Mailbag Episode #182 (Part 1): Listener Reactions to WWE Draft, Predictions for Backlash

This is WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre and you're listening to the WWE podcast show,
the one that everybody wants me godet fore sixteen. So just what your ass
is my you're gonna acknowledge me? Hey, everybody, welcome to the ww
podcast. Mailbag is actually yes, it's Thursday, really late at night,
Thursday, May second, twenty twenty four. Now I'm gonna be splitting this
into two parts, but bear with me, all right, this is gonna
be even It's gonna be even shorter than normal on a part one because it's
getting very late where I'm at and this family life is draining me. However,
it's not complain, it's just what it is. Now. Tomorrow I
was going to do a separate show for Backlash, a preview and prediction show,
but I'm going to be doing that in conjunction with part two of the
mail Bag, so it's not going to be its own show. I'm going
to do mail Bag. This is obviously part one. Tomorrow night will be
part two Slash the Backlash preview and predictions, So bear with me there.
I know that it's not ideal to get everything in two shows. You'd rather
have it than it's own separate one and anyway, so I wanted to let
you know that. But welcome to the WW podcast everybody. I know.
I've had a few of you lately ask me how to get on Patreon or
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our ad free experience. And I also would like to welcome David Sism,
Thank you so much. Jacqueline joined, thank you. Let's see Jason Miller.
I think I did shout out to you. If I didn't, Jason
Miller, shout out to you again, and yeah, so I think that's
the latest that we have. And you know, I thought about in some
kind of like I don't know, dark way, I was gonna give a
shout out to the people who have left us, because we do have a
few of those people too, right, I don't know. I don't know
what the value in that would be other than just kind of, oh,
your show sucks. People are leaving, But I mean it's growing. But
you always have people that try us and don't like it, and that's cool
and I'm not gonna I'm not gonna shame them for it. It is what
it is. I mean, I listen to podcasts all the time that I
don't like and I move on. And that's really all I can ask,
really, is you guys check us out and if you like us, stick
with us. You know, if you want to listen to us for free,
you can, but you got to deal with those pesky ads. All
right, let's get to the mailbag here, as patrons, as always get
priority. I'm gonna start with the messages directly in Patreon because I somehow forget
those every single damn time. And let's go to Joshua, and Joshua says,
hey, guys, how's it going. Fairly new patron here, but
a huge fan and listener. You guys are my go to podcasts at work
every day, and I agree with you all on a lot of things,
especially that on wrestling takes on the dark episodes, keep it up. Oh
boy, you're getting into some dicey topics. If you got us want to
know what we're talking about, head on over to the SmackDown side of things.
You can check us out on some non wrestling opinions and takes. So
Josh says, I'm gonna start out. I'm gonna start watching this speed matches
on X soon. I've been thinking about it. I think WWE could potentially
have the greatest cruiserweight division of all time if they brought that belt back now
Ricochet, Finn jd Dom Santos, Kaiser, Gable, Logan, Paul Pete,
Dunn, Ray Carmelo, etc. I also think they I think a
new mid card title could really help un raw to make the three hour episodes
more exciting. What are your thoughts on bringing back another belt in general and
it being this one. My thoughts are the same as the people who are
advocating for the women to have another belt. I understand that we are supposed
to believe and should believe that those men and women that are there are trying
to compete for championships, right, Trying to win championships. That's the ultimate
goal, and that should be and there needs to be titles for people to
chase. But here's what happens when you add more belts. Think you guys
know where I'm going with this. When you add more of something, else
means less. If there's more of what you're adding, and if there's more
belts to go around, that inherently means, whether you like it or not,
that all the other championships mean a little bit less if there's more of
them to go around. Now, it's not gonna be a deal breaker,
But I also am I also want programs to be more than just about championships
all the time, you know. I want championship or matches to sometimes be
about personal grudges, blood feuds, that kind of thing. Betrayal doesn't know
what needs to always need to be about the US title, the United States
or the Intercontinental title or whatever. You know. So I think they have
the mid card title belts pretty well entrenched, and I actually, I mean,
I really like where Logan Paul's at. I don't think that adding a
cruiserweight championship. Now they've tried this a few a few times, right,
like what was it two to one live or something. We've tried it multiple
times under the Vince McMahon regime. He doesn't seem to prioritize it. I
don't know how Paul Leveck feels about this. You know, if you were
to present this to him, if this would be a top priority for him,
you know, it would just be like another championship they have to manage.
And really, some of the guys you're mentioning, like Logan Paul,
I mean Logan Paul's already the United States champion, and you know we have
Dominic who is probably going to be a future world champion. You have Ricochet,
who has been a continental champion before and has proven that he can work
with just about anybody. You know, you have some of these guys like
raymon Sterira. You know, like, I understand what you're saying, but
I also have no faith and even if they did this that they would actually
you know, implement it consistently. So until they can manage the championships that
they have, especially for the women, I wouldn't add more belts. That
said, if they want to make a championship on speed, then maybe there's
something to talk about there. I'm just leary, especially with their history of
managing the cruiserweight division when it was a cruiserweight division outside of a very small
to me, a small pars of time in the late nineties where they actually
had some attention paid to it with oh who was it? Oh my god,
Taka Michinoku. I know he was light heavyweight champion for a while they
called it light heavyweight, but it was the Cruiserweight championship, you know,
So I think that right now, I wouldn't. I also don't know if
adding a championship would help fill more time. It should be about feuds,
should be about character development, and you know, it's not a it's trust
me. I understand the want for it, but I don't what would that
fix? Like, what problem would this solve? That would be my concern?
Or are you adding more liability and more headaches by adding a new championship?
All right, Thanks Josh, and thanks for joining us. Let's go
to Frank this Patreon. Remember Frank He says, I want to talk about
the w draft. I feel like the draft should have been about upcoming talent
from NXT, from to raw or SmackDown. It would have been more impactful,
kind of like what they did with the NFL because all the ones that
were selected from the draft were from NX team or draft from NXT was more
impactful. Secondly, champions can't be selected to other brands. I thought it
was not cool because everybody should be selected. It's not about the championship,
it's about the star. And finally, I believe that we live believe that
Live Morgan. Maybe I'm not reading that correctly, but they need to build
her character up more now, not in a match right away, just to
show who she is and what she is till next time, which everybody is
saying, ww podcast, thanks Frank. Well, the draft, if they're
going to ever really take the draft real seriously, they wouldn't more. They
would watch the NFL draft and how it's done there, you know, and
and it's done too with the NFL Draft is a little different too, because
in the NFL Draft, you're not you're not choosing existing NFL stars. That's
what trades are for a draft is really in the NFL sense, is to
choose young talent that have yet to be proven in the NFL draft or in
the NFL period. So the draft is about young talent period. It's not
about established stars in the NFL, But with WWE, that is a little
different. I mean, you're trying to assemble the best rock are possible,
and you can't just have it be about established stars. You're trying to also
mix in new talent. So I don't know what message you're trying to send
here, because if they're trying to be like the NFL, well, the
NFL doesn't do it like this, right, I just explained why, but
you don't. If you're trying to assemble the best roster, then why are
you also telling us as well as existing stars matter, but the young does
too? Like if like, I don't know, I'm not clear on what
the goal is and why some of the picks are chosen the way they are.
I mean, we don't ever get explanations as to why. And the
other thing that the announcers do that really annoy me. And I know that
this this they feel like this is their job, but this to me is
I don't know if this is an over sell on their point, but every
single pick, every single one is the best pick that's ever been made.
It's a coup. Oh my God, the Monday night raws are going to
flourish. Now SmackDown is gonna you know, SmackDown's not gonna be must see
TV. Like every pick, no matter who it is, or who or
what the group is, is the best pick you've ever seen in your life.
Now, their goal as announcers is to get talent over. I get
that, but sometimes that needs to be put by the wayside if they're ever
gonna take the draft seriously. And this draft I think was While Benny and
w B felt it went over well, I think the fans felt very underwhelmed
by it. Generally, not a whole lot changed. We had some mid
card guys swap here and there, like bron Breaker. Okay, he's now
on Raw, big deal. He wasn't really established that much on SmackDown anyway.
Okay, Strollman, Well, now we have two Bronze I know,
Braun and Braun. I can't pronounce them differently, but spelled differently. We
have bron stroman back okay, Nia Jacks is now on SmackDown like okay,
but that's not going to make any headlines. All the champions stay put.
And again, as you have said, you guys, patrons, one of
our previous patrons just said, it's about the guys and gals that are drafted,
not the championships. But they wanted the champions to champions to stay put,
which does take a level of interest off the top out of the draft,
and you're left with kind of a few top tier guys. Roman Reigns
exempts himself, Seth Rollins is Injurtty, and Punk is injured, he's not
involved in the draft. In the draft, you know, like it is
generally, it was one of the most uninteresting drafts of all time. But
if their goal is to not put a ton of effort into making the draft
feel legit and having the commentators actually have a few picks that say I don't
know about this pick. I don't know how this is gonna work, you
know, then then at least their focus should be Okay, draft is over.
Who cares that? It's all the formality. The number of picks who
got picked at what you know what round doesn't really effing matter. It's just
about now we've assembled the rosters. Let's move forward with the stories. Because
they can't have the draft be the story unless they want it to be.
But I don't see them in doing it, so all right, yeah,
so I'm trying to see if I answered all your questions. As far as
Live Morgan goes, Hey, she's in the best She's the best version of
herself I've ever seen. I was skeptical, very skeptical of the whole revenge
tour. It's a revenge tour. I'm on a revenge tour. And then
she was going after everyone except the one that she was trying to seek revenge
against until she foundly got her injured. Her Now Rhea's on the shelf.
Live Morgan has kind of found who and what she is, I think,
but sure, additional interviews, additional promos could help her entering. She seems
to be improving and she's easily at the best spot that she's been now.
I think that she'll be Women's World Champion by the time Ria Ripley comes back.
I mean, that seems to be the story they want to tell.
I don't want I really don't want Becky and Rhea again. Not that they
put on a bad match, but I'm ready for Ria Ripley to go after
a Live because when Ria comes back, she's going to be a mega babyface.
I mean, she was already knocking on the door that she'll be there
by the time she returns. Okay, so let's go to our next patron.
Let's see Deanna. Deanna says, Hi, Matt, I really like
Gunther, but the dude needs to stay off the top rope. He looks
like an uncoordinated spider coming off the Yeah, he's you know, some guys
just aren't meant to come off the top rope. Some guys just need to
stay on the ground and pound or chain wrestling or striking. Some guys just
don't look right coming off the top. I would agree that. You know,
Gunther, while I think he has almost no holes in his game,
does look awkward coming off the top rope. He's a big dude, though,
and you know that that kind of tells you. If he doesn't look
right coming off the top, then keep him off the top rope. You
don't need him to have to try to do something he's not good at.
You know, I think that stick to what you're good at, stick to
the basics. I know that you're trying to evolve, You're trying to show
the fans that you can do. You're trying to make the most of your
character, but not everyone needs to do the same moves. Size and coordination
matter, and I would agree, Gunther. I mean again, it's not
something I've complained about in the past. Lord knows I like complaining, and
that's never been one of mine. But now that I've heard the complaint,
you know, now I can't unhear it or unsee it in this case.
All right, let's go to Justin, and Justin says, first off,
I like to start with a complaint. Oh right, right right my wheelhouse,
Justin, let's go. Last week on Raw, you didn't mention Cody
Rhoads a single time. I pay good money to hear those long rants.
It feeds my adrenaline and my soul. Whoa, I love the puns,
you know, It's just I love it. I know some guys, some
of you guys don't like the dry humor. It's right up my alley.
You know. I need to take a break from the Cody rants. And
to be fair, they've kind of taken a break of, you know,
the the Cody promos and and that thing. It's been very formulaic as of
late, and I also need a break from it too. We'll have enough
time to complain about him more. But if you want one that I haven't
really talked about it is Cody Rhodes doing a a round of picks with Triple
H. You know, like that has been something that BOYD just you talk
about a guy that is just his hands are in everything. That's been a
complaint for me for a long time. And even the Undertaker. The Undertaker
Mark Callaway has said that Cody gives him heal vibes. It feels because it's
true. I mean, when you look at Cody, he's just well put
together, always smiling right, and that's always like you guys know, I
can't stand that he's just got this kind of condescending tone at times his vocabulary
that we've mentioned many times on this show, like he's trying to show off
how many words he knows, always wearing a suit, bringing his dog like
I mean, it's just d bag type of type of vibes. And it's
gonna be awesome when he turns heel. I will be one of the first
people to come on here and get that round of applause for a heel turned.
But I don't think it's gonna happen, at least not in twenty twenty
four. When the calendar turns to twenty twenty five, maybe we have something
to talk about. But they're on a run right now. He's on a
run right now. There's no need to cut it short and try something else.
When you're on a path that you desire to be on, or you're
at you know, you're at a spot where you desire to be, So
now I would you know, I could keep going with Cody, but he's
he's insufferable as a baby face. It's just to me he is. Don't
worry, Those longer rants that get me fired up are coming. But it's
also almost midnight here, so like my energy level is also pretty low.
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of boring Backs being Women's Champ again.
WWE uses her as the gatekeeper of the belt that I just don't see the
hype. She's been in the same character for a few years and hasn't developed
any new new in ring skills. Meanwhile, we've got Naya Jackson Live Morgan
who have worked there asses off to be better, to better themselves and continue
to go nowhere. I just hope one of them gets a title run,
as I think they deserve it. Becky Lynch does feel like she's stuck in
time, and that's not a good thing. She just she Here's the thing.
I also don't question her work ethic, you know, like I don't
sit there and go she's just she just doesn't care anymore. She's just not
putting the effort in. I really don't believe that's the case. She's tried
different outfits. She put hair extensions back in after she cut her hair going
heel, but she didn't. The biggest mistake she made is twofold after her
heel run that was not so successful, was the fact that when she went
back to being the Man character, she went back to being the twenty eighteen
version of the Man character. That's the problem, like right like or the
wrestle Mania thirty five. So twenty nineteen she went to a place that we've
already been, and she didn't try to branch out to do something different.
Her music's the same, her mannerisms are the same. Five years later,
she's still saying the Man has come around till Milwaukee or wherever she's at,
you know, the same lines. She's had a couple of stinker promos,
especially in NXT, where she was trying to rhyme. That was just horrible.
She does have some annoying ticks about her, man, I've laid those
out with her promos and things, and she's always I've gone into it.
So there's that. And also number two, she got stuck and this is
not really any fault of her own in a program with Tris Stratus. That
just made her ice cold. That just did and it didn't get good until
the very last match. Remember that, I think it was a cage match
with Tris Stratus. I mean they killed it in that matter, and that's
the first time the fans are like, ooh, I could I could take
a little more of this, and then the program ended. That was the
final. That was the blowoff, you know. So they certainly saved the
best for last. But she felt like she was in that program for six
months. I mean it was just it was just on and on and on
and on and on, and a lot of it wasn't super interesting. Some
of it was good, a lot of it was like kind of right.
So it was a combination of being stale, not any significant evolution of her
character, same music, same promos, and she stuck in a program that's
just kind of me for a long period of time. That's really where it
is. And how do they fix it? I don't know. I'm not
I'm not gonna sit here and go, oh, they just need to do
X, Y and Z. I don't know. I don't know if turning,
you know, turning someone heel is the easy knee jerk reaction answer.
I don't think that that's the case here because they've tried that and the fans
don't want to boo Becky like they don't want to. So also, everyone
thinks Jade Cargo will be the one to turn on Bianca, but I think
it'll be be Bianca that makes the heel turn. It's a long awaited heel
turn that we've been wanting to see for so long, and I think that
would be perfect to swerve and the opportunity for WW to turn her heel,
then she can cut off that long braid. Yeah, I mean, if
it's good, if turning Bianca heel will get her to cut her braid,
Ali Lujah. The only reason I don't like the braid, for those of
you that think I'm you know, are probably racial undertones. No, no,
no, I've already explained why I don't like the braid. I don't
care if she was white, green, black, pink. I don't care
what her skin color is. I can't stand that she comes out twirling it
as if she's skipping her way, you know, at recess in elementary school.
I mean, she's like she's playing hopscotch on the way to the ring.
It's just it's so off putting. It immediately sends an immature vibe out
to me as the viewer, like you're you're a kid twirling your hair around.
Like I understand it's a staple of her entrance. And I'm speaking probably
on deaf fears, but yeah, I've seen her without the braid. I
think she looks awesome without it. It'd be a nice change. But no
matter what I say here, I'm sure some of you are, like,
you know, in the culture we live in today, you know what some
people are saying about me as a white guy talking about a black woman's hair.
Apparently I have no I can't have any opinions about it unless it's the
right one. And if any any criticism is because not because of her hair,
but because I'm racist, Yeah whatever, Like sure, don't I don't.
I don't care. Sure, that's like, if that's what you think,
not you justin. But I know the people that some people that listen
to this are just hunting, trying to create something out of nothing. I
can't be any more objective than that, so let's continue. But again,
yeah, as far as Jade being the one to turn, Honestly, here's
the thing. It's easier for someone to get booed, especially when they're new,
than it is to get cheered, because cheering has to become with some
kind of accolade, some kind of respect that has been built. Jade has
zero of that. I mean, okay, she dumped nine jacks out of
the Royal Rumbles, she had a big entrance, she's got a superstar look.
But right now, all we're cheering. All we're cheering when we see
Jade is how she looks. Okay, that's it, because she's done absolutely
nothing in the company. As far as entering and contributing to the company,
she's done nothing yet zero a ten out of ten. Look entrance music,
I like I like her lighting, I like all of it. It's very
good. But she's contributed nothing. So I think it's all going to depend
on how long that Jade and Bianca team up. The turn is coming.
It's just a matter of who. I think Bianca is a heel turn.
I've been advocating for that for a long time, and maybe they do that,
but eventually they're you know, they're gonna eventually turn Jade. But you
know what, even Bianca, who has been it's been a long time coming,
I would agree. I'm trying to talk myself into both of them.
I mean, I could see both of them being successful heels. Jade,
who is just kind of overconfident. My matches are three moves long. Eventually
that's gonna wear thin on the fans. Yeah, I mean, but at
the same time, Bianca has been a babyface for like six years and it's
getting a little bit monotonous. All right, Okay, Finally, I'd like
to mention this Saturday at the men In Sports Arena in Morristown, New Jersey,
is an eighties wrestling con followed by an indie show ispw wrestling guys like
Jake the Snake, Sergeant Slaughter, Tony Atlis, the Four Horsemen, Powers
of Pain, Bill Apter, and many more that are going to be there.
Definitely, we're checking out if you're in the area. So guys,
if you want to see guys like Jake the Snake, Sergeant Slaughter, Tony
Atlas four Horsemen, check it out where that the Men in Sports Arena in
Morristown, New Jersey. So check it out if you guys are in the
area. I know some people that listen in New Jersey. So there you
go. Free promo there, justin. All right, a couple more here
in the inbox. Let's go to Alex the French guy. He says,
Hello, Matt about to come out in the show and give the in person
perspective about Backlash. Uh, let me know what's time? Oh? Thank
you? You know this is so sad, Alex, thank you for reminding
me. Okay, maybe I can come with you to record the Week in
Review or with Anthony or another show. You tell me, yeah, if
you don't need time. So, so, Alex, whats I don't know
what time zone you're in. I'm gonna imagine you're about six hours ahead of
me. So for me, I think Backlash airs like ten I Am or
something weird. But if we can get on, oh boy, I'm gonna
have to think how we're gonna do this. Just message me what what time,
Tell me what time zone you're in, and we can figure out a
time to connect. All right, let's do it that way. All right,
let's talk to AJ. He says, can somebody explain to me why
this little troll called Tony Kahan keeps ww's name in his mouth? Not sure
if you caught his interview during the NFL Draft where he is referred to WW
as Harvey Weinstein. He wants to point out all the bad things WW does.
You can't see him to see his own product going down the toilet.
Instead of worrying about he should focus, you know, trying to focus his
company and not trying to give away free tickets to his shows that no one
seems to want. You know, it's so funny. I was just listening
to another podcast about this and they brought up some good points. This feels
by Tony Kahan, and I did see it. It feels bush league,
all right, it does. Tony Khan clearly is trying to get attention,
and he feels that social media attention, regardless of what kind it is,
is good, which I think is a false conclusion. Not all attention is
good attention, despite the despite the famous controversy, creates cash. Yeah,
tagline, but it's a bad, bad idea to label the implication being that
anyone who watches WWE is watching a Harvey Weinstein product. Right. Bad,
You're alienating a lot of your own audience. You fool. You know you're
losing when you have to keep bringing up your competition to get attention. It's
not a good sign. If you are winning, you don't give that free
publicity because it's foolish to do so. Tony Khan is you know? First
of all, I saw the segment where who was a Jack Perry attacked him,
which is the weakest punch of the solar plexus I've ever seen a horrible
cell by Tony Khan. And then they went for a tombstone pile driver of
sorts that was insanely delayed. I mean, it looks cartoonish. It was
bad. And now it's not to say aw all is all bad. I
barely talk about aw I really do because it's it's something that I don't have
time to watch. But when I do see clips, I feel like I
can speak on them, and I know, even if I don't understand the
context of the story, I can still look at something and be like,
yeah, that that didn't look good or it did. I mean I have
a pair of eyes, and that looked horrible and it was embarrassing. It
just was. However, here's one good thing I will say, despite the
fact that he's alienating half his audience forcing them to choose what product to watch,
just a bad overall business strategy, horrible and just desperate for attention.
I appreciate the cell. I appreciate the neck brace cell, something that I
think is not often done enough. I mean, how many times you see
somebody get their ass kicked on raw or SmackDown, I mean absolutely beat to
a pulp and the next person next week they're out on raw on SmackDown,
smiling, just having a match. It's like, well, what is the
point of this violent beatdown? What can we at least have a neck brace
and armbrace? Yeah? Can we have a sling on your arm? Can
we do something? You know? Like, I think that just as a
concept has lost its art, you don't need to do it for every match,
But when something significant, significant happens and you come back next week,
I think it's a great idea to do some kind of some kind of brace
or you know whatever the injury is and where it happened. You can you
can make it look like the effects are still on you and Tony Kahna.
At least I do appreciate that. Outside of it horrible, just horrible.
All right, Let's go to our next patron, and this is Matt.
He says, I was just listening to your show talking about the first raw
durving COVID. I had tickets to that raw. I was supposed to be
in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. And I'm still mad I didn't get
to see Stone Cold Live. I remember sitting at a bar in a restaurant
the Wednesday before the show when all the pro and college sport events were getting
canceled. My buddies and I were holding out of faith that WW would cancel,
wouldn't cancel the show, but they did. Like I said, still
mad about it to this day. Hey, I feel you, man.
I mean, that's a once and a maybe once on a lifetime show where
you get to see Austin live. You know, I feel that you're all
jacked up, You're ready to go and wham. The first week that's canceled
as the one with Austin three sixteen on March sixteenth, twenty twenty. I
don't even know if I could get myself to watch anything back from that period,
it'd be really difficult to watch. It brings back so many painful memories,
some interesting ones too. You know, it wasn't all bad. If
you love theatrics, you love that era, you love the very much cinematic
version of the company that got to experiment with with all their ples, all
their wacky matches. They're like swamp matches. Remember the bray Wyatt match with
was a bronze droma. I mean, they did some really wacky stuff,
but it was just it wasn't all bad. But it's still just now.
Seeing no crowd is just like, you know, wow, it's just you
wonder how we all lived through it. But I appreciate, of coursew for
keeping us all sane during that time, and I feel for you. My
own pain is also with you with Austin, because I could have gone to
the raw. I don't know how old you are that Austin. Right before
WrestleMania fifteen, it was the go home show for WrestleMania fifteen in all beany
New York the go home show, and I didn't go I don't remember why.
I don't remember how, I don't remember why I didn't And I was
fourteen years old, fifteen years old, and wrestling was as hot as it
could be. And what happened, what happened the night, well, oh,
I don't know. Austin brought in the beer truck, sprayed the corporation
down, the rock, Shane McMahon Vince and then we got a match at
the end of the night between Paul White, who was not yet then known
as the Big Show versus Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin hit a couple of
stunners, a couple of chair shots. I mean, it just it torches
my ass to this day. So I feel your pain. Mine was my
choice, though, so I don't know if that's worse. Probably it is
because I'm not downplaying your pain. But it also makes it worse because it
was my own doing. It wasn't something out of my control. I could
have gone, but I don't remember why I chose not to. Oh yeah,
well, next time Austin's anywhere in near the area, you should go.
You gotta go. Yay, Let's talk to DJ Kuzmo. He says
he's back at it again on a mailbag show, and quickly before he gets
to his predictions, he wants to mention two things. Is WW creative working
on probably forming some sort of Logan Paul faction of celebrities that most people hate.
Case in point with this money with Patrick Mahomes and Logan Paul were quote
working together to take down Jay Uso with Mahomes super Bowl rings. I don't
think so. Putting together a faction of celebrities is a bad idea generally because
nine out of ten of them don't take it seriously. How many times have
you seen, especially during WrestleMania's, where the celebrities can't take a bump,
don't know how to throw a punch. It's just and you also know the
celebrities are usually going to get the ones, the ones to be, you
know, standing tall over the wrestlers and they embarrass the wrestlers like it's just
it's always been horrible. They Again, No, I don't think so,
but he'll continue to be shown with celebrities to show you that he's got status.
Right, It's about status for Logan Paul, that's what they're trying to
show you. Number two, I will say this for the millionth time we
miss mystery missus casual wrestling fan, and hopefully for the year ends we get
a mail bag take over. I'll keep trying, DJ. I've already explained
to you there's no bad blood, no bad blood. They just fell off
the face of the earth. Maybe they're listening to this. And if you
guys are if missus casual wrestling fan of listening to this, hey, you
guys are always welcome back. You're always welcome back. You're always welcome on
the show. The fans clearly miss you. The listeners. I don't know
if I call you guys the fans, but listeners. So yeah, Hey,
DJ, we're in the same boat. I just don't know what to
do. I'm not going to keep being pastoring. I'm not going to pastor
them like a you know, crazy ex girlfriend so or ex boyfriend. Boys
can be crazy too. Uh So that's where we're at. No bad blood,
nothing happened. Things just kind of fell off. Okay, let's get
to your predictions. This is your backlash, not rest Mania backlash predictions.
Thank you DJ for pointing that out. Cody versus AJ Styles For the first
time ever, you're saying Cody retains, But will this matchup be the start
of other matches or just a one off for Cody until he gets his next
opponent. I think it's a one off. I mean it just shook things
up a little bit. You have potentially what Baron Corbin versus Cody. I
mean, there's some guys and gals or guys at gals, guys that you
could put against Cody. I wouldn't hate if they go a second round.
I mean, aj Styles is a world class wrestler, but number two Priest
versus main event Jay Usso for the World Championship. I got Priests retaining because
the judgment day looks like a different group with that Rhea and Priest has to
be the one to kind of keep the group afloat well as champion number three
Tivioty Stratton versus Bailey for the Women's Championship. Bailey retaining, but the personal
few between Stratton and Naomi will probably continue for another month. Meanwhile, Ni
Jacks might be Bailey's next opponent. Jade Cargol and Bianca versus the Kabuki Warriors
for the Women's Tag Team Championships. You have Bianca and Jade winning the tag
titles. As the Dominos continue to fall for Damage Control, I wonder,
since Damage Control is now the raw Raw group, it will continue as it
is or will this group disband and add a fifth member? No, we
don't need a fifth I'm all for disbanding. I've been advocating for Damage Control
to disband since they almost debuted at SummerSlam two years ago. I mean outside
of that, like a few weeks or a few months after, I was
just like, okay, things, you know clearly they don't have a priority
for them. There's they're just Bailey was hidden in the group, and you
also have Oscar. Now when is the last time Osca meant this? This?
This little Oscar is invisible. Osca is invisible in that group. So
no adding more people would make it worse, all right? Lastly, solis
Co Tmatonka versus Randy Orton and Ko so us you got Soca and Tongo winning
just so that this new version of the Bloodline gets some sort of winning streak
and the all important momentum street going either after the match. During the match,
we get the debut of another Bloodline member in Jacob Fatu. Oh I
like that, Yeah, I would agree, and dj cosmost signing off enjoy
backlash see all in Discord chat for Friday Night SmackDown in for France. Yeah,
I know, we ver Mohona Report and wrestler X Report to be announced
on a future day. Yeah know. I your Mahon is gone, So
yeah, you'll have to come up with something else, DJ. But you
know, I would a lot of these predictions to kind of say the least
I think are solid. I won't tip my scale too much, but I
would also say this is probably not gonna be a massive star power event,
even though it's in France. I don't think you go to see Roman reigns.
There's I think like a probably a point one percent chance Roman Reigns returns.
I think they're going to really string this out towards SummerSlam. The longer
we go here, the bigger the star power is gonna be, the more
returns that are gonna happen. As I've laid it out, there's like five
or six the big stars that are still looming out there that are either injured
or just taking time off. Roman Reigns in the rock right seth Rollins see
I'm punk. I mean you got Charlotte, you know there's just there's there's
a good amount of people out there that that we have yet to see come
back. All right, thank you, sir. Let's uh see, I
don't want to do too many more here. Let's uh let's talk to Dino.
He says, it's Dino from Scotland. I've officially changed my name to
Dino from Scotland on Patreon so it's easier. Thank you. In response last
week, it's not the euro we use over here, it's pounds and pence,
and when you convert one hundred and seventy five pounds to dollars, it's
actually two hundred and ten dollars as opposed one hundred and eighty seven when converted
from euros, which means the combo tickets for SmackDown on Friday and Clash on
Saturday, the crappiest seats for me and my father and your currency comes to
a total of eight hundred and forty dollars. At the time of me sending
this email, there's a thousand there's thousands of tickets still available. But assuming
they offer single tickets for each night closer to the time they'll begin selling more
and Clash, you'd think would then sell out at that point, as it
would be cheaper for a single ticket. That's still brutal. That made it
worse. That made it worse, Dino, Oh my god, I see
why you don't want to attend. And then you guys got the big soccer
tournament or sorry, football tournament over there. I mean, I see there's
no way they're going to sell out. I have an idea for Undertaker,
which I'd like yours and the list thoughts on what would you guys think about
him being the SmackDown GM at some point in the near future or later down
the road as Mark Callaway. I've seen his show six Feet Under on YouTube
and he was talking about his spot at Mania this year and not wearing the
full hat and coat. He said that part of him is retired or something
along those lines. So I thought, what a great idea for him to
be the SmackDown General Manager as himself Mark Calloway down the line, if Nick
Aldos ever wanted to return to the entering action and thus allowing him to be
back on the screen every week, he seems to be in gorilla or backstage
somewhere a lot of the time. Anyway, let me know what you guys
think, you know, not the worst idea in the world. But when
this role, first of all, you'd have to understand why we're doing it.
I mean, is it really to bring Nick all this to the ring?
Or is it to get Undertaker back on TV? Is it both?
I don't think it would be. Here's my conflicting thoughts. Would it be
cool to see Undertaker back on TV? Yes, But Undertaker in a corporate
setting, having to be the corporate stooge, pulling the company line, trying
to create good shows at least not in character anyway, trying to deal with
people's feuds, all these things. It seems so outside his character. And
I understand at the same time that Mark Hallaway has really pulled back the curtain
on his career. I mean, the inner workings, everything is on the
table now. He doesn't hold back, his character is no longer protected.
I understand all that, But to see the Undertaker in a corporate role,
it doesn't I don't know, it doesn't seem to fit, you know,
But then again, you could say, well, Stone Cold, Steve Austin,
mister Anti Thorty was GM. Yeah, but he did things his own
way, and corporate came down on him for it, you know it,
just I don't I'm gonna say I don't want that. I'm cool with just
the occasional appearance for a choke slam and a tombstone, which we obviously saw
at WrestleMania that should have been Stone cold Spot, but Undertaker got it,
got the nod, and I'm happy for him, but I wouldn't do that.
And Nick all this right now is such a perfect GM perfect He may
be one of the best gms we've ever had, So thank you, Dino.
Okay, let's talk to h Let's talk to Milan, and Milan says
a few things. I really hope Solo and Tanga beat Rko. I hate
saying that because I like Randy, but I can't take this new Solo seriously
until he starts winning some matches. A stronger Solo makes for a better story
with Roman and the bloodline down the road. I couldn't agree more. Solo
has not had the best record as of late, and I mean even over
the last year, it's been very bad. If you remember, Cody Roadse
was the first one to beat him prior to wrestle Ania thirty nine, but
he has not had a great record as of late. However, I think
in the minds of fans, most fans, he has been repaired to a
large degree because he's now leading the bloodline. We can kind of see where
this is going. We know that Roman's going to return. How does he
deal with this takeover of the bloodline in his absence, not taking orders from
Paul Hayman. How does this all shake out? Most fans are more intrigued
than that, and thinking about that in tom of Tonga rather than oh my
god, Solo so CoA hasn't won a match now. It's not that it's
not important. I think it does become important at some point because Solo does
need victories, and in short, yes, he does need to start winning
matches to make him feel more dangerous, more of a threat to the eventual
I think tag team match between Tamatanga and Solo so CoA versus Roman reigns in
the Rock at SummerSlam. That's my guess right now. Number two, who
has a better shot of winning the next title Live over Becky or Drew over
Priest. I presume a clash of the Castle, hoping for both to happen,
but I'll like to take I'll least take one. I would say probably
Live over Becky because Drew over Priest. Drew should win a Clash of the
Castle, but I think Becky could lose before then Live depending on when Ria
Ripley's coming back. See that's the whole key. If I knew when Ria
Ripley was coming back, that would immediately tell me whether or not Live is
going to win now in a month and two months, and then you'd be
like, oh, okay, well that's before or after clash at the Castle.
So without that piece of information, I still would say Live over Becky.
But Priest also has a heck of a cell on it. So number
three. Usually there's a letdown after WrestleMania, but this year feels bigger than
normal. I think it's because of the Rocks story was so great and it's
on hiatus right now along with Roman. I think Cody's story was better when
he was chasing the belt. Now that he's got it, it's just not
I'm just not feeling it, at least not yet. Roman didn't shake your
hand after a contract signing and tell you good luck. He beat the crap
out of you. You know that's interesting, you know now that the whole
finish, the story goes away. What do we what do we cling it
on to? Now that's a great point. It's no longer finishing the story,
it's what's next? Who's next? No, I'm not trying to pretend
or hope Goldberg is the next guy. And I wasn't trying to make a
pun there, but literally, that is a good question. That's a very
good question. Story's over at least, that's now what All right, let's
see so But yeah, it doesn't feel like this is as big of a
letdown as previous years. That said, again, there's a lot of big
star power still missing that we haven't got back yet. I mentioned four or
five of those names a few minutes ago. Alrighty, thank you, Milan,
and let's go to one more one more email, and then I know
there's other Patreon emails. Guys. I will get to your other emails tomorrow.
Okay. So if you're like, hey, I'm a patron, didn't
read my email? I will. Okay, I promise I see it.
And how you know I see it. I see Clayton, I see LEVI,
I see Freeman. Okay, you three. I will get to tomorrow
now, actually, I'm sorry, Levi. I'll get to right now.
He's the shortest of the emails, which is why I'm getting to him.
Let's go to Levi and this will we have a final email for the night.
He says, Hey, man, I just wanted a quick opinion on
scenario on brock Lester's return, whatever that may be. To me, Logically,
it has to be immediately. He has to immediately go after Cody Rhodes.
As for the stipulation at Summer sign in twenty twenty two, if Lesnar
lost, he would not be able to challenge for the title as long as
Roman Reigns was champion. He's no longer a champion that I know that we
saw this feud last summer, But why would Lesternard not immediately go for the
champion? Or is this something that they we hope we forgot about? Side
note has a CGI and entrance has gone away since WrestleMania Or am I so
used to seeing it that I don't want to No, no, no,
Triple H has decided we don't need it, and I would also agree with
that it was a distraction. To me, I'm a bit more old school.
The set has shrunk, the CGI has been very much limited and I
like it, but I don't want Brock Lesner immediately going for a championship.
Brock Lesser doesn't need a championship. We also don't want someone who's a champion
that's also another absentee champion. I think we've all had enough of that for
the rest of our lives with Roman. But no, he can get Here's
the thing, Brock can just get into program and just f five to someone
because he wants to, and w W won't even have the respect to tell
their fans why he's doing what he's doing. I mean, we saw that
with the Cody roadfeud. There are three matches. We never ever got an
explanation as to why Brock loser did what he did. Never, So they
don't need to come up with anything wildly creative or thought inducing. They can
just kind of pick a healer or babyface and Brock can be both and then
have Brock face them at presume maybe SummerSlam wherever he's going to make his return.
Wherever that will happen, I don't know, but yeah, I think
that he probably won't chase the championship because that's not where he needs to be
positioned. I don't think that's how I view it, but again, we
also saw the Cody Brock program three times three matches last year. Thanks,
Levi. All right, we'll pause there. I'll get to tomorrow, guys.
Freeman Clayton Levi. I know that Levi, you had a short email,
but I see I think you have a longer one. Here. We're
gonna pause here and we'll get to your three emails tomorrow, along with as
many voicemails as I can rattle off tomorrow, and hope that'll do it.
So thanks everybody for listening. Again, consider going to Patreon, guys,
great time to do it with all of our preview prediction shows, our review
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tonight, guys, Thanks so much for listening. Talk to you next time.
Take care. Thanks for listening to the WWE podcast, don't forget to
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