Mailbag Episode #177: Listener Reactions to Rock's Attack on Cody, Early WrestleMania 40 Predictions

This is WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre, and you're listening to the WWE podcast The
Jail, the one that everybody wants me God tell ste sixteen said said,
well your ass is mind, you can acknowledge me. Hey, everybody,
welcome to the mailbag on this Thursday, March twenty eighth, twenty twenty four,
and we are just over a week away from WrestleMania, almost said,
thirty nine forty from Philadelphia and all the all of you that are going,
I'm very jealous. It's it's gonna be a once in a lifetime experience and
hopefully you have good seats and you didn't break the bank to get there,
and everyone is, yeah, of course traveling safely and uh, enjoy it,
you know, really just soak it in. And it looks like they're
already creating the ring or setting the stage so to speak. They're already in
Philadelphia, they're already setting up. So it's here, it's here. We
just have one more week of television, obviously Smackdowns tomorrow night, but we
have another week, one more full week of the go home shows for Raw
and SmackDown. And though I'm sure we'll call it WrestleMania Raw and WrestleMania SmackDown.
And I do apologize. Apparently someone brought it to my attention that I
said WrestleMania backlash. If I said that, shame on me. Shame on
me. All right, So we're going to get to the patron's emails first,
and that is one perk, one big perk of being a patron,
as you get your emails read up first, are up front of the show,
and it's guaranteed that you will be in the mail bag, whereas if
you are a non patron, I can't guarantee it. So that's one of
the benefits on top of a Discord server, on top of everything, AD
free and exclusive shows as you go up in tiers. So that's also available
on Apple podcasts as well, if you just want to use the native app
on Apple. Okay, let's get to let's see, let's get to Dan.
I'm sorry, Dana, Deanna, jeez, Dianna, I haven't heard
from you a while, and very shortened to the point, and you say,
I just want to make sure you know how happy it made me to
see Cody get bloodied. Deanna, I concur ten x with that, seeing
the little soft, smiley, Cody Rhoades get his ass beat to the point
of blood for the first time, which I really commend WWE for is awesome.
Also, can you not see Cody still coming out and smiling next week
getting off his bus in his suit, walking his dumb dog and just you
know, smiling, still smiling. Everything's good. I got busted open,
my skull got cracked last week. I got attacked from behind. But you
know what, gosh golly, there's a lot to smile about. I can
still see it now. Maybe they don't do it, but it's very plausible.
Thanks Diana, and uh oh, yes, I agree. All right,
let's get to rank, and he says, I need to start off
and say what a week it has been with wrestling ready for WrestleMania forty.
Got a few things I want to say. First, I would love for
Dustin Rhodes to come help Cody for Night two during the Bloodline rules. And
the second question is who would you like to see at WrestleMania forty and who
do you think will be there the next time? With everybody saying WWE podcast,
yeah, so Dustin Rhoades, I don't know his contract status to the
aw it might have expired already. I'll have to check if that's the case.
It makes sense, makes sense Dustin would try to help Cody because I
am very much in the camp that it's going to be Bloodline rules, very
much in the camp because it opens up a lot of creative possibilities. If
you don't, you kind of stifle yourself. And I think that Austin's getting
involved. It's possible John Cena gets involved, and maybe Dustin Rhodes Gettings involved,
maybe ju. So it could be extremely overbooked. It really could be.
But if it's only a small part of the match with which that happens,
I'm okay with it. And Dustin makes total sense. But depending on
his contract status will depend on if he's brought in or if w W has
any interest in bringing him in. But certainly he's his brother, why wouldn't
he want to Second question is who would you like to see at WrestleMania forty
Well, you know, I've been very vocal about Austin. I would love
to see John Cena there too, make sense for him to fight a few
with the Bloodline given his history. One small thing, while I remember Solo
Sokoa, somebody put a stat out since he beat John Cena, he has
gone over thirty eight in matches, including of course house shows and things.
So if that's true, the curse of beating John Cena lives on. I
mean, just ask Austin theory. It's unbelievable. I mean, they have
these guys who they want to be the future of the company beat a legend
and it's supposed to mean something and use that as a springboard to move them
to the next level, and it has done anything but that. It's amazing.
But sad so, I think Solo's lost a little bit of momentum since
actually beating John Cena. Not to mention, he hit him with forty eight
simonans and that was that. If that didn't destroy his you know, his
voice box, I don't know what will. But nonetheless, as far as
anyone else, Hey, here's a name that I haven't said in a while,
and it's only three letters, and you guys, I think no based
on that, what I'm gonna say, and that's Maxwell Jacob Friedman. I
didn't say the letters, but MJF. So MJF. Now I still believe
he is with AW I haven't heard a whole lot on his status, but
given how it ended with the Devil and that whole story with Adam Cole,
and you could easily bring him back in. And I think Tony Kahn said
Fitt, We're going to pay him whatever we need to keep him there.
Now we are seeing what aw's like without MJF and can they survive and have
the ratings done well and all that, and generally the answer is yeah.
I think any company that thinks that we're the fans that believe that there's any
singular talent that is going to be the assent or downfall of a company,
I don't care who it is. We saw Austin leave the company and three
and they worked out just fine. The Rock left, they were just fine.
Hogan left, they were just fine. Brock Lesner, we saw the
post barck Lesner or we know what that was, and that's been been fine
a couple of times. MJF now it's a smaller company, it's kind of
a startup in retro in perspective of WWE, but they have been doing just
fine without MJF. Is the product better with MJF. Yes, But my
point bringing it back full circle is if he's not with AW if if and
I think it's a small chance. Yes, I'm not predicting he'll show up
at WrestleMania, but there's still a chance. It's in the universe of possibility.
I'd put it at like five percent. But if he's not with AW,
I think MJF at WrestleMania would be you talk about a pop who I
think the fans, I mean, my god, it would be. It
would be deafening. So I'd love to see him show up. Do I
think he's gonna show up? No, I still believe AW has him under
contract. He's just getting his body right, recharging his batteries, surgery,
all that. All right, So good stuff, Frank. I mean,
I know there there's other names out there, Brounz Stroman, we haven't seen
him in a while, but trust me, there's no there's no like,
you know, movement for Braunze Stroman to come back. As far as the
fans are concerned, there's no like push for him to come back. There.
The fans aren't screaming, there's no hashtags, you know. But it's
possible he does. Now, Is it impossible Biggie comes back? Maybe it's
possible. So there are some names floating around there, but I think those
are the ones that are the most likely outside of MJF. Okay, let's
continue, all right, let's get to Dino Patron and it's got a few
points here, Din know, just FYI love your email, appreciate it,
but if you can trim it down a little bit moving forward, just because
it gives everybody a chance to talk and I don't have to usually split these
mail bags into a couple of parts. And that's all I mean. I
appreciate it, and I'm going to read everything that you wrote, but just
in the interest of fairness to everybody, you know, we got to be
a little more concise, just generally, because I want to get to everybody
and I don't want to split the mailbag into two parts. So let's go,
do you know? He says, Hey, Mat, it's d here
from Glasgow, Scotland. I've been listening to the podcast for quite some time,
but this is my first email. I might be about to upgrade to
the Monday Night raws here, but we'll see. I find myself agreeing with
you and the majority of things, especially when it comes to Cody Rhods,
although leaving the dog alone because it's not the dog's fault. Well, no,
it's not the dog's fault. The dog has nothing to do. He
has no idea what he's doing or where he's at. I mean, the
dog is obviously levels below our intelligence and has no clue what's going on.
But I'm hating on Cody and management for bringing him in. The dog itself,
I could care less. The dog is kind of an inanimate object,
not like that. I care about as much of a pencil as I do
a dog. But my point is that I'm more just disgusted with Cody and
how he looks with the dog. Cody looks like a tool with the dog.
It's not the dog's fault. I agree. If I came off that
I'm directing to get the dog, it's himself or him. It's Faraoh so
about, and it's a mail dog. Anyway. I had five different points
to make today, but I realized the original email was way too long,
so I'm spliting it up into two different emails. I'm gonna make a few
points today in the next email a couple weeks on the next mail bag.
Okay, well, so you had five points. I already asked you to
trim it down, so I can't imagine what your first email looked like.
Anyway, let's go first point. Around a month or two ago, I
had been calling out Alex the French guy on the Discord chat. He must
have crapped himself or something, as he proceeded to upgrade to the Monday Night
Raw tier and stated he would only accept challenges for his European Championship from those
who are subscribers to the Monday At Raw level and above. So he better
hope I don't upgrade because that title will be in Jeopardy which gonna do with
them d Maniacs and Scott's take your European Championship and run wild on you brother.
Okay, so it looks like we've got a little bit of a competition
going on and you better watch out, Alex. Apparently d from Glasgow is
on your tail. Number two, I was thinking how cool it would be
for us Scott's to have a Scottish heel group on the main roster. Now,
I haven't thought of a name, but since we know he's a very
good heel, I'm thinking Drew is the head of a group with Joe and
Wolfgang from NXT as his backup. I've seen Wolfgang wrestle since I have seen
Wolfgang wrestle since his UK days, and I must say I'm impressed. He
is very good in the ring. I haven't thought it through entirely, but
yeah, just the thought. Let me know what you think. I am
very limited on the NXT knowledge. I do know who Wolfgang is and I'll
take your word for it. I've seen very again, very limited when it
comes to tape of him in the ring, but Drew as the head of
a group, generally I wouldn't do it right now, but it wouldn't hurt
as a heel if they're going to continue with him as a heel to have
a couple of backup guys. It's not always a formula that it needs to
be played out. You can have heels that are solo, kind of lone
wolf so to speak, no pun intended. But if you're gonna help build
new stars, that's what a group is for. A group has created for
two reasons. A faction a group of team. You create them to do
either build new stars, to help to feud events actually with one another,
or you use it to elevate the main guy to an even higher level.
And the groups are usually made and customized to eventually break up, like the
purpose of a group being formed in the first place is to by design have
them eventually break up and feud with one another and create single stars. Single
stars is where the money is at. It's where the money will always be
at. But I like it, okay. Third point, We in Scotland
supposed were supposed to get a Monday Net Raw about two or three years ago,
and I remember buying tickets first show, but a few months before it
it was changed to a house show with no explanation. I'm hoping to get
a raw or smacked Down or even a pay per view. Yes we still
call it a pay per view over here, while I totally agree it should
still stay pay per view here in Scotland sometime soon. We have only ever
had one SmackDown in raw, which emanated live from sc Hydro in Glasgow,
and it was back in November of twenty sixteen, if you can remember it.
It was two weeks before this twenty sixteen Surbribery series pay per view and
on live SmackDown Live, which was still on Tuesdays. Then Becky Lynch defended
her title against Alexa Bliss by submission. By the way, guys, if
you haven't seen Alexa Bliss is back to working out, so it's possible she
comes back at WrestleMania or more likely, much more likely, probably run after
WrestleMania to kickstart the WrestleMania forty one season, so to speak. Just a
little side note, and Daniel Bryan announced in the final segment to close the
show that he was the final participant in the Men's Survivor Series team. And
if I remember correctly, James Ellsworth was the manager. I don't remember any
of this, I have to say. I mean, this is what eight
years ago, almost six, seven and a half years ago, I don't
know. Man, Probably James Ellsworth was the time that a lot of us
don't want to remember when he won the women's the women's money in the bank
briefcase for Carmela and it was a whole uproar about that, and rightfully so.
But all right, we got to see Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon,
who, if I remember correctly, was the manager of SmackDown at the time,
Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin and aj Style well on raw is. That
show is mostly remembered for the fans hijacking it and taking it over. I
only intended to smack down, but I remember seeing online after UK shows were
still pre booked that are pre recorded at the time that Charlotte Flair's segment on
Raw lasted at least thirty minutes and had to be cut down to just a
few minutes because she could not get a word in edgewise. One last thing
I'd like to mention is the Scottish crowd. It's always overlooked in favor of
the English when in my opinion, Scottish crowd is far louder, way more
hardcore, and just a better overall in my reaction back throughout the early twenty
and twenty tens, the Glasgow show, which was part of the WWEUK tour,
was always the first to sell out and within minutes of tickets going on
sale. It has been seven and a half years, so hopefully we'll get
another televised show soon. One last thing you should actually go to the Raw
in Brooklyn on in April first you can give us an in person review and
as the potential to be one of the best Rows of twenty twenty four,
well, damn it, I keep getting pushed to go to raw in Brooklyn.
The thing, it just comes down to this guys, money and time,
Like I have to and I know this is me whey about it,
but it's all reality. Anytime anyone goes to a show, especially if you
have a family and you have work, and like we all most most of
us do, or even if you don't have kids, it's still time off
of work. And like I got a request off like a day and a
half probably two days of work, and it's really difficult right now for me
to do. It's really busy. And also, like you know, it's
a time away from home and there's a lot going on at home and like,
and it's also a lot of money because I have to drive down Gas
Hotel, you know, and then or drive back and do a red eye
drive back, which is dangerous because I when you know, at eleven o'clock
at night for a three and a half hour drive back north, that's that's
brutal. So like, there's a lot that goes to it other than just
yeah, the experience of being there, and it would be awesome. I
hope it's the crappiest show of the year. I mean, selfishly, if
I'm not going and I don't think I am. I hope it's the worst
show of the year selfishly, but okay, So as far as this whole
idea of Scotland getting a raw or smackdowner, especially pay per view, yeah,
I mean, how many times do we need to see international crowds put
the UNI, the United States crowds to shame. I mean, they bury
them when it comes to reaction. And I'm sure that the wrestlers who are
on these shows come out and go, man, can we just have this
happen every week? Can we just be here every week? And you go
back to the States and it's like, you know, twenty percent of what
the reaction was, and say the Dominican Republic or you know, or Puerto
Rico rather or you know, even over in Saudi Arabia, and like,
yeah, I mean it's and I think it's because I don't know if you
guys are more passionate, because passion is a really difficult thing to measure.
I don't know how you really measure it. How do you say that my
passion's deeper than yours? Or vice versus are really difficult, right, But
I would say that it's a lot of pent up anticipation that you guys have,
and you know that this is a rare event, so you're going to
be extra energized, even compared to the US crowds who are kind of complacent
and know that WWE comes to their town every four to six months. So
it's a lot of that going on where you guys just know that you need
to get it all out because it won't be back for another ten years.
So I'm all in favor of it. But I would bet you, I'd
bet you that if WWE were to, for a significant period of time make
their rounds in international markets, that the crowd would eventually quiet itself a little
bit, not down to the US style for the typical crowd quote unquote,
but if you're there more, it doesn't feel as special and it's kind of
common sense. But I'm all for Scotland getting Yeah, I mean, I've
got nothing against it absolutely. All right, let's continue. Let's talk to
another patron and this is Matt and he says, I just wanted to get
your opinion on something. Well, that's why I'm here, all right.
So he says, after the press event when the rock smacked Cody I said
the buddies of mine that if WWE has Cody go promo for promo with the
Rock, it's going to make Cody look bad. All my buddies called me
crazy. However, fast forward to now, I think I was right.
The Rock has been ruthless Cody, and he responds by crying and trying to
shake Roman's hand. He looks weak in my mind, and I think the
IWC is starting to notice it more. I know we, as Cody haters,
are in the minority, and I can agree that he should beat Roman.
I just think people are starting to notice what you've been saying for months
that I've been listening to your show. Also, how do I join the
discord Server on Patreon? Can I use the app on my phone or doesn't
have to be from a laptop. Thanks and have a good rest of your
week. Well, thank you so much, Matt. I'll send you the
link in the email for the Discord Server. So thank you and I'm glad
you're enjoying it. You know, when it comes to Cody Rhoades, I
have been screaming this from the rooftops for a while and maybe the crowd will
eventually turn on him. I will say this. I don't think we're going
to see a Cody heel turn, an official heel turn for at least a
year. I mean, if the you know, if the the wheel isn't
broke, don't fix it, as I say, right, if Cody still
bring it in cash and the crowds continue to support it as a babyface,
you don't turn them heel. But if the fans start to turn, and
I think they eventually will, then you might want to reconsider. Now the
whole deal about Cody and him being crying. He's crying, he's shaking the
hand of Rome, trying to be the gentleman, even though he says,
well, I can respect you, but boy, sure golly, I hate
your guts. As if trying to hurt the feelings of your opponent is somehow
scoring points. Do we get style points now for trying to hurt your opponent's
feelings? And by the way, are you really trying to shake the hand
of the guy that screwed you out of the main event of last year's WrestleMania
and then beats you down and has his goons beat you down all the time?
I mean, are we really going to respect a man that does that.
It just looks weak. It looks weak. And look, I also
know that when it comes to the Rock and Cody, you have two different
guys. The crowd continues to support Cody, and I understand why it's a
weird dynamic with Cody. You can respect him, but the fact that he's
just this feminine man is part of why I don't like him. And probably
at the core, that's what it is. At the core, I think
that's what it is. He's a soft, feminine man. The Rock is
a man's man. He's a masculine man. That is just a fact.
It is what. That's just a fact. I don't want to get into
toxic masculinity and all that crap. Okay, I'm sure some of you are
like, Oh, that's where he's going. I'm not going there, but
I will just say this, Cody has very feminine qualities. Not all his
qualities are feminine, but there's several. You want some. He dyes his
hair bleach blonde. Okay, how many men are highlighting their hair in twenty
twenty four. That was a fad that came and went quickly. It's a
feminine it's a typically and there's nothing wrong with it, you know, in
and of itself. But that's a feminine quality in twenty twenty four, it
just is, and it just kind of is. Really no matter when I
dyed my hair at one point when I had hair, Okay, I died
that, but that was back when the fad was hot. Cody's twenty years
late. And he does get He can tell he gets his nails done.
He doesn't get nail polish, obviously, but I looked closely at his fingers
and he does clearly get manicures and pedicures. I mean, he just does.
You know, that's kind of a feminine thing. Doesn't mean that you're
a you know, a feminine man per se. It's a feminine trait to
get those things done. It just is. And he brings his dog and
puts handkerchiefs on his dog. He's always walking around, smiling, telling us
he's there to make us happy, crying, trying to shake hands. It
is very political. It is very much a politician type of type of personality.
But it is also at the essence of this whole problem. I think
it's just that Cody's a feminine man. He's not. He doesn't have a
whole lot of edge to him. He's always trying to make peace. He's
always shaking hands now with even people. Oh I hate you, but gosh,
Gully, let me shake your hand. It's weak and the fans somehow
still have not come around to this. The Rock, on the other hand,
takes no s. You know. He comes out, runs down the
crowd, doesn't care what anybody thinks, just beats Cody down. I'm sure
he did it from behind. He's a heel. Whatever draws blood on Cody,
and Cody's gonna come out next week and still smile and bump this with
people backstage as he's going off his bus, you know, arriving to raw.
I mean, maybe they'll finally have him have like some kind of mean
face coming off the bus. I don't know. But he's just a feminine
man, and to me that's a turn off. The Rock is a masculine
man, but called me old fashioned. I like men to be men and
women to be women. I'm not a fan of masculine of feminine men.
I don't relate to that. That doesn't that's not something I'm like, Wow,
boy, I can connect with that. No, I think at the
essence that's really what it is is that Cody's a feminine man and if you
know, hey, if that's your deal, cool for me. It's not.
It's just not. It's not something I can connect with and look up
to. Thank you as I go off on a rent. I'll send you
that link as we speak. Right now, I'm sending you that link to
to the Discord service, so look for that. I was going to James
from Toronto, he says. I recently became a patron and I've loved it
so far. I recently bought tickets, but my tickets for Money in the
Bank, and it has me thinking about the potential fallout from the pl I
have Drew walking out as heavyweight champion, which will lead to a Seampunk and
Drew program which will lead headline Money in the Bank. I was in Chicago
for Survivory series this past year, and I think it would be fitting to
see Punk's return as well as his first match back from injury. Well hell
yeah, it lines up with his injury return schedule. Now, he could
return earlier, but that seems to be right now. Where they're targeting around.
I think they're targeting on like Charlotte Flair and Punk around the same time
we'll see I mean, obviously, Charlotte Flair seems to already be ready back
for action, so she'll probably be back before Punk is. However, this
makes total sense. And also when it comes to see I'm Punk in Chicago,
it's always a perfect fit. And the fact that it's possible Drew doesn't
walk out as champion, well I would say it's not. It's not even
should not be in the realm of possibility for Drew to walk out losing at
WrestleMania. He should not walk out of there without the championship. It would
hurt both Drew and it would hurt Seth because Drew McIntyre on a human being
level, forget pro wrestling, forget heel Babyface. He deserves this moment.
He actually deserves it in real life. Now, even beyond that, I
think the fans are ready for Punk, for Seth Rollins to drop the belt.
I think they're ready. They're not turning on I keep saying Punk,
They're not turning on Seth. But I think that they're looking at this and
saying, yeah, hey, ten month run. If you don't compare it
to Rowan Rains, it's a solid, a lengthy run by today's standards,
and it's just time for Drew to have that moment. On top of the
fact that Drew is very interesting as a heel character right now, and you
could have see him Punk maybe have some kind of say in that match of
if he's on commentary, you know, somehow, some way he's going to
be involved in a non wrestling capacity by either mouthing off or maybe doing something
very light physically. It's possible, actually it's likely. Otherwise would they have
why would they even have him out there? So yeah, absolutely Punk when
he comes back though, said he's targeting Drew, and of course Seth won't
be far behind. This is gonna be a little bit of a love triangle
I think throughout the spring and summer. Thanks James, let's talk to another
patron, Lupe. He says, well, what can I say? I
attended Monday netight Row and here in Chicago, and what a show. The
matches were few but entertaining, and we got good storytelling and the rock and
punk pops were massive. Honestly, it felt like an Attitude era Raw.
The crowd was wild and loud throughout the entire show. I attended SummerSlam last
year and hate to say it, but this are all was way more entertaining
and fun. Just want to let you know how not boring it was.
Since I asked you last week if you thought it would be Punk's scheduled,
Oh, it would be with Punk's schedule to be there. Yeah, I
remember that, Lupe. You did ask that, and obviously you got the
complete opposite show. It did feel very Attitude era esque. It felt like
big names, big surprise returns. It feels you know what it feels like.
It feels like WrestleMania season, which is exactly what it's been missing over
the last Like I don't know how many years with Vincent Charge, how often
do we kind of limp into WrestleMania. We just want to get there to
get it over with, you know, very few surprises, and this fel
it feels like a raw that was back in two thousand. It does,
and it was. I would agree it was much more, even from a
sitting at home perspective, more entertaining than Summer Slam. I would agree Summers
Slam. I remember looking at that going that was not very good. Uh,
And so absolutely I agree with your comparison. And now I'm jealous that
may be. And this is sad to say. The last time you see
the rock live in person. You know, I don't mean he's gonna die.
I mean just he's so limited. He's not here for long, and
it may be the last time. Yeah, So every time you see the
rock or punk for that matter, soak it in. All right, let's
go to let's see here, let's go to a Charlie and he says,
Charlie, Charlie, my friend. Just like everybody else, trim it down.
Please please trim down your emails. It makes this such a more fluent
show, all right, So everybody please trim your emails down. If you
read it back and it's more than a few minutes, it's too long.
Okay, So I really do. It's not to discourage people from sending it
in, but just get to your point concisely. It just it's a better
show, and it gets everybody a chance to give everyone a chance to get
on. Okay. He says, what's up, fellas and lady fellas out
there, it's Charlie from Milwaukee. First, let me allow say I apologize
the email being so long. I wanted to give my opinion on SmackDown review
okay, so fair, Okay, you were there in person? Fair?
Oh wait, now were you there in person? I don't know. No,
you said you are? You are in person? Okay, so you
did go, so I'll let it slide on this show all right? As
usual, smack Down was outstanding. I took my five year old niece,
who unfortunately is a Cody Rhodes fan. Personally, I think she does it
to make me mad, to her first show, and she was smiling from
the moment she walked into the arena. I saw very few kids, not
only when I was walking around the arena, but when I got to my
seats as well as absolutely which absolutely surprised me. It was definitely the demographic
of the eighteen to thirty five year old group. That's interesting. Usually you
hear oh families, it's a mix. Okay. Unfortunately, when I went
up to the merchandise stand, not only did they give me a Pharaoh plush,
but they also had a photo signed by Cody and his dog as well.
I was trying to get people in line not to buy it, but
unfortunately it did not work. They had a couple of sampunk shirts do do
a Roman rain shirt LA night shirt, Bailey shirt, Cody cry Baby shirt
which I happily bought a couple of different Milwaukee based shirts, but they had
one shirt that maybe want to jump over the counter, grab them all,
throw them in the garbage. They now have put we want Cody on a
shirt. Also, they had a Brewer's belt, a Packer's belt, a
rock belt, an undisputed Universal Championship belt, and the World Heavyweight belt.
Without a doubt, the loudest crowd reactions of the night were for Raymistereo,
Dominic, Roman Reigns, and Cody. What shocked me was when Bianca came
out and the crowd around me was dead silent until the crowd started channing est
which was met by my section ending the chant with the words sucks. Interesting.
Also, when Bianca was getting beaten up, people around me, including
myself, went nuts. I did get into Cody's but once it was done,
I went right back to reality. What shocked me was the split.
What split the crowd for me was Roman and Cody. I heard a couple
of die Cody die chants around my section. I don't like Cody Rhodess character,
but I mean I don't want him to die. That's fair that's a
little rough, and the fact that Bianca was getting booed a little bit,
and that you're right, the entrance in itself is an experience, but once
you see the man behind the entrance and the music shuts off, I totally
agree. You go, oh, that's right. I totally I'm with you.
Now, let's see after they had the two matches after the show.
The first one they had was Kofi against Dominic. Unfortunately I was in the
minority of cheering for Dominic. Yeah, you're definitely a minority there. The
second match they had was Gunner against Juso from the Intercontinental Championship. Jimmy and
Solo came out after the match, Jimmy beat Jay down, and everyone's favorite
Knight and shining Armor around the and future President of the United States, Cody
Rhodes came out to save Jay, or really to save the day, because
that's what they put Cody in it all the time as and a position to
do. Before they all sent us home, Cody decided to give away his
shoes. My god, both he and Jay signed the shoes. All in
all, not a bad show. I was upset when it got announced that
Jade Cargill was fighting this coming Friday. Also, Tiffany Stratton got a nice
pop and tippy time a chant broke out for that. Anyway, have a
good week and happy Easter. Hashtag Cody sucks all right, So thank you,
Thanks so much for the detail, Charlie. I appreciate it and really
cool you brought your niece five year olds? Soh you have? How did
it go with a five year old? Because I'm really considering bringing my son
to a SmackDown, but you know, he goes to bed at like seven
o'clock at night, and obviously the show is eight to ten. How did
that work? Are the lights and sounds enough to keep them awake and engaged?
It sounds like it, so all right. So as far again,
hearing the crowd boo in any capacity Cody Roads is always fun. But here's
the deal. Your section is a small, just kind of sheltered portion of
the fans. You don't hear them come across on TV. Same with Bianca
fans that don't like her. Now to Bianca's two hundred defense, Bianca Belair
has been a background character for a while. I don't know what Jade Cargill
is gonna do tomorrow night I would. I don't. I would think that
she's just she's not gonna get a one on one. I think she's going
to join in a six woman tag team match against Damage Control. That's probably.
Oh, we have a mystery partner, right, the final partner for
this match, which the match isn't even official yet. But I would imagine
that Jade is gonna get kind of that that amount of exposure and have the
workload split. So that's what I think. And thank you, Charlie.
Great stuff. All right, new patron Pedro, he says, I'm sorry,
Julio. Julio, he says, what's up, Matt, I'm a
new patron. Thank you for joining. First, I want to say I
enjoy your shows. I work driving a garbage truck in the city of Chicago.
Well awesome with all the trafficing craziness I have to deal with on the
daily basis, your shows have kept me sane and entertained. But anyway,
not to take up too much time, but so many people tell me that,
do you guys listen to me at work? Don't? I hope you're
not. Are you driving the truck you said you drive in the truck?
I don't don't don't crash. Okay, I'm glad we can keep you entertained
though. It's that's pretty cool. You never know who the hell's listening.
I always say that you never have any idea anywhere in the world who's listening.
Most people don't write in so the people I hear from are just a
small representation of the listeners. So all right, let's move on here with
uh let's see. Oh, you had mentioned one time in your show that
you think WWE might be listening to your shows because of the things that have
occurred as of late, And honestly, I have to agree, because there
have been a few things you've come or I have commented on their Instagram page
that have come to fruition. First, when they posted Cody winning at the
Rumble ind pointing at Roman, I commented on their video saying Roman should make
a shirt saying the Final Boss because that's what he was at the time.
But now you have the Raw count here calling himself the Final Boss. I
was like, okay, cool. And then I had purchased tickets to SmackDown
in Milwaukee and Raw in Chicago, hoping I get to see the rock in
one of the house shows or one of the shows, because he's my all
time favorite wrestler since the Attitude ere I brought back in ninety eight, and
I've never got the chance to see him live. Well. When they announced
that his next return was going to RAW in Brooklyn, I was very disappointed.
I wrote a comment on ww's page saying I got tickets hoping to see
the Rock and how I was bummed and he's not going to show up to
either Raw or SmackDown. I'm like, bro, We've already seen Seampunk a
million times already well in Chicago. At least can I get a refund?
But fast forward to this past Monday and the Great One returns to Chicago.
Man, what an experience it was. The nine year old me came out
and I was screaming like nobody's business. The crowd was loud and electric.
To see him live in person was nothing short of amazing. That whole show
was just fire from beginning to end. The crowd was into it, the
wrestlers were into it. It definitely had Attitude Era vibes. Who knows this
may be the Attitude are a two point zero in the making as well.
Will be transitioning to Netflix. Next year. It was a great show and
honestly it has me excited for WrestleMania next week. It really is a great
time to be wrestling fan. Sorry if to emails a little long. Keep
up the great work you're doing for wrestling community. Well, thank you so
much. And I see you have images here, I'm gonna look at those
you have images? Oh of the Instagram posts? Okay, okay? Cool?
Well, good stuff, Julio, thank you for I see Okay,
I see actually where you were standing? Where you were seats were you?
Pretty good? Seats? Man, pretty damn cool. You know The Rock
can claim he's a heel, not by the crowd reaction, man, I
mean, The Rock is a bigger babyface when he's this version of The Rock
than he is as typical Dwayne Johnson playing The Rock. It's amazing. But
I feel you on the nine year old self because I'm in the same boat
and that's what's drawing me to Brooklyn and it keeps screaming my name. But
as I mentioned at the beginning of the show, like there's a lot that
goes into as everyone knows that attends an event, especially ones that's not down
the street from you. You have to go to another state, in another
city. There's a lot of logistics that go into it, a lot of
time, a lot of money off work, family like right, all this
so again it's pulling me, and there are still tickets. So I'm gonna
say I'm not going. But you know, sometimes the impulse, the impulsive,
impulsive part of me wins. We'll see And yeah, I mean,
you know, I think WWE generally generally listens to what we have to say.
I'm not going to be so egotistical as to say that they have definitely
listened to this show and taken the guidance and criticisms of this show directly,
but sometimes it's hard to not make that connection. Now, if enough fans
say the same thing, every fan that has said that thing can claim that
they're listening to them. But you know who knows. You know that for
sure? For sure, with how big social media is, WWE executives and
wrestlers themselves look at the comments on social media. If they say they don't,
they're lying because they do care. Because their job depends on the reaction
that they get from fans. That's how they make a living. So you
don't think they're going to listen to the people that are controlling their paycheck.
In a way, of course, they are so awesome. Julio, I
am jealous. You got your moment. It was electric, and that's what
I'm chasing. That's the feeling and the struggle I'm dealing with. Two.
All right, let's continue. Let's talk to uh Oh. I see,
Julio, you sent me another email, but I did. Yeah, got
it? Okay, moving on, So let's talk to another patron, AJ,
and then we'll get to DJ Kuzmo after this, and then Callum after
that. You're in the whole, Calum, DJ's on deck. Let's talk
to Aj. AJ says, been a while since I wrote in last,
but I wanted to ask why it feels like Roman is taking a back seat
heading into WrestleMania. I didn't watch the Shield Days, but every clip I
see it looks like Eth and Dean were the more entertaining ones of the group.
When I started watching again a few years ago, he was champ and
still didn't feel interesting. During the peak of the Bloodline, Samuel was the
interesting one. Am I just missing something with Roman? I'm not a Cody
fan at all, but I hope he wins it WrestleMania because it feels like
WWE has given up way too much excuse me to make Roman a star,
which I think he is, but they present him like he's a top five
ever and I don't see that. Am I missing the point or am I
just tired of the same finish to all those matches. I respect Roman and
the work he's put in, but I just don't see the appeal. Thanks
for the great shows. Ps if no one mentions it, But I like
Punk trying to get Drew to say Vince's name, which I assume would have
gotten him in slight trouble. Good point, AJ, Yeah, we were
all waiting because Drew, as we know, was selected, hand picked,
cherry picked by Vince McMahon as the quote unquote chosen one. So having that's
a great point. You know that no one brought up, including myself,
or even thought to bring up that Punk was trying to get Drew to say
Vince McMahon's name because he Punk as Drew, Wait a minute, you say
that you're the chosen one? Who said that? Who said that before?
You know? That's a great point. That was also very clever by Punk.
So that is also You bring up two good points here. Obviously the
Drew point with Vince McMahon, but also the idea that Roman is a backseat
passenger on this train to WrestleMania does have some truth to it. You look
at how we how do you feel? You know, sometimes we overanalyze feelings,
and feelings can come and go, and they can change, and they
can you know, they sometimes blow out the wind. Right, We all
know how our feelings are as human beings. But I think steadily, for
quite some time, the general general feeling among fans without them even knowing it
and realizing it has been Roman is a second. He's kind of a what
do they call it, a secondary character in this story, and he's the
champion who's been championed since August of two twenty, and yet he's a back
seat driver to this whole thing. He doesn't feel like his character. It's
true, Roman rais his character. And this may be actually a great topic
for our next mailbag or our next current state with Anthony if I remember,
I never remember. What we're going to talk about is why does Roman feel
not as important and why does his character feel stale? And it's because he
hasn't really evolved. He ascended like with a jet pack when he became a
heel, and then is kind of leveled off. And after the whole Samy's
Aim debacle, it's kind of been like his study as she goes, not
a lot of progress. His promos haven't been bad, they've been good to
find to okay. He never really cuts long form promos anyway. That's never
been his strength. His matches every time he once a year, I shouldn't
be that dramatic. Every few months when he has a match, he's good
to very good. But there's been no evolution on I don't even know if
I'm looking for better this or better that. Just something different from Roman.
And that's a very good point. Like going into this, I was hoping
I really care about Roman as a character losing the belt. Fans I just
think, are they're ready to get behind Cody. They respect what Roman's done,
But then the Rock comes in and steals the spotlight from Roman, and
it really almost feels like Rock versus Cody instead of Rock versus Roman. It's
a very interesting dynamic. But that's a hell of a point. AJ,
good stuff, Thank you, all right, DJ, Let's get to it,
brother, He says, this is DJ Couzmo back at it again on
the mailbag. It's official. Jade Cargill is joining the SmackDown women's roster and
debuting next week. I kind of knew that she was heading to smack Down,
but it's interesting that this is happening before Mania and not after. I
don't think she'll wrestle at WrestleMania, but she might appear either ringside during the
Bailey versus e OO matcher after that match. As I've said, a DJ,
not AJ DJ. I go from AJ to DJ. Maybe I'll go
from AJ to DJ to PJ McDonough. We'll see, but I think it's
still gonna be Jade as a tag team partner. In a was a three
or four women, I think three three women against it'll be Naomi and Uh
not not Bailey because Bailey would be facing EO Sky, but uh, Naomi
and Bianca and Jade Cargill versus the three members of of Damage Control that don't
have a match. Right, we have Kyrie saying Osca and Dakota Kai.
I think that's the six woman tag team match we're gonna get at WrestleMania.
So Jade doesn't have a ton of pressure on her with a one on one
match, and it also gets her on the show. You have to do
something with Jade at WrestleMania in a match. It doesn't have to be one
on one. People were thinking Jade versus Bianca. Clearly they're not doing that
this year. She debuted at the Rumble. You can't not have you can't
not have her compet at WrestleMania. So I think she's gonna be involved in
six woman tag team match with partners of Bianca and Naomi. All Right.
I enjoyed the La Night and aj Styles fight outside of AJ's house and then
La Knight getting arrested. It adds another element to this grudge feud between these
guys. I can't remember the last time when WWE did a similar segment.
The only other time I could remember was a wrestler invaded their home. Was
the weird one with twenty twenty one when Seth was at Edge's house getting comfy
and looking for Beth and the kids. Oh yeah, this quick side note,
I miss a heel Seth Rollins. Do you think we might get a
Rollins turn in twenty twenty four? It was kind of odd how he didn't
help Cody during the Brock beatdown. Plus just an opinion, his finish of
the stomp looks more of a heel finished than a maybe face. I agree.
So it's a lot of yes here, Okay, a lot of yes
yes yes. I think somebody said that once. That could be like on
a shirt or something. I don't know, but that to me is something
that is a twenty twenty four prediction Seth turning heel in twenty twenty four.
The problem with that is if you want the other side of the coin is
that if Cody's winning the belt and going to SmackDown, that leaves a big
hole of a top baby face and Seth would be that next guy unless you
have La Night come over in a trade. But I think at some point,
even if it's after the shakeup, if they have another shakeup or a
draft in September or so, Seth could turn heel. The other argument against
that is don't you want a Seth Roman program. I mean, it lends
itself to a lot of confusing pieces. Even though it sounds like it's a
shoe in. I think it's probable in twenty twenty four, but they have
to time it right. With other programs they want Seth to be in so
and also with Cody leaving presumably to smack down, and yet it is weird
that he didn't help Cody. He's been so much, so transparent about I'm
basically saying we're friends and saying I have your back. I can be your
shield. Yes, so much that and the stomp is a heel finished but
people love it and we can't call it the curb stump anymore, which I
like curb stump personally, but has too many negative connotations. I guess.
Finally, after WrestleMania and after Seys's involvement with the Bloodline, does Creative continue
to continue the Drew versus Seth's story since Sampunk is injured, or does Seth
move on to the feud with possible new World Heavyweight Champion and Damian Priest.
I just wish Punk didn't get injured at the Rumble because he could have won
the Chamber and main invented with Seth at WrestleMania. So many moving parts,
so many what ifs. With that being said, DJ cu'zmost signing off,
have a great weekend, every one piece. There is a lot that happened
after Punk went down. I mean, they had to reshuffle the deck,
and then obviously with the Rock and Roman that was going to be the main
event, and now it's obviously Cody and it's a tag team match. You
talk about changing everything in a matter of like a few weeks, it's absolutely
crazy. And your question, though, since Punk is injured or rather does
creative continuous Seth versus Drew? Since Punk is injured, or does Seth move
onto the few with new World Heavyweight Champion Daian Prie. Well, before we
even put the cart before the horse here, I mean, I don't think
Damian Priese is gonna win at WrestleMania. The only way Damian Priese cashes in
at WrestleMania is if Seth retains. It's the only way I think it happens.
I think one way or the other. There's no way Seth walks out.
It's champion, no way. But I think Drew and Seth could have
maybe another program in them. Again, They've already had what two world title
matches in the last couple months. This will be their third, so they're
gonna go for a fourth at Backlash maybe, But if Damian Priese is floating
around, there's another one, right, and then when Punk comes back,
he said he's targeting us. Drew McIntyre, like you said, so many
moving parts, it's absurd. All right, let's talk to one last patron
and then we'll get to some non patrons. This is from Callum from Newcastle,
Australia. He says, been a listener of the show for over five
months and I got to say it's the only podcast I listened to in the
ute. I must say I can't get enough of Heel Hollywood Rock breaking through
the barriers of TVPG and wrestling. He's added so much fuel to the road
to WrestleMania. The fact that people think Seth will turn on Cody makes zero
sense. Why would they then have a heel Seth take on a heel Drew
the next night. That's exactly my point, Callum. The order of the
matches matter. The only way that this could happen is if the World title
match was first Seth loses, He's now super frustrated going into this match,
and then he loses again and then he turns on Cody. Right, that
would make sense. But given the fact that Drew and Seth is the following
night, you're not gonna have Seth turn heel a freshly turn Seth go against
Drew, and the what are the people are supposed to do is it makes
no sense. Totally agree. So Seth is not and I will repeat not
turning on Cody at wrestle Mania. Okay, he may turn on him at
some point, and that program still has yet to pick back up because they
for I mean, they didn't forget, but they had three brutal matches last
year before Cody got injured and had his peck torn off his body, in
which Cody won all of them and then Seth attacked him with a sledgehammer.
If but we're all supposed to forget that, but it's not the right time
to remember it. So okay, I do agree with the possibility of a
double turn at WrestleMania, which is why I haven't seen Albert oldl Rio and
Ziggler. This email's not too long, by the way, Calum, it's
just right to say, you're just right. So yeah, I mean,
the double turn is possible. It's the thing is, it's a difficult thing
to do. It's not easy because you're you have to have the timing right,
you have to have the You have to have such confidence in what you
believe the fans really want and would go with with not just one but two
guys, right, and it's got to also be executed to perfection to have
it happen. That's that's why you don't see it happen a lot. It's
not easy to do. The most famous one that's referred to is at WrestleMania
thirteen between Brett Hard and Steve Austin. That was executed perfectly. The fans
were ready to support Steve as an up and coming star, had an edge
to him and knew felt good, felt fresh, badass brawler against this established
kind of face of the company at the time, but fans had kind of
gotten sick of the character two goodie two shoes. It was the right time
to do it, and they executed it to perfection. Again, I don't
not predicting that they're going to do a double turn between Seth and Drew WrestleMania
because also, even if they executed their plan to perfection, did the fans
really want it? Do they really want it? So not easy to do,
but it's possible, all right. And finally, I love being a
patron. I recommend it to all my friends. Well, I appreciate that.
PS. Meeting La Knight, Austin Theory, Grayson Waller, Seth Rollins
and Becky Lynch was amazing. I saw that great pictures. La was happy
to have chat in the streets of Perth, shaking our hands and grabbing a
selfie. Seth and Becky were reluctant to talk to anyone at the hotel as
they were getting in an uber understandable Graceon and Austin Theory were the nicest blokes
ever. Lots of love Callum for Newcastle. Yeah, you never know who's
going to be open a conversation. You never know. Also what's going on
in their personal lives. Maybe they're having a really crappy day. Maybe you
know, Seth and Becky had a fight. That happens. You know,
you never know who's going to be in a good mood, be receptive,
that kind of thing. But that's awesome, you know that. That is
a that's a really really cool thing that you met all those those wrestlers in
such a short time. That's good stuff. I mean stuff you'll never forget.
All right, Calum, thank you. Now let's get to a couple.
I believe it's only well, let's see how many we got. Let's
see here, so let's talk to I think, actually this is a patron,
but you didn't mark yourself as a patron. This is hungry pup.
I believe you are a patron already, but let's go. Howdy. Love
your show. We don't always agree with but I enjoy hearing your spect to
perspective. Well, that's all that matters. I don't expect everyone to agree
with me all the time. Kind of boring, rang. I hope I'm
sitting that you're sitting there going, man, I wish I could. I
wish I could debate him on this topic. He's so wrong about that.
I'm not I'm not ever going to give you an opinion that's not my own,
that's not truthful, just to elicit that reaction. But my opinion should
conflict with yours once in a while, because you know why, here's a
secret. We're two different people. Yeah, and that's what's great. As
long as you enjoy listening, that's that's what matters. Okay. I know
you like Pete Dunn and Tyler Bait and have heard you call them good wrestlers.
I'll ask you them what makes them good? Pete dun uses his finger
torture and that makes me cringe. How is that pro wrestling? Well,
it's wrestling. It's I mean, you could say it's like partially mma,
I mean manipulating joints. I mean, have you ever heard of Dean Malanko.
He was similar in his style of wrestling The Man of a Thousand Holes.
It's just a facet of technical wrestling, one that is not often used.
Now. I'm not saying he's a good wrestler because he uses finger torture.
My point is that his style, which includes finger torture, is number
one unique. You know, gag do you hear finger torture? You think
of Pete Dunnow or Butch you think of him, so you automatically he's automatically
differentiating himself for other wrestlers. That's good and it's not often used. Technical
wrestling in chain wrestling more specifically, is a lost art form today where it's
all flip flop fly, how fast can we go? How many spots can
we do? How many finishes can we kick out of? It's just a
representation of the style that he has in the ring that I like and why
I think it's good. Okay, so, oh that's why I say it's
good. I'm not saying well, if you use finger torture, that means
automatically you're a good wrestler. No, it's more of a larger picture type
of deal of representing what they do in the ring. Okay, you said
I think they're boring and I hope they lose onun Raw. I mean they
don't have exactly the greatest character depth. I give you that. My argument
is that their matches are boring because entrances, moves, charisma, and lack
of humor. I think, for example, a Town down Under is not
boring because their entrance is memorable, especially with Grayson jumping into the screen during
the flex. The moves like the flip into the ring are cool, especially
Austin Sells. Grayson and Austin have chemistry and charisma seen at the Chamber,
and they are hilarious almost every time on air. So, in conclusion,
are you agree that Tyler Bait and Pete Dunn should be pushed less than Theory
and Waller? Right? Oh yeah, I mean, look, Pete Dun
and Tyler Bait don't have a whole lot of charisma right now, at least
they haven't been given an opportunity to show it, or they haven't shown it
even when they were given an opportunity. Right Clearly, Theory and Waller have
more character depth than do Done, and be no doubt about it. So
right now, as it stands, I think there's a better chance of success
with pushing Theory and Waller because they are also not just have more depth,
but they are more established stars. And they're both really good in the ring
honestly, and both need wins right now, both badly need wins. So
I'm I'm a yes, I do agree. That doesn't mean that I also
can't say that Done and Bait are good. See how you can say both.
You don't have to be on one side or the other. But yeah,
cool, all right, let's talk to talk to Nick from Eugene.
Nick says, am I the only one who feels the entire Judgment Day story
has gotten really stagnant over the past few months. They had the r Truth
stuff to spice it up for a while, and that was fun. I
want a place where I couldn't care less about the faction. They have feeled.
They feel stagnant. Yes, not not on the descent, but kind
of holding steady. They haven't done a whole lot to push themselves forward,
and I think they're in a waiting period, right. I think they're waiting
towards to see what happens at WrestleMania, when likely they will lose the tag
team belts. Rhea probably retains Dom. I don't know if he's going to
beat his dad or not or whatever, but there's a crossroads very close to
Judgment Day. So I would say, just wait until after WrestleMania or at
WrestleMania, and you'll get that additional push of the storyline for a judgment day.
The Ria Becky story is building nice towards Mania after Monday's encounter, but
outside of that, it's been bland as hell. Now, outside of the
last few weeks, I would agree, But every week I've come on the
Raw review and I've said, I think they're doing a progressively but slow,
nice job with the story. It hasn't blown me away, it doesn't have
me on the edge of my seat, but they have slowly but surely every
week got me a little bit more interested, and that a little bit more
interested, and that's all I can ask for. That's from my opinion.
I'm hopeful that Finn and Damien losing the tag Belts at Mania will start the
next evolution of the group in one way or another. And I think,
actually it may be somewhat smart of creative to let the dust settle on the
Bloodline Cody stuff before making any other changes with Judgment Day. Up until this
week, I was under the hope and belief that Damien might cash in on
the icy title pinning Sammy. Now, with the continued involvement of Chad Gable,
I don't think it makes sense. I think any other major story turn
at Mania would just get swallowed up by the Bloodline. So whatever happens with
Judgment Day will start to roll out beginning on the raw after Mania. Yeah,
I agree with that, totally agree. I mean, not everything,
even I get caught up in this. I think sometimes we look at WrestleMania
as everything we think that should happen should happen in one night, you know.
And I'm guilty of it two because it's such a big event, it's
hyped. It's also the fortieth one, so it's even bigger. And I
think we need to take a step back and realize there's a whole nother life
and all another start on the backside of WrestleMania, starting with the raw Aftermania.
So I think we need to have perspective of that. Not sure if
a baby face turned for anyone who's in the cards, but after Rhea retains
and the tag titles are gone, there's plenty of Mommi's not happy story that
can develop. Yes, that's exactly right. That's kind of what I was
also getting at too. With the tag titles likely being lost, Rhea's definitely
going to retain. How does she deal with the blood the Judgment Day,
what's her you know what, She's going to criticize them. There's a lot
that they could do a lot, and I think you're going to start again.
Not all happen in one night, and it shouldn't, but you'll start
to see cracks in the foundation of the Judgment Day start starting at the raw
Aftermania. Thanks Nick. And this is not a well it's an but it's
a picture from Andrew about tagging the photo of your daughter and I and yourself
so very cool. Oh wait a minute, your daughter's got to claim your
Kingdom shirt on. Oh my god, locker, put her in a dog
kate, a dog cage until she converts, you know, just lock her
up, you know, to have the authorities take her away. I mean,
you've got a Cody Road shirt on, which I mean, hey,
yeah, at least yours is kind of cool. It's his logo with flames
on it. And one thing I'll say, I mean, first of all,
so very cool. I mean, I'm being kind of a half jerk,
but I mean that that is awesome. You guys are bonding over it,
and that that's obviously more important than my issues with Cody. You know,
he calls himself the American Nightmare. No one's ever even asked why.
I know, it's a play in your dad's dream. I'm the American dream.
Oh, I'm the nightmare. You're not the opposite of your dad.
How are you a nightmare? By the way, other than the fact that
your babyface character is a nightmare. So maybe that's kind of apropos in a
way that he didn't anticipate, you know, but how exactly is he the
American Nightmare? In what way? Has anyone ever asked him that, what
do you mean by the American Nightmare? Why are you a nightmare. Tell
me. I mean, it's a serious question other than it just being a
catchy little play on words of his dad's gimmick. What exactly are you the
how are you the American Nightmare? It's so many questions, so many questions.
All right, let's move on, and our next email comes to us
from Let's see here. It is Thomas or Tom from Vancouver. He says,
just a quick message. The line about quote your favorite Stan from McIntyre
on Raw was Eminem's song Stan. It is a very deep and disturbing song
about an obsessed fan. Give a listen and understand how it ties perfectly and
with what McIntyre is saying about punk. Okay, I believe you. I
didn't. I didn't really follow Eminem passed his initial burst onto the scene with
you know the real slim shady? Maybe what was the one about the closet?
I remember that one? The what was the movie in the Mile not
the Green Mile or something like? After that? I didn't really pay much
attention, so I that one I don't remember, Okay. Rhodes family beating
the Shield at battle was at Battleground twenty thirteen, which saw Cody and gold
Dust with Dusty at ringside beating the shield in the authority. Thank you,
I appreciate that. I also wanted to ask a question. In your rants,
you speak at length about details being omitted and glaring oversights, like how
it should be a common ground for there to be nobody ringside in Roma's match,
But you also go into great detail about fantasy stories and attitude era finished
rehashes. So on my question, what is more important do you think every
detail and plotholes being accurate or building a fantasy that makes fans invest and believe
anything as possible? Thanks Tom. I mean, here's the thing. There's
never to me a blanket rule that always applies every time, no matter what.
But in a match like WrestleMania, if there's if it's one on one,
I generally like no interference. Okay, I generally think it's a bad
idea to have any funky finishes at WrestleMania, because I think it kind of
devalues what WrestleMania is about, you know, And I like logical booking.
I don't like big plot holes, and I don't know how no one has
yet petitioned any of Roman's opponents up from August twenty twenty when Roman won it
to now petitioning any management of saying, hey, Roman has a hell of
a pattern of getting his bloodline involved to retain the title, and we all
see it, it's on camera. Can we make sure that doesn't happen?
Can you bar them from ringside? Please? No one's ever said that to
my knowledge, you know, no one's It's just it's it's it's just so
glaringly obvious that and kind of stoop stupid when you have talent who just never
petition management to do that. And it should just also go without saying if
this is a simulated sport that there should be no interference. But it's pro
wrestling. Now that's where your other question comes in. Well what about fantasy
and you know, making fans believe anything's possible. Well, yeah, you
can't have I mean, that's why I'm saying this can't be a hard and
fast rule all the time, because it's pro wrestling, and the unpredictability does
make it a lot of fun. But the predictable finish of having people interfere
is not predictable anymore. Unpredictable anymore. It's it's just the way Roman has
been retaining but Attitude Era finishes. I mean, I'm not rehashing a lot
of Attitude Era finishes. I'm just presenting finishes in the past that I think
correlate to now and could benefit stories right now. I mean, I just
I think that when it comes down to this, specifically this match with Roman
and with Rhodes, I think that they're probably going to go with a bloodline
match, a bloodline rules match because of the rumors of Austin, which are
all over the place on credible websites, with johnsena possibly getting involved, I
mean, there's so many other things that can happen in that match towards the
finish. It does warrant a lot of fun moments in that match, so
we'll see if those come to fruition. You know, you can kind of
have your cake and eat it too, if you do it in a way
that doesn't taint the victory that Cody Rhodes should have where it's not like he
needed help, it's just they needed to even the playing ground, and when
things are even, Cody was the better man that night. All right,
Final email, Final email, King Scully. He says, I've come to
the conclusion that the tag team main event match at WrestleMania is going to be
at least forty minutes long. You're right, the entrances are going to take
ages. Roman's entrance on SmackDown Squeek was roughly three minutes and twenty seconds.
Cody's wasn't far off. I simply loved The Rock's new mixed theme song.
The entrance is epic, but we know his entrance is too long or as
long as well, not to mention Seth add the extra time. Because it's
WrestleMania, we could be looking at fifteen minutes alone just for the entrances.
I totally think that that's plausible. Yes, it's not an over dramatic analysis
or prediction. That's very plausible. Yes, fifteen minutes alone could be the
entrances. Guys. As good as this past week's raw was, there were
some things that crossed my mind. As the show went on. The commentators
and fans asked what The Rock whispered to Cody. It was easily lip red
on my part. He said, tonight, I'm gonna make you bleed simple.
He did just that. Okay, yeah, I've heard that a couple
times, and it seems that that makes total sense I love it. The
ending was absolutely brilliant. I can't remember the last time I Heal whooped the
baby face like that, and he did it while talking trash and hitting him
with the trash can in corporate style. Rock fashion reminded me when he gave
mankind of beating. Yeah, I didn't even think of that. Good analogy
there. I like that the scenas Stone Cold Laurie made it obvious that my
WrestleMania prediction that I sent in the mail bag a couple of weeks ago looks
likely if you remember it. It's similar to the one you mentioned on the
Raw Review this past week. I absolutely believe Sena and Austin are gonna get
involved in this match if it's bloodline rules. Where was his shield? Seth?
He got a claymore five minutes before that happened. Plus Jay just celebrated
in the ring, leaving Cody to get destroyed. Yeah again, this could
lead to future tension between Seth and Cody. Absolutely not at WrestleMania, but
Postmania, Ricochet really got extra loving from Pat and Cole. It was like
Jr. Was with Stone Cold, I mean, acting like they'd never seen
a reverse hurricane Rana before or a Canadian Destroyer. Give JD some credit too,
he made them look amazing. Plus, why was he looking bad at
shadow boxing? Looking bad at shadow boxing before the match? Does Ricochet even
throw a punch? Yeah, that's actually a good point. Was he doing
shadow boxing like he's getting ready for the match, when in fact he never
throws a punch. Ever, it's a good point. You know, he
never throws a punch. It's usually a forearm and then some flip flop and
fly maneuver. It's pretty funny. But they really, you know what,
I want to criticize them for trying to put over him in such an over
dramatic fashion, putting over Ricochet when they've seen him perform hundreds of times.
But I also appreciate what the effort is and what the goal is is to
get over the talent and telling us also that Ricochet's three to oh over the
last few weeks. That's important. Even if it is a minute amount of
momentum, it's something for Ricochet to hang on to. So I know what,
it was a little bit over the top for somebody like Ricochet, but
I appreciate the effort and I also agree with the goal that they're trying to
achieve. So alrighty, thank you everybody. Let's, as you would imagine,
we're about to get into those voicemails, those beloved voicemails. So let's
do that right now and get to mister DJ. Let's go what's going on
Donny podcast for if this is DJ Kuzmo back added again on your mail back
show record you live on a Wednesday morning, on a very chile kind of
cloudy Wednesday morning. Now let's get to your favorite show to come on every
single week on the Mailbag, and I'm talking about the Vere de Vere de
Vere de Vere de Vere. The Vere Maharte put on the Vir Maharaport took
place this past Monday on Monday Raw Live from Chicago, Illinois. And we
did get an appearances of CM Punk and the Rock and Cody Rhodes and Drew
McIntyre and Jay Usso and all the hosts of one of the best rosters on
Monday Night Raw. But where were the in this shear back again a no
show, a complete no show after back to back weeks of matches from the
in this year, Oh My Guy via Mahan Saga and of course the modern
day Maha, Roger Jenner Behol still no in this year, and I just
hope, I just hope that after WrestleMania that my guys are not on the
list to get released. My fingers are cross. I'm very concerned that these
guys don't get released. I don't know what the future will be for them
after WrestleMania, but I just don't want them to be out there on that
set of the WWE releases, know what that being said, And as we
get closer and closer to WrestleMania, funny, it should be an incredible time.
Now what that being said, this is your guy, DJ Couzbo,
have a blessed we be guide to another staves of my friends and peace.
Hey DJ. Good to hear from everybody. As we close in on WrestleMania,
the bar has been set so low that we're just hoping the Indus year
aren't fired. That's how far are we fall in? And here's my question
to you. If the industry are unfortunately on that list of the annual releases,
which I think they would do this year, although under Triple H and
new management, and it's not under this not the Vince McMahon regime, anymore,
maybe they forego it this year. But if it's the typical Black Wednesday
or Tuesday or whatever they call it, after WrestleMania and the industry are released,
what report are you going to have after that? I mean you could
just do an industry watch to see where they land on what promotion, but
you'll have to find and start to sadly think about already. You know who
you would like to supplant in their place? Who would you choose or whom
how many people team single women men in the place of the or in the
event that the industry are released. You got to start thinking about that sadly.
But thanks as always, DJ, and this is leam Ward from New
York and spaced on what we've been seeing recently, you know, watching them
more all right now. And I really think hand the belt to to Cody's
mom, and you know, he whispered something to Ava. It looks like
he whispered that he's gonna make him bleed. But I really think he's gonna
he's gonna switch up. I really do. Yeah, I just wonder to
get that. Get my take there? Love the show, keep it up,
hey, Liam? Yeah, so it does seem to be landing on
the I'm gonna make you bleed that again. I'm not disputing that that makes
total sense, and it's a promise that would come from the Rock right now,
and he followed through on that promise in a big way. Loved it,
absolutely loved it. And you know, I do very curious how the
Rock is going to interject himself with h Cody's mom at WrestleMania. Maybe he
does follow through on that promise too. You know, my thought is that
the Rock beats Cody right now, or beats whoever. Maybe he pins Seth
Rollins or whatever. Maybe is pinned, and then he goes to fulfill his
promise, and you know, maybe Cody fights back and puts the Rocks blood
on his belt and gives that to his mom. Maybe the Rock bleeds.
That's also very possible. You know, I think that there's there's so many
ways that they could go. Guys like, this is a crazy wrestlemaning.
When you think about it, it's bigger than any other year I can in
recent memory star power wise, just a stacked roster or with stars that have
come up over the last five years. Stars I continue to evolve. We
have a world championship. Now Roman Reigns isn't the only champion after a year
a year and a half of that, so there's a lot to look forward
to, new stars, big returns. This is going to be a hell
of a wrestlemanting on top of the fact that it seems that they are really
pushing the boundaries of what PG is now it's like PG plus. So thanks
Liam at the French guy here, you'll European champion. I've been looking into
Drew McIntyre saying seth you are not worthy of this title. As I recall
last week, I said on the show, Drew, I'm talking to you,
Drew, if you are listening to this podcast, say at one point
on social media during a match, if you can set you are not worthy
of this title. He did not say so during the past week on social
media or in raw, but I have good hope that this is the case,
especially with Rooman Reigns addressing Cody Roads kissing babies being a politician, because
I can understand that it's a common criticism, but it is very particular of
this podcast. I don't listen to other podcasts actually, but this is really
hinting for maybe some wrestlers saying or listening to the podcast. If you are,
it's a pleasure to hear from you. Not a not to here,
But have you have listeners as well? And yeah, true, I am
not convinced. I'm fifty percent convinced themself of the wrestler I was listening to
this podcast through MC can tell you as well, maybe fifty five percent because
he has this voice on the show in the beginning of the show. And
yeah, maybe this is more probability of him listening to the podcast. Yeah,
and that's that's all for me for this part of the podcast. And
yeah, Drew, if you are listening, Seth say at one point,
Seth, you are not worthy of this title. You canst say during a
match, I will pay close attention until WrestleMania and even after. I don't
think after if you will win the title, because I think he will win
the title. But I think I think that he is listening. You are,
Drew listening to the podcast. Maybe I'm just dreaming, but let's throw
once again the bottle on the sea to the sea, Drew. I also
will be at that gush, so you will be at that gush, and
I will see you say that word of the title. But when you win
the title, I will say you another magic word to say until you say,
because I know you're listening. Maybe not, but that's the funny thing.
That's a funny bottle to see. Hi, guys, have a nice
week. Hey Alex uh thanks for calling in. I uh, I do,
and I am paying attention as well on raw to see if he says
it, you know, even if it doesn't, doesn't mean he's not listening,
you know. I don't think that's a definitive way to find out.
I mean, he's he also probably sitting there going I'm not taking orders from
fans. What do I owe them? But why do I owe you?
Why do I owe anybody anything. He's a heel right now too, so
like he's extra incentivized to not do what we want, you know, and
he's he's doing a pretty good job of of that. So again I'm not
gonna depend on that to determine whether or not he listens. I will say
that I think based on the name of our show, based on that Drew
knows our show exists. I mean, you hear him at the beginning of
the show. I'm sure I paid him to do it who cares. He
knows we exist, right, And you know, I think that there are
wrestlers who probably listen. I think there are. It's not unreasonable to assume
we're in the top thirty of wrestling podcasts. And you know, sometimes we
creep into the top twenty, and we got into the top fifteen last year's
WrestleMania season. Maybe we'll crack the top ten this WrestleMania season. But we're
living. We used to live in the top fifty, then the top forty.
Now when like the top thirty thirty five, we're climbing the charts.
Man. So I think that as you get bigger and higher, that draws
more attention naturally, and it's possible. I I really, I mean,
I don't think everyone there are big names maybe that or might I say big
names. I mean like, I don't think the Rocks listening. I don't
think like Seampunk said, he listens. But I think that I'm sure we've
gotten some for sure, absolutely, But it's uh, I mean, we'll
never know for sure, but I will be, you know, keeping an
ear out for that line on Raw. But if he doesn't say it,
I wouldn't get too disappointed because maybe he still listens and he just doesn't do
it what we want, which he says, and he's an obligation too.
So all right, let's get to a final voicemail and we'll sign off for
the night. Here's Kyle from Baltimore. So, I wanted to talk about
this whole Real Ripley Fana Bell, and I heard you talk about the whole
about her steck to Pale, so that in Beck he talked about it as
well through her interview get trying to hype up her match with Rea Wresslemania.
I don't really care about Ria Ripley's body. I never care about these women,
the women, how they look. I've always had an issue, not
an issue, but just I just never care what these people look like,
even as a thirteen year old when I became but I really became a wrestling
fan, like lost thirteen, and I didn't care about these I love these
women. And sure, I mean he's sure they were hot because I was
a I'm a guy, of course I alould think so. But they weren't
doing anything interesting on television. They were just showing their but they couldn't.
They just never wrestled and they had five second matches, which was how it
was at that time. You know, was it the only the time in
the moment that I felt I took women's I took women's wrestling. It's interesting.
And more seriously was when they when a J. Leot Page had their
few to twenty fourteen, or just a J. Lee as a whole with
her whole character arc in twenty twelve. That got me invested into a woman
at that time, and then it just it just evolved in that time period.
Was a J. Lean page in twenty fourteen, and then when twenty
fifteen, forget about Alison, Women's vision fan for life at that point with
Becky and Charlotte and Sasha and Daily and so on and so forth. Year
year after that, year, year after year was with people with women's debuting
like Alexa and Carmela and all And and Bionca and people from xt at Ember
Moon. And that's what I'd been to the woman's women's wrestling in twenty fifteen.
It was a small, It started off small, but it burst into
something. It's the disascinating to watch the women wrestle and tell stories and creating
their characters and needy care about and they worry about the way they look.
Before God's sakes, Becky calls herself the man. So it's like it makes
the women now are great? Are great for what they're doing, And what
Ria Ripley is doing is kind of going backwards where it shouldn't be calling herself
mommy. She say at us always would Mommy's always on top. That's such
a sexual term to use, saying the word mommy a live a live television.
It's such a sexual thing to stay on live television. I don't watch
she's calling herself that, and she's just sexualizing herself on television, and I
don't like it. So overall, I just wanted to bring that out that
I kind of agree that you need go go forward with the women's division.
That backwards, that's what Ria is doing and which is unfortunate because it is
really good in the ring that I enjoyed Ria, but this character of hers
showing off her sex appeal is not what I expected what Ria Ripley's going to
do as a Kay character. But I just want to bring that out.
But that's a different call. Guy. All right, Kyle, hell of
a way to end the show here, and I appreciate your your comments.
And I know I have a lot of people who don't agree with me and
feel like I'm some kind of you know, I'm directing women how to act
that I feel a should be in, you know, some kind of like
a potato sack basically right, And they shouldn't be doing anything that that shows
off their body. No, No, I mean they're they're doing a competitive
sport. You're gonna have to wear less clothing. So I'm fine with athletic
wear my issue. And this could really spin into oblivion, of which I
will save this for an after dark bonus episode in the next couple of days.
But it spins into oblivion and into a darker place, a more regressive,
not progressive, regressive place. When you make a sexual part of your
a part of your character, a focal, when you make that overtly obvious
what you're doing. Ria Ripley is pretty okay. She has a sexual uh
you know aura to her, she does, but when she emphasizes it and
just tries, she she shows fans that she knows that she is and tries
to bring it out and makes it an actual significant part of her not just
a tiny thing, not a byproduct, not just oh I happen to be
attractive, but I'm more about kick ass and bust an ass. That's what
Becky seems to be about. And that's what I actually appreciate about her character
right now. She's not sexualizing herself. And I don't want to hear by
the way the people who are saying, well, you know, the men
while they wrestle around with no shorts and no you know that they're wrestling around
in their underwear. Yeah, okay, here's the problem. The product of
pro wrestling is built for male consumption, and men are notoriously visual. If
you didn't notice that, I'm not talking to you, Kyle, just the
general public here, the general listening on. And when you overtly present women's
sexually, men will look at that and say, huh wow, yeah,
she's wrestling, but damn right. Their focus gets off of what we should
be focusing on, which is wrestling, and onto the features that they are
now telling you to focus on. And then they get angry when you notice.
If you know, if you realize, noticing is the biggest sin you
can commit, right, they do something that is clearly sexual, something that
that actually one of the detriments, and we look back and women's wrestling not
too long ago, very sexualized. They were a joke, not taken seriously,
bron panties, matches, pillow fights, live sex shows, literally,
and then women's wrestling bursts out into the scene. Divas, give divas a
chance, happens, women's wrestling become serious again. Obviously with Becky and Charlotte
and Sasha all them right, they all make wrestling relevant and respectable again for
the women on top of I mean, they trailblaze the whole thing for every
woman that's there right now. And then you have characters now that are starting
to regress. And it's not just Rhea. I mean, I pick on
Ria because she's the biggest star that's doing this, but I think it's kind
of a it's a trend I'm noticing just generally. And if everyone's like,
hey, if you're sitting there going, well, you know, it's women
empowerment. How is it empowering women to have them overtly sexualize themselves, to
objectify themselves to the male audience. Explain that again, So you're progressing and
showing your liberation or whatever by then sexualizing yourself again and knowingly doing this in
a male audience that will objectify you because you're telling them to. How does
that work? Again? So my point is, yeah, Rhea Ripley is
right now the leader of this I think it a way because of her just
her star power or and she's champion. She does like extinct faces to people.
She puts pictures out there knowing what she's doing, and yeah, fine,
she gets all the likes she wants or whatever, whatever attentions he's seeking,
she gets it. And the mommy on top thing overtly sexual she you
know, it's always got this kind of little twinkle in her eye. You
know, she's always got this kind of, uh, I'm a very sexual
person type of vibe, and like, fine, if you are, then
you are, But I don't need to see that in your wrestling character.
How does that help you with a wrestling career? Exactly? Again, women's
wrestling thrived when that stuff went away, and it has been progressing in spite
of those sexual elements being removed, and women's wrestling can still exist with women,
beautiful women competing, athletic women, badass women competing when they don't make
sexuality a part of their character, a part of their identity, a big
part of it. So I'm the one who's actually advocating for women to move
forward, while people who are claiming that they want women to move forward are
actually supporting the regression of women back to sexuality and then covering it and deodorizing
it with well, you know, just her being proud of her body.
You're jealous. I love that argument. People are saying, i'mjeous, jeous
of what? This has nothing to do with me. It's the Here's it
comes back to just the sin of noticing. That's what it is. When
somebody like does something and wants you to see it, but then you point
it out and say, hey, wait, look over here, look what
that is. You just observe it. That's the sin. That's the sin.
And I bet I don't care. I mean, people can think whatever
they want, but inherently they know I'm right. So sure, go ahead,
Rhea, sexualize yourself. You know, the rest of the women and
there's a lot of other ones that I could mention are kind of doing the
same thing. Go ahead and do it. But I think we know where
this ends. We've seen it before. So I'll end on that note.
Thank you, buddy for listening. Consider going ad free. If you don't
already hate me on Patreon dot com, slash ww podcast, go to Apple
Podcasts. Of course you can always subscribe there for ad free everything. As
we close it on WrestleMania season, great time to get involved on the show
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All right, Thanks everybody, talk to you next time. Take care,
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