrible,
<v Speaker 1>even if you're winning matches clean. And I think Drew
<v Speaker 1>could do this because it would What it'll do is, yes,
<v Speaker 1>it'll get him over as a heel, as a credible heel,
<v Speaker 1>but when he turns babyface, eventually the fans will remember
<v Speaker 1>that that he was this guy that just came out
<v Speaker 1>and kicked ass. And now when he flips, you're gonna
<v Speaker 1>remember that. So of course that's down the line. I
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't I wouldn't want him to turn babyface for a
<v Speaker 1>year or two. But I think that Drew needs to win,
<v Speaker 1>and he needs to win clean and decisively.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And because like I think what you said about
<v Speaker 3>entering babyface one day is perfect. I think that they
<v Speaker 3>need to give the fans something to kate Drew McIntyre seriously,
<v Speaker 3>because yeah, he's talked of the game and he's been
<v Speaker 3>a lot of wrestlers on side matches, but like there's
<v Speaker 3>yet to be that one big time feud that he's
<v Speaker 3>really culminated in with a victory because he didn't beat
<v Speaker 3>Roman at WrestleMania. Sure he had his way with Dean Ambrews,
<v Speaker 3>but we know that Dean Ambrose was just doing the
<v Speaker 3>favors going out the door. But yeah, I think that
<v Speaker 3>for the long term vision of Drew that he really
<v Speaker 3>needs this win. They've done a great job building up
<v Speaker 3>to now. I really like what he's like his partnership
<v Speaker 3>with Sean McMahon. But I do kind of fear that, like,
<v Speaker 3>if he doesn't get this win, he'll just be viewed
<v Speaker 3>as an afterthought because it would look kind of straighte like, Okay,
<v Speaker 3>well Shane could beat Roman, but Drew can't, So yeah,
<v Speaker 3>it would hurt his reputation. I think that Roman could
<v Speaker 3>survive it because you know, Roman could just bounce back
<v Speaker 3>from anything due to the writing and how w W
<v Speaker 3>has built him, you know, come back drive the loss
<v Speaker 3>to Drew McIntyre. So yeah, I really think it's crucial
<v Speaker 3>man Drew, and he really needs his victory to build
<v Speaker 3>it himhimself in the future.
<v Speaker 1>Roman is elastic. I think that's a good point to
<v Speaker 1>bring up. Roman can survive and he can survive a
<v Speaker 1>big string of losses because Roman has been established for
<v Speaker 1>so long in the minds of fans that he is
<v Speaker 1>a top guy and at any moment, regardless of how
<v Speaker 1>terrible of a losing streak he goes on who he
<v Speaker 1>loses to, he could come back at any moment with
<v Speaker 1>fire in his eyes and just start as wait, let
<v Speaker 1>me say the tagline, start kicking ass and taking names.
<v Speaker 1>He could do that. I mean, don't don't even get
<v Speaker 1>me started on that forced nonsensical, corporate corporately forced into
<v Speaker 1>every promo garbage. So that's what I think about that.
<v Speaker 1>It's it's awful. But Roman could do that. Roman could
<v Speaker 1>easily come back regardless of the losing streak, which is
<v Speaker 1>why Drew needs this tenfold over Roman.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and that's exactly it. Man. You hit it on
<v Speaker 3>the head there, because Roman just keep getting knocked down
<v Speaker 3>and he will get up and he always will and
<v Speaker 3>like even just like the whole real life battle he
<v Speaker 3>had with leukemia, that he no matter how many times
<v Speaker 3>he gets knocked down, he will be built back up.
<v Speaker 3>But Drew needs it, and I think Drew needs to
<v Speaker 3>kind of get the jackpack put on him and blown
<v Speaker 3>away here in the trajectory of you know, succeeding, and
<v Speaker 3>I think they're kind of doing that with intent with
<v Speaker 3>Seay McMahon right now, but he also has to find
<v Speaker 3>some you know, solo success at the same time.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. So let's move on
<v Speaker 1>to the Raw Women's Championship, the Becky Lynch versus Laly Evans.
<v Speaker 1>We alluded to this a little bit before, so I
<v Speaker 1>honestly don't have a whole lot to add to this
<v Speaker 1>other than I think that this will be a better
<v Speaker 1>match than their first, which I didn't think was a disaster.
<v Speaker 1>But it's their second match. They should get to get
<v Speaker 1>a feel for each other more. They probably will get
<v Speaker 1>a little bit more time. I think Becky wins. I
<v Speaker 1>think that's the end of the story. I honestly don't
<v Speaker 1>have a whole lot to add this. I think just
<v Speaker 1>as Dolf will go into the background, I think Lacy
<v Speaker 1>Evans will fade into the background into another program after
<v Speaker 1>Becky Lynch beats her here. So what are your thoughts
<v Speaker 1>on that?
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you know, as I said before, I'm a big
<v Speaker 3>fan of Lacy Evans, but she's not ready yet to
<v Speaker 3>overtake someone like Becky Lynch. I think Becky's gonna win
<v Speaker 3>clean and kind of close the book on the story
<v Speaker 3>for this particular fear. But yeah, we kind of said
<v Speaker 3>all we had to say before. There's not too much
<v Speaker 3>to add. Becky wins clean and just closes it off.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean case closed. Really, Yeah, I mean there's
<v Speaker 1>it's very straightforward here, I believe. So all right, what
<v Speaker 1>about the SmackDown Women's Championship Bailey and Alexa a little
<v Speaker 1>more interesting? So you know, you go ahead, What do
<v Speaker 1>you think?
<v Speaker 3>I like this story a lot, so I don't think
<v Speaker 3>it's gonna be as cut and dry. I think that
<v Speaker 3>it's gonna end kind of in a disqualification of sorts.
<v Speaker 3>I think that it's going to I think I would
<v Speaker 3>say I'm not sure who will win. I will say
<v Speaker 3>Alexa wins via disqualification and warns a future title match,
<v Speaker 3>because I don't think that Alexa is gonna take the
<v Speaker 3>belt away from Bailey so soon after she won it,
<v Speaker 3>and for the women the next pay per view after
<v Speaker 3>she wont it, because they compete at Super Showdown. But yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I think it's gonna end in disqualification match due to
<v Speaker 3>Nicky Cross getting not a disqualification match, but disqualification finished
<v Speaker 3>due to Nicky Cross somehow getting involved, So no clean
<v Speaker 3>finish and just something to result in a future match
<v Speaker 3>down the line to keep this story going. As we
<v Speaker 3>both mentioned, we both really like this story. I don't
<v Speaker 3>think they're quite ready to close it off completely. So
<v Speaker 3>I would say Alexa wins disqualification, but Bailey keeps the title.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I feel like I'm just gonna repeat what you said.
<v Speaker 1>It's the only the only thing I would change on
<v Speaker 1>that is I think it easily and probably will be
<v Speaker 1>a disqualification. But Bailey wins via dis qualification after Nicky
<v Speaker 1>you know, unintentionally gets caught by the referee hitting her
<v Speaker 1>in the head or you know, kicking her or pulling
<v Speaker 1>her off the apron or something something will cause a disqualification.
<v Speaker 1>I don't care who wins the disqualification because either way,
<v Speaker 1>the championship doesn't change hands. But yes, I think that
<v Speaker 1>is the case. This is the start of the program.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, this is their first match. It can't be
<v Speaker 1>a clean finish either way. I believe that it is
<v Speaker 1>going to be a three maybe longer pay per view match,
<v Speaker 1>or a pay per view long feud. This could actually
<v Speaker 1>go all the way to Summer Slam. I really believe
<v Speaker 1>that if this is done correctly and we have no
<v Speaker 1>more Bailey This is Your Life segments, this could be
<v Speaker 1>a program that does culminate at SummerSlam. So yeah, this
<v Speaker 1>is going to be a finish that has nothing clean
<v Speaker 1>about it. There's gonna be a lot of tomfoolery in
<v Speaker 1>this in this finish, and you know, that's just ww logic.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's other ways to do it, but just
<v Speaker 1>based on how WWE presents their programs, especially at the
<v Speaker 1>beginning of programs, Yeah, I think that's really the only
<v Speaker 1>way that this program can start off as via disqualification
<v Speaker 1>or some kind of some kind of funky ending.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, exactly. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing,
<v Speaker 3>because if you have a I don't think it'd be
<v Speaker 3>wise to the belt off of Bailey this way. And
<v Speaker 3>if Bailey wins, the story's pretty much done. So I
<v Speaker 3>think that if she wins clean that is, then the
<v Speaker 3>story's pretty much done. So yeah, I think in some
<v Speaker 3>way there's gonna be some nonsense that goes on outside,
<v Speaker 3>something to keep the storyline going. And Warrant selects a
<v Speaker 3>bliss to have another match, And I think that's good,
<v Speaker 3>as I just said, because these two clearly do have
<v Speaker 3>chemistry outside the ring, they will have chemistry inside the ring.
<v Speaker 3>They're two very good in ring competitors, and I think
<v Speaker 3>the whole wrinkle of the effect of Nikki Cross has
<v Speaker 3>led to a way more complex story than we've just
<v Speaker 3>been presented on the surface.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this is we've kind of said it all. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>this is the beginning of a program. So, okay, the
<v Speaker 1>United States Championship, Samoa Joe and Ricochet. I'm gonna toss
<v Speaker 1>it to you first on this.
<v Speaker 3>I think Samojo wins here. I'm hoping, as you brought
<v Speaker 3>up before, that it's a start of a long run.
<v Speaker 3>I think Rikochet won that fatal five way match to
<v Speaker 3>take the first loss to Samoa Jo. I don't think
<v Speaker 3>Rikoshet is gonna beat Samojo at Stobbing Grounds to win
<v Speaker 3>his first title. I just don't think the stars are
<v Speaker 3>aligned for that. I think that it will be a
<v Speaker 3>very good match. I'm looking forward to it, but I
<v Speaker 3>just don't see how Rikoshet comes out. I think it's
<v Speaker 3>a good first step to first step rather to get
<v Speaker 3>Rikoschet's feet wet a bit in the title scene and
<v Speaker 3>his first kick at the can of the title, but no,
<v Speaker 3>there's no way that he can come out here with
<v Speaker 3>a victory. I think Joe wins, So.
<v Speaker 1>My brain is telling me, don't pick Rikoshet. This is
<v Speaker 1>a very easy pick. It's a slam dunk. The problem
<v Speaker 1>is everything that we just talked about a little while
<v Speaker 1>ago about Samoa Joe and the way that WWE treats him.
<v Speaker 1>I could see rick Aschet winning this, and I'm going
<v Speaker 1>to pick him for that reason that WWE has not
<v Speaker 1>only devalued Samoa Joe to this point, but also they
<v Speaker 1>don't seem to really care about the United States Championship itself,
<v Speaker 1>so by Rikoshet winning it, it's not the most prestigious.
<v Speaker 1>It's not in line with or or at the same
<v Speaker 1>level as even the Intercontinental Championship, even if it's presented
<v Speaker 1>to be. It's not. So for Ricochet to win this,
<v Speaker 1>I think would be I think the fans will go nuts.
<v Speaker 1>The fans are behind him because he does really crazy,
<v Speaker 1>wacky moves, even though we haven't heard a word from
<v Speaker 1>him yet. He is exciting, he's fun to watch all
<v Speaker 1>of that, which is true. So I think Samoa Joe
<v Speaker 1>loses here. I'm not going to bet any money on
<v Speaker 1>it at all. Then this is probably a dumb pick,
<v Speaker 1>but I'm gonna go. There's always that one or two,
<v Speaker 1>those one or two matches that you think are locks
<v Speaker 1>that Vincenna ends up in going out. No, they think
<v Speaker 1>this is gonna happen. This looks too predictable. We're gonna
<v Speaker 1>We're gonna change it up, and this could be that one.
<v Speaker 1>This could be that one, that is that that sleeping giant.
<v Speaker 1>So I'm gonna go with Ricochet winning the United States
<v Speaker 1>Championship here to shake things up. As Vince McMahon would say,
<v Speaker 1>I'm just trying to get in that man's brain. And
<v Speaker 1>I think that Rick Ashet could win this and try
<v Speaker 1>to bring some life back to the United States Championship.
<v Speaker 1>And do I want that to happen?
<v Speaker 2>No?
<v Speaker 1>Do I think that should happen. No, But I could
<v Speaker 1>see a case of Vince McMahon wanting it to happen.
<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, I mean all the points you just outlined,
<v Speaker 3>it could very well happen. Like I would have never
<v Speaker 3>thought in a million years that being Mysteria would have
<v Speaker 3>beat samo Jo for the US title, and just the
<v Speaker 3>way that Simojo has been treated as all the points
<v Speaker 3>you just brought out is completely realistic. And I have
<v Speaker 3>to keep bringing myself back down to earth about the
<v Speaker 3>US title because you're right, it's not that prestigious anymore.
<v Speaker 3>They don't seem to care about it. It is kind
<v Speaker 3>of an afterthought. So even if a were to win,
<v Speaker 3>it's really not a big deal, and that would kind
<v Speaker 3>of stuck for Rikoshet, like his first title win is
<v Speaker 3>supposed to be this big monumental achievement, but it's the
<v Speaker 3>US title who no one really cares about. But no, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I think that he could go either way. Just based
<v Speaker 3>on McMahon wine to swerve US. I don't think that's
<v Speaker 3>a bad pick at all on your part.
<v Speaker 1>And think about the way Simojoe quote won the United
<v Speaker 1>States Championship. He inexplicably had his long time he did
<v Speaker 1>rival just handed to him. So that tells you what
<v Speaker 1>Vince McMahon thinks about the United States Championship. So this
<v Speaker 1>could Now I'm kind of like talking myself into it,
<v Speaker 1>but I really believe Rikoschhet could win this. So that's
<v Speaker 1>my pick. SmackDown Tag Team Championships with Daniel Bryan and
<v Speaker 1>Rowan against Heavy Machinery. I think this one is a
<v Speaker 1>pretty darn good lock and I don't think anybody's gonna
<v Speaker 1>be surprised by this that Daniel Brian and Rowan retain,
<v Speaker 1>and my god, they should retain his. I enjoy Heavy Machinery.
<v Speaker 1>I enjoy Otis and Tucker, especially Otis, who is clearly
<v Speaker 1>the star out of the two. They're funny, but they're
<v Speaker 1>also serious when they need to be, and they're legitimate,
<v Speaker 1>so they're not just a comedy act only. But they're
<v Speaker 1>not ready, just as Ricochet. It doesn't seem ready this one. Really,
<v Speaker 1>they are really not ready. And Daniel Brian and Rowan
<v Speaker 1>are on a roll as the Tag Team Champion champions
<v Speaker 1>on SmackDown Live, and they're bringing credibility back to the
<v Speaker 1>tag team division. They are clearly the top team. There's
<v Speaker 1>just no reason to have Heavy Machinery win this match.
<v Speaker 1>Daniel Brian and Rowan walk away as champions.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I'm with you there. I love Heavy Machinery. I'm
<v Speaker 3>gonna just sound like a macoing you here, but yeah,
<v Speaker 3>they're just not ready, especially in a SmackDown world that
<v Speaker 3>the tag team division isn't especially deep. I think Rowan
<v Speaker 3>and Daniel Bryan are single handedly carrying it and making
<v Speaker 3>those titles relevant just because of the star power attached
<v Speaker 3>to Daniel Brian. And give give wrong for addit like
<v Speaker 3>you brought up before. He's done a really good job.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, there's just no logical scenario. Have your machinery
<v Speaker 3>comes out with a win. I think it's gonna be
<v Speaker 3>a good match. I think it's gonna be a entertaining match.
<v Speaker 3>I hope that it's not the last match these two
<v Speaker 3>teams have, but yeah, I think Rowing and Daniel Bryan
<v Speaker 3>come away with a win here.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I really have nothing more to add to this.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I think it'll be an entertaining match. I
<v Speaker 1>think it'll be you know, physical, It'll be just a
<v Speaker 1>very I think smooth logical ends with even if it's
<v Speaker 1>by hook or crook, Daniel Brian just does something underhanded.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I'm fine with it. I don't care how
<v Speaker 1>Daniel Brian and Rowan retain. They just need to retain.
<v Speaker 1>Just end of subject New Day and Kevin new Day
<v Speaker 1>versus Kevin Owens and Sammy Zay. Your thoughts, you.
<v Speaker 3>Know, I wish that it was a harder pick that, honestly,
<v Speaker 3>but as we've seen Kevin Owens and Sammyse being utilized lately,
<v Speaker 3>I'm gonna go with the New Day because just like
<v Speaker 3>how much how buried Zaye and Owens have been. But
<v Speaker 3>I could see Kevin Owens and Samyse play out the
<v Speaker 3>swerve here beating the New Day. But I just feel
<v Speaker 3>like the New Day has taken such a bat by
<v Speaker 3>New Day. I mean, obviously Biggie and Co and Xavier Woods,
<v Speaker 3>I feel like they've taken such a back seat to
<v Speaker 3>Kofe's title reign that they've almost been an afterthought and
<v Speaker 3>they they need this win. But then you could also say,
<v Speaker 3>on the other hand, that Kevin Owens and Sammuse need
<v Speaker 3>the win. But I think with all of said and done,
<v Speaker 3>that the New Days stout with the win here, just
<v Speaker 3>solely based on how Zaye and Owens have been booked recently.
<v Speaker 1>You're You're right. I just I'm trying to talk myself
<v Speaker 1>into Kevin Owens and Samuse a winning. I'm trying to
<v Speaker 1>come up with a reason and trying to convince myself
<v Speaker 1>to pick them. I just can't. I can't pick them
<v Speaker 1>for the fact that they haven't won a match since
<v Speaker 1>they came back, and yeah, that Vince McMahon could this
<v Speaker 1>could be another one of the swerves that all people
<v Speaker 1>think that New Day is just gonna win and Kevin
<v Speaker 1>and Sammy are gonna lose because they've continue to lose.
<v Speaker 1>I don't think this is a swerve because there's no
<v Speaker 1>reason to do the swerve in this case. There's no
<v Speaker 1>championship on the line. Clearly, Vince does not think very
<v Speaker 1>highly of either Kevin or Sammy as long term single
<v Speaker 1>stars in WWE. So I think New Day wins and
<v Speaker 1>Xavier and Biggie come out on top. Will I be
<v Speaker 1>absolutely stunned if Kevin and Sammy win. No, I won't
<v Speaker 1>because they honestly need the wins more than anybody on
<v Speaker 1>the roster. But at the same time, look at the
<v Speaker 1>track record they do. Their track record is awful. It's
<v Speaker 1>it's abysmal. So I'm gonna go with the New Day
<v Speaker 1>and it's sad, but that's my pick.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it feels like we're both kind of getting depressed here.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, you want it to be more of like
<v Speaker 3>a hard pick. You want to have trouble pick at
<v Speaker 3>this pick. But it also it isn't a hard pick
<v Speaker 3>because you just know that Kevin Owens and Samuzean are
<v Speaker 3>and Tiken seriously in the eyes of Vince McMahon and
<v Speaker 3>I just it's really sad to see. But yeah, there's
<v Speaker 3>just no way that I could see them coming out
<v Speaker 3>with a win here.
<v Speaker 1>I can't. I really want to. I'm trying. I'm in
<v Speaker 1>I do I sound depressed because I am, because I
<v Speaker 1>can't believe that I'm not having a hard time with this.
<v Speaker 1>I'm trying to come up with something in my brain,
<v Speaker 1>but it's very depressing. So moving on rad Tag Team
<v Speaker 1>Championship Revival versus the USSOS, I think this one's another one.
<v Speaker 1>This card up and down the line looks very predictable,
<v Speaker 1>and it looks like you can make a case of
<v Speaker 1>no championships changing hands at all on the entire card,
<v Speaker 1>and I think in general that will be the case here.
<v Speaker 1>With the exception of the United States Championship. Is don't
<v Speaker 1>go to dount on a limb, But this Raw Tag
<v Speaker 1>Team Championship, I don't see how the Revival lose them
<v Speaker 1>to the USSOS. I just don't. I think the Revival
<v Speaker 1>with Shane McMahon behind him and the McMahon power behind
<v Speaker 1>him and the stable that they're in, they don't lose here.
<v Speaker 1>I think that the Revival and the USO's are gonna
<v Speaker 1>have a very good match. This could be a sleeper
<v Speaker 1>of a match that people are overlooking. And again, if
<v Speaker 1>given the time, that's the key. They could have a
<v Speaker 1>very very good match. You know, like three and a
<v Speaker 1>half maybe even higher out of five stars. They could
<v Speaker 1>have a hell of a match. I just don't know
<v Speaker 1>if they'll be given the time, and ultimately the Revival
<v Speaker 1>comes out as champions. What do you think?
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think Revival again come out on top as well.
<v Speaker 3>I think the USOS could survive the victory as opposed
<v Speaker 3>to the Revival that although they are multi time tag
<v Speaker 3>team champions, it seems like every time they have a
<v Speaker 3>chance to defend the titles, they are unable to, whether
<v Speaker 3>it be against Gable and Rude or Raw Hawkins. I
<v Speaker 3>think like a big statement win over arguably the best
<v Speaker 3>tag team in ww REE right now is needed for them.
<v Speaker 3>I think if they are to drop the titles so
<v Speaker 3>soon after winning them, it would almost like I wouldn't
<v Speaker 3>be able to take them seriously. So I think this
<v Speaker 3>is a crucial opportunity for WWE to allow the Revival
<v Speaker 3>to get a big impact win against a team like
<v Speaker 3>the Uzos and show that they are on that same
<v Speaker 3>level with them.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, I.
<v Speaker 3>Really think the REVIVALI come out with the win here,
<v Speaker 3>and they need the win here.
<v Speaker 1>They do. And again, I'm not a hot potato title fan.
<v Speaker 1>I don't like title changes for the sake of title changes,
<v Speaker 1>and oh it's newsworthy. I like long reigning champions regardless
<v Speaker 1>of who's holding the belt. It means so much more
<v Speaker 1>when the belts change hands. So in this case, in
<v Speaker 1>this day and age, long term championship reigns last beyond
<v Speaker 1>a pay per view like unfortunately, that is the scale
<v Speaker 1>and definition of what long term now means. But yeah, Revival,
<v Speaker 1>I think you can pretty much take that one to
<v Speaker 1>the bank as well. And finally, the Cruiserweight Championship with
<v Speaker 1>Tony Nice versus Drew Gulak and a Karacterzawa. What do
<v Speaker 1>you think?
<v Speaker 3>I'm basically Tony Nice. I like the way that they've
<v Speaker 3>built him. I think that when he beat Buddy Murphy
<v Speaker 3>at WrestleMania, who is a telltale sign that they were
<v Speaker 3>serious about him. I'm with you, I like the long
<v Speaker 3>title reigns here, so I think they're gonna stick with
<v Speaker 3>Tony Niese here. They've built them well, and I think
<v Speaker 3>they're gonna give him a bit more time before he
<v Speaker 3>drops the belt.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I don't have a strong feeling on this, to
<v Speaker 1>be honest, because I don't have a lot of emotional
<v Speaker 1>investment in this, and I don't think most people do.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, however, two or five Live, they've been putting
<v Speaker 1>out some good matches as of late. There was some
<v Speaker 1>controversy in the finish of the number one can Tender
<v Speaker 1>Fadal four way match, so Gulac and Tazau got the opportunity.
<v Speaker 1>I think Tony Nie retains because he seems I think
<v Speaker 1>he's got the most established character in the the cruiserweight division.
<v Speaker 1>He's a good champion. As you said, his win at
<v Speaker 1>wrestle Mania was a statement made by WWE to say, hey,
<v Speaker 1>we're changing. This is changing of the guards here. So
<v Speaker 1>we're gonna go with Tony Nice. And I think it's
<v Speaker 1>Tony Nice for probably the next few months. I don't
<v Speaker 1>see any reason to take the championship off him and
<v Speaker 1>just put him in matches, because you know he can
<v Speaker 1>have good matches and at the end of the day though,
<v Speaker 1>he's gonna be the champion, and I don't see anything
<v Speaker 1>different happening here.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And you know, as you brought up, like it
<v Speaker 3>was a change of the guard and they gave the
<v Speaker 3>reins to Tony nies and just in the fashion that
<v Speaker 3>the two challengers got put into the match, like the
<v Speaker 3>controversial finish at the end of the Number one Contenders match,
<v Speaker 3>I don't think that's the kind of you know, storyline
<v Speaker 3>that would callinate in Tony lose event actually losing the championship.
<v Speaker 3>I think it'd be something of way more like an
<v Speaker 3>intense storyline, a one on one storyline for a guy
<v Speaker 3>like Tony needs to drop the belt. We so, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>I think it's gonna be a good match. I think
<v Speaker 3>it's they're gonna all put on a good show. As
<v Speaker 3>you mentioned, they've been playing on a good product there lately.
<v Speaker 3>But I don't think a guy like Tony Niese, after
<v Speaker 3>winning such a big match against Buddy Murphy will lose
<v Speaker 3>it in this kind of fashion.
<v Speaker 1>No, I think it's totally right. I honestly don't have
<v Speaker 1>a whole lot more to add to this, and it's
<v Speaker 1>just a shame that they have really defined down the
<v Speaker 1>cruiserweight division. You know, I just they ww can't seem
<v Speaker 1>to find that perfect balance of being able to showcase
<v Speaker 1>this division in a way that feels legitimate and not
<v Speaker 1>just kind of the stepchild to well, this is the
<v Speaker 1>main roster and then we have this little, this little
<v Speaker 1>side thing of the cruiserweight division. It just doesn't feel
<v Speaker 1>like it's as important, at least the way they present
<v Speaker 1>it on air, as it should. And that's the problem
<v Speaker 1>that I have.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and because again I know I always keep bringing
<v Speaker 3>back up, but I remember how it was in the
<v Speaker 3>Ruthless Aggression era and how they weren't kind of just
<v Speaker 3>segregated into their own TV show, and the cruiserweights could
<v Speaker 3>also be taken seriously, Like look at Raymond Sierra Eastern
<v Speaker 3>as the cruiserweight. I remember the days of Ty Jerry
<v Speaker 3>being a cruiseweight and all these guys who were just
<v Speaker 3>taken more seriously because they could sometimes compete with guys
<v Speaker 3>on the main roster. So I have had a bit
<v Speaker 3>of a hard time taking the cruiserweights seriously because even
<v Speaker 3>how they treat the cruiser eights when they jump up
<v Speaker 3>to raw like it's almost like they're graduating to the
<v Speaker 3>big show. So I'm almost like, oh, okay, so is
<v Speaker 3>this like kind of on the par with NXT Because
<v Speaker 3>when Cedric Alexander jumped from two to five Live to RAW,
<v Speaker 3>I was at the two O five Live there in
<v Speaker 3>Montreal on his final show, and it was almost like
<v Speaker 3>he was saying goodbye. He was moving on to bigger
<v Speaker 3>and better things. So on that respect, I've always kind
<v Speaker 3>of had a hard time getting emotionally invested into the
<v Speaker 3>new version of the cruiserweight division.
<v Speaker 1>He's just not doing what they should be to get
<v Speaker 1>people to care, because they probably think people don't care.
<v Speaker 1>But the ironic thing is that people don't care because
<v Speaker 1>they are showing us they don't care, So how are
<v Speaker 1>we supposed to care. It's this vicious circle, and I
<v Speaker 1>just they aren't showing the respect that they should be
<v Speaker 1>for these athletes that are putting on matches that are
<v Speaker 1>going overlooked by the majority of fans because WWU is
<v Speaker 1>not presenting them as as big of a deal as
<v Speaker 1>they should be, so fans aren't tuning in, and and again,
<v Speaker 1>it's just like this self fulfilling prophecy of c These
<v Speaker 1>people aren't paying attention. They don't care. Well, we don't
<v Speaker 1>care because you're telling us you don't care, So how
<v Speaker 1>are we supposed to. It's just this, this, and I
<v Speaker 1>really believe that that's the psychology going on behind the scenes,
<v Speaker 1>and it's just it's a shame because of the fact
<v Speaker 1>of how good some of these guys are so antony.
<v Speaker 1>Anything else that we didn't touch on that you wanted
<v Speaker 1>to discuss.
<v Speaker 3>No, I think we covered everything up the bottom the
<v Speaker 3>We really touched on all bases this week. I fived,
<v Speaker 3>we did.
<v Speaker 1>We did, and it's easy. It's crazy how fast two
<v Speaker 1>hours can go what you're talking wrestling. It's it's amazing.
<v Speaker 1>Like I'm looking at I'm like, oh, it's probably been
<v Speaker 1>an hour, right, No, No, it's been two hours. So
<v Speaker 1>it's just that's what professional wrestling does. And I'm not
<v Speaker 1>complaining because that's that's what we love to talk about.
<v Speaker 1>And it's always great to be able to bring people
<v Speaker 1>on the show that are so much fun to talk to,
<v Speaker 1>and it's great to have you here as a co host. So,
<v Speaker 1>but before we let you go, let everyone know where
<v Speaker 1>they can follow you as an official co host now.
<v Speaker 3>And you can follow me at aid to Marcos twenty five.
<v Speaker 3>I'll put out this caution if you're gonna follow me,
<v Speaker 3>I hope you like hockey because I'm all about that.
<v Speaker 3>I'm sure you've seen that, Matt, especially with last month
<v Speaker 3>or so. I'm big into hockey. But yeah, at a
<v Speaker 3>DeMarcus pay five with my handle, And I just want
<v Speaker 3>to say thank you again Matt for choosing me to
<v Speaker 3>be one of the permanent co hosts, and thank you
<v Speaker 3>to everyone who wanted me to be one of the
<v Speaker 3>permanent co host I expressed my absolute gratitude and it's
<v Speaker 3>my pleasure and I can't wait to do it again.
<v Speaker 1>In three weeks definitely, I mean it three weeks flies by.
<v Speaker 1>I know it seems like a long time, but it'll
<v Speaker 1>it'll be here sooner than you think. And yeah, if
<v Speaker 1>you like hockey, it is a good follow. I do
<v Speaker 1>say that like I am a casual hockey fan. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>being from the United States, it's not as like rabbit
<v Speaker 1>as it is in Canada. However, you know, once the
<v Speaker 1>playoffs come around in NHL gets into the mix here
<v Speaker 1>like I do, kind of pop in. So if you
<v Speaker 1>do like hockey, it's a good follow. You should you
<v Speaker 1>should definitely do that, and Anthony, it's been a pleasure
<v Speaker 1>and always good talking with you, and we will definitely
<v Speaker 1>be in touch and you'll be on the show sooner
<v Speaker 1>than you think.
<v Speaker 3>All right, then, have a good night and can't wait
<v Speaker 3>to do it again in three weeks.
<v Speaker 1>Definitely, take care, take care,