WWE Podcast Throwback: 2020 Week in Review - Retribution Plays in Dangerous Territory, Raw Goes Underground

<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the WWE podcast, the most passionate and authentic
<v Speaker 1>wrestling analysis on the web. We've got you covered with
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<v Speaker 1>so let's get this show underway. And that's the bottom
<v Speaker 1>line what stone Coat sets.
<v Speaker 2>All Right, it is that time. Your week in Review
<v Speaker 2>with Ashley starts in just a couple of minutes. Welcome
<v Speaker 2>to the show. As we speak, it is August ninth,
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty. August is flying by, folks. August is flying by,
<v Speaker 2>and before you know it, the leaves will be changing
<v Speaker 2>and it'll be football time and snow is not far behind.
<v Speaker 2>Of course, we got a long ways to go with summer.
<v Speaker 2>But for those here in the Northeast, or if you're
<v Speaker 2>really above like the Mason Dixon line, you know that
<v Speaker 2>the summer doesn't last long, so enjoy it while at lasts.
<v Speaker 2>So thank you guys for joining me here on the
<v Speaker 2>ww podcast. On this again this Sunday. Jeez, I don't
<v Speaker 2>know what date it is anymore. Sunday, August ninth, twenty twenty,
<v Speaker 2>and we're gonna get into this weekend review and to
<v Speaker 2>discuss so much stuff. I mean, Ashley is a great,
<v Speaker 2>great co host to have on. I know you guys
<v Speaker 2>love her, and she is here tonight to discuss with
<v Speaker 2>me everything that happened this week. And we really dove
<v Speaker 2>into SummerSlam and it gave some early predictions on Summer Slam,
<v Speaker 2>particularly with Braun Stroman and Bray Wyatt and Randy Yorton
<v Speaker 2>and Drew McIntyre. We really we gave some early predictions.
<v Speaker 2>So I guess there's the hook, right, here's the hook
<v Speaker 2>to stay tuned to hear what our thoughts are on
<v Speaker 2>those matches. And to be honest, we we felt very
<v Speaker 2>confident in our answers. I mean we didn't feel wishy
<v Speaker 2>washy of well it could be this or this. We
<v Speaker 2>felt very confident and gave our justifications for that. So
<v Speaker 2>I think you're going to want to listen to that
<v Speaker 2>as we go on here. But first, as always, guys,
<v Speaker 2>subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts if you have a
<v Speaker 2>moment or anywhere that you listen to us. You can
<v Speaker 2>also head on over to the website at WWE podcast
<v Speaker 2>dot com for articles and all of our podcasts, and
<v Speaker 2>Patreon dot com Slash WWE podcast if you want to
<v Speaker 2>add free experience. So thank you guys that are on
<v Speaker 2>that feed and you get to enjoy this show ad free,
<v Speaker 2>because I know ads it can be an interruption to
<v Speaker 2>your listening experience. I get it, and that's where you
<v Speaker 2>can go to get rid of your get that problem solved.
<v Speaker 2>So one thing before we get going, I've got a
<v Speaker 2>voicemail and I always ask you guys to chime in,
<v Speaker 2>and some of you have been taking advantage of that
<v Speaker 2>to call in, leave a voicemail for the show and
<v Speaker 2>you can get yourself on the show and I will
<v Speaker 2>respond to you in real time. So tonight I've got
<v Speaker 2>Jim from New York. So I wonder where in New York? Right,
<v Speaker 2>pretty pretty big state, but maybe you're nearby. And those
<v Speaker 2>of you that are like, hey, how do I call in?
<v Speaker 2>Here's how you call us. Five one eight nine five
<v Speaker 2>two zero two four seven. That's five one eight nine
<v Speaker 2>five two zero two four seven. It'll ring a few
<v Speaker 2>times and then leave your voicemail. Try to keep it
<v Speaker 2>to a couple of minutes. Max. I appreciate that. So
<v Speaker 2>all righty well, let's take a listen from Jim and
<v Speaker 2>see what he has to say.
<v Speaker 3>Hey, Matt, this is Jim from New York, one of
<v Speaker 3>your more recent patrons. Love the show. I had a
<v Speaker 3>lot to talk about, but I'm just listening to one
<v Speaker 3>of your most recent podcasts. You've got to keep this
<v Speaker 3>to a minute or two, so I'll focus on my
<v Speaker 3>main point, which is the ww title match at SummerSlam. Currently,
<v Speaker 3>my favorite three wrestlers are Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, and
<v Speaker 3>AJ Scott Well. So obviously two of those three are
<v Speaker 3>in the main event of SummerSlam, so I think it's
<v Speaker 3>going to be an amazing match. However, listening to all
<v Speaker 3>your recent podcasts, I really hope you're wrong about the
<v Speaker 3>outcome of the title match. Normally, when I have two
<v Speaker 3>of my favorites fighting for a title, I always watch
<v Speaker 3>the guy who's the champion to keep the belt, and
<v Speaker 3>I hope that's the case here. Because I agree with
<v Speaker 3>everything you've said about the positives of Orton winning or
<v Speaker 3>the positives of McIntyre winning. What I want to focus
<v Speaker 3>on is the negative if either of them lose. I
<v Speaker 3>don't think there's any negative to Orton losing. He could
<v Speaker 3>have Christian come out, he could have a big show
<v Speaker 3>come out. Into this year. He could even have Edge
<v Speaker 3>come out. Edge doesn't have to wrestle, he could just
<v Speaker 3>come out distract him all of a sudden to mckitire
<v Speaker 3>hits him with a playmore match over. I feel like,
<v Speaker 3>if McIntyre loses this title match and what you predicted
<v Speaker 3>happens happens where Orton holds the belt for eight months
<v Speaker 3>from August through April, Edge wins the Royal Rumble. I
<v Speaker 3>think this will kill maca. I don't think there's anything
<v Speaker 3>else for him to do. Probably the only negative I've
<v Speaker 3>seen from his title reigns so far is that he's
<v Speaker 3>just blowing through everybody so quickly. I've never seen this.
<v Speaker 3>I mean, he has a you know, a match with Rollins,
<v Speaker 3>boom done, match with Lashley boom done. Sol finally had
<v Speaker 3>a rematch on Raw. But still he's going through these
<v Speaker 3>programs so quickly. He's had a few with Andrade and
<v Speaker 3>Angel Garza, but I don't know where they're gonna go
<v Speaker 3>with McIntyre if he loses. What I hope they do
<v Speaker 3>is what they do with cm punk. Let him keep
<v Speaker 3>the belt for a couple more months and then turn
<v Speaker 3>them heel and then he could keep it for like
<v Speaker 3>another six months. That's what he said. Fresh That's what
<v Speaker 3>they did with CM punk. He was the faith, went
<v Speaker 3>through all the heels, then he turned heel and he
<v Speaker 3>started facing the faces. So anyway, that's my two cents.
<v Speaker 3>I really am looking forward to the match. I think
<v Speaker 3>it'll be great either way, but I do fear that
<v Speaker 3>if McIntyre loses, this could really set him back, almost
<v Speaker 3>like lastly where he's on the mid card, you know,
<v Speaker 3>facing losing to Angel Garza or something like that. So anyway,
<v Speaker 3>interested to hear your thoughts on that and love the
<v Speaker 3>show he put the good word.
<v Speaker 2>Thanks Ti, Hey Jim, so, thanks for your your question
<v Speaker 2>and uh and for being a patron, thank you so much.
<v Speaker 2>So here's my response to that here, and I will
<v Speaker 2>concur that there are some negatives of Drew McIntyre retaining
<v Speaker 2>or i'm sorry, losing the w W championship in Orton
<v Speaker 2>becoming champion, and I will concur that you know, it
<v Speaker 2>could hurt Drew McIntyre and Drew has done such a
<v Speaker 2>great job of being champion, and you know what does
<v Speaker 2>that mean for his long term career after all this,
<v Speaker 2>all the struggle everything, you know, h this pandemic hits.
<v Speaker 2>He's not able to celebrate with fans. You know, he
<v Speaker 2>gets screwed out of that. He is going through opponents
<v Speaker 2>very quickly, and so I do agree with your points
<v Speaker 2>some you know, if that happens. But here's the thing.
<v Speaker 2>How does Orton loose or how does Orton win and
<v Speaker 2>how does Drew lose? If it's a clean victory and
<v Speaker 2>Orton just outright beats him with no shenanigans, I think
<v Speaker 2>there's more merit to your concerns, and your concerns may
<v Speaker 2>be realized. But if Orton wins from some kind of
<v Speaker 2>hook or crook or someone comes out to try to
<v Speaker 2>screw Mac and Tyre, that ends up distracting him just
<v Speaker 2>long enough to get an RKO and we have a
<v Speaker 2>new champion. I think there's something to be said for
<v Speaker 2>a babyface chasing a heel champion. It's all in how
<v Speaker 2>the finish is booked because of Again, if this is
<v Speaker 2>a straight finish and Orton wins and Drew is beaten,
<v Speaker 2>then yeah, this could be a problem. But Orton has
<v Speaker 2>done such a brilliant job, brilliant job of being ww's
<v Speaker 2>top heel. We have not seen this Orton come out
<v Speaker 2>in many, many years, we didn't know if it was
<v Speaker 2>still in there. I don't think you want the first
<v Speaker 2>guy to beat Orton to be Drew McIntyre, as great
<v Speaker 2>as he is and as great as a champion as
<v Speaker 2>he is. That loss belongs to Edge because that's where
<v Speaker 2>this whole thing started. So I think if you have
<v Speaker 2>Orton hold that championship for some time and continue to
<v Speaker 2>build heat, Yeah, eight months is a long time, I
<v Speaker 2>get it. It could be sooner. We may see this.
<v Speaker 2>We may see it happen sooner, or maybe maybe Drew
<v Speaker 2>does win it SummerSlam, but Orton continues to poke the
<v Speaker 2>bear and this is gets strung out in another few
<v Speaker 2>months and Orton wins the championship saying November. Then it's
<v Speaker 2>only you're only looking at what four months versus eight months,
<v Speaker 2>So there's ways to do this. But I think ultimately
<v Speaker 2>you will see Orton is champion, and it will be
<v Speaker 2>by taking it away from Drew. Because people already hate
<v Speaker 2>Randy Orton. He's doing such a great job. How much
<v Speaker 2>would they hate him him even more if he took
<v Speaker 2>it from Drew. They're chosen champion. We have to look
<v Speaker 2>at the big picture here. Hot heels don't come along
<v Speaker 2>very often because often W's version of heat are cool
<v Speaker 2>heels which aren't really heels, right like the fiend he's
<v Speaker 2>you know, he attacked Alexa Bliss, but he's still kind
<v Speaker 2>of a cool heel. You know. It's like Seth Rollins.
<v Speaker 2>Albeit he's made some strides for a long time, he
<v Speaker 2>was kind of the cool the cool heel like this
<v Speaker 2>is not something that comes along very often where it's
<v Speaker 2>a true heel. So I would argue that I still
<v Speaker 2>think it should be Orton that wins because Orton or
<v Speaker 2>I'm sorry, Drew in Chase mode is very a very
<v Speaker 2>good Drew McIntyre to have because, especially if he loses
<v Speaker 2>in some kind of Shenanigan's way, he has a legitimate
<v Speaker 2>beef and he just goes on a tear and chases Orton,
<v Speaker 2>that could be magnificent. I don't think him losing necessarily
<v Speaker 2>would kill his career because it's all in how you
<v Speaker 2>lose or how you win. So that's my take on it.
<v Speaker 2>And think about this, when he's back in front of fans,
<v Speaker 2>they'll give him that moment. When fans are back in
<v Speaker 2>the arena, they'll give him that moment with fans to
<v Speaker 2>celebrate of regaining the championship as if it was his
<v Speaker 2>first time, because he was screwed out of that opportunity
<v Speaker 2>because of the pandemic. So all right, well, thanks Jim
<v Speaker 2>for your voicemail, please call back, and for everyone else,
<v Speaker 2>let's get to Ashley, and again, as my schedule constitutes,
<v Speaker 2>I will be back on Tuesday for your Raw review.
<v Speaker 2>Wednesday is Nostalgia, and then maybe I'll have a special
<v Speaker 2>guest hint, hint, and then of course aw NXT and
<v Speaker 2>your SmackDown HSP review. So let's get to Ashley as
<v Speaker 2>we discuss everything in this week of WWE. It's that
<v Speaker 2>time of the week, guys. It is time to look
<v Speaker 2>back at this past week in WWE, look back at
<v Speaker 2>all the crazy angles from low ratings to desperation angles
<v Speaker 2>that may end up being a hit or maybe a
<v Speaker 2>complete disaster, to political angles that WWE is treading on
<v Speaker 2>very dangerous water on to raw underground, to everything in between.
<v Speaker 2>And tonight we've got Ashley man in that co host
<v Speaker 2>see here to join us for the uh the week
<v Speaker 2>in review. Ashley, great to have you back.
<v Speaker 4>Thank you so much for having me. I'm it's stoked
<v Speaker 4>to be back. It feels like it's been forever, but
<v Speaker 4>in a sense, it's it's amazing, Like I feel like
<v Speaker 4>we say this every time, how much the world of
<v Speaker 4>wrestling changes just within the few weeks that we go
<v Speaker 4>without talking. But yeah, I feel like we're making some
<v Speaker 4>improvements now finally. But we'll see, we'll see how this
<v Speaker 4>whole week itself cleared out. But yeah, thank you for
<v Speaker 4>having me. I'm excited to be back.
<v Speaker 2>No, I am too, And and it does every time.
<v Speaker 2>It feels like it's I don't know, like we've go
<v Speaker 2>into different eras of wrestling every time that we talk,
<v Speaker 2>and it's only every few weeks. But uh, with so
<v Speaker 2>much happening, with the historically low ratings that WWE Raw
<v Speaker 2>and SmackDown have gotten over the last couple of weeks,
<v Speaker 2>it seems as if WWE has pulled out some angles
<v Speaker 2>that I don't think anyone saw coming and it has
<v Speaker 2>generated a lot of buzz. And I guess that's the idea,
<v Speaker 2>is to get people talking about WWE again and it's
<v Speaker 2>not the same old WWE. And look what they're doing,
<v Speaker 2>and they're trying something new and I can totally appreciate
<v Speaker 2>them doing it. I would say it's a little bit
<v Speaker 2>of desperation with a little bit of creativity mixed in,
<v Speaker 2>and right now there's the biggest angle. Right now, you
<v Speaker 2>could argue from a just wacky perspective, is retribution that
<v Speaker 2>came in. They attacked the power grid assumingly of the
<v Speaker 2>performance center. The lights were flickering on raw. They then
<v Speaker 2>this past week on SmackDown, then proceeded to attack the
<v Speaker 2>attack ringside area, threaten everyone ringside. They threw the cameraman down,
<v Speaker 2>They chased Michael Cole and Corey Graves out of the arena.
<v Speaker 2>They attack the fans at ring side. I say fans
<v Speaker 2>and air quotes very lightly fans. You know, at first
<v Speaker 2>I thought this was going to be It looked like
<v Speaker 2>very Nexus like when Nexus debuted in the early twenty
<v Speaker 2>and teens. I think it was a twenty ten to
<v Speaker 2>twenty eleven whenever Nexus came in, it felt very much
<v Speaker 2>like that, where they just came in, they destroyed the ring,
<v Speaker 2>and we're here, we have a new faction. This took
<v Speaker 2>it a step further where they're in all in masks,
<v Speaker 2>they're attacking and destroying the ring with a chainsaw. Where
<v Speaker 2>the hell that came from? And who's got a chainsaw?
<v Speaker 2>By the way, it was I don't even know where
<v Speaker 2>that came from under the ring. I don't know why
<v Speaker 2>a chainsaw is Yeah, I mean, geezu, this has got
<v Speaker 2>Orlando or the Performance Center has to have the single
<v Speaker 2>worst security in the history of building maintenance. But we
<v Speaker 2>we get this group come in, they destroy everything, they
<v Speaker 2>attack the fans. Again, would that have happened in a
<v Speaker 2>normal arena unless there were a few plants? Maybe not,
<v Speaker 2>But they're certainly trying to make this a big deal
<v Speaker 2>because it it's woven throughout the fabric of the show.
<v Speaker 2>It felt kind of dangerous. And I'll leave it there
<v Speaker 2>because you know, I do not talk politics on this show,
<v Speaker 2>But how can you not strike a comparison between what's
<v Speaker 2>going on right now with Antifa and Retribution? I think
<v Speaker 2>it's impossible not to, and they're playing on dangerous territory
<v Speaker 2>right now, I think doing that. But I think I've
<v Speaker 2>said my piece. Actually, what are you thinking about Retribution?
<v Speaker 2>Are you liking it? Do you think it could end
<v Speaker 2>up being a total disaster? How do you feel?
<v Speaker 4>I think I like an applause that they're doing something different,
<v Speaker 4>But with WW it does make me very nervous, just
<v Speaker 4>because sometimes they don't know where that line is or
<v Speaker 4>they just don't know the severity of crossing that line.
<v Speaker 4>And I think they could get away with it in
<v Speaker 4>the past, but now with how big social media is
<v Speaker 4>and how where people are and how just alert everyone
<v Speaker 4>is to everything, I think they need to really be
<v Speaker 4>careful because I think they got a decent amount of
<v Speaker 4>backlash with the whole Jeff Hardy angle and Jeff Briddy
<v Speaker 4>Shamus angle and smackdowns. So just something like even like that,
<v Speaker 4>I think, you know, stirred up some commotions, so something
<v Speaker 4>you know, when you look at that, compared to what
<v Speaker 4>they're doing with Retribution, I just feel like they need
<v Speaker 4>to be careful. But again I applaud that they're doing
<v Speaker 4>something new. I'm excited just to see how it plays out,
<v Speaker 4>what their end game is, if they've even thought of that,
<v Speaker 4>if Retribution has like its own leader and these are
<v Speaker 4>just like the workers or whoever going in there, just
<v Speaker 4>taking care of like this work, and if there's like
<v Speaker 4>actual guidance that they're following, or if they're all just
<v Speaker 4>like if they are just like each other's leaders. So
<v Speaker 4>I'm interested to see how it plays out, especially going
<v Speaker 4>show to show so again like of course they're like,
<v Speaker 4>there would be some things that I would tweak myself,
<v Speaker 4>but I'm just going to wait and see how this
<v Speaker 4>one plays out. This and that. That's kind of what
<v Speaker 4>my answer is going to be for Raw Underground, but
<v Speaker 4>we'll get into that later. But yeah, I'm excited just
<v Speaker 4>to see what they do. It's something new, right, so
<v Speaker 4>we have to give them credit for that.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, they get an a for effort so far. It's
<v Speaker 2>it's now again, is we all? We both just said
<v Speaker 2>the sample size on this group is very, very very small.
<v Speaker 2>We don't know what their motivations are other than destruction.
<v Speaker 2>That the name of their group, retribution, does say something
<v Speaker 2>about their motivations, possibly that they're here for retribution that
<v Speaker 2>means revenge, what that revenge is, who they're after, and
<v Speaker 2>who these people are are all questions what eventually we
<v Speaker 2>are going to get answers to. I don't know if
<v Speaker 2>when we see who these people are, if we're going
<v Speaker 2>to go, oh my god, it's so and so it
<v Speaker 2>could be a group that came in like the Nexus
<v Speaker 2>that we have no idea who these people are, and
<v Speaker 2>we're going to get to know them through their actions
<v Speaker 2>and through you know, the story. I have that feeling
<v Speaker 2>as well. And it could it be kind of like
<v Speaker 2>aw where they had the Dark Order and the Exalted
<v Speaker 2>One ended up being Brodie Lee, Right, I mean, so,
<v Speaker 2>could they do something like that where there's a leader
<v Speaker 2>that they're following. Yeah, I think that's possible. But they
<v Speaker 2>made a statement. They didn't They haven't spoken a single word.
<v Speaker 2>It's just been all action of destruction of violence, and
<v Speaker 2>that's what we know right now. We don't know anything else,
<v Speaker 2>and it's hard to judge a story other than saying yay,
<v Speaker 2>it's new. That's very superficial, but that's all we have.
<v Speaker 2>So until this thing plays out, and until we see
<v Speaker 2>what how this thing goes, this could be completely disastrous
<v Speaker 2>or I think this could be one of the best
<v Speaker 2>angles ww's done in a while. I really don't think
<v Speaker 2>there's gonna be in between on this one.
<v Speaker 4>I agree with you one hundred percent.
<v Speaker 2>And to that to that extent, I mean, it's hard
<v Speaker 2>to talk about a group that we don't know anything
<v Speaker 2>about right now, but that leads us right into raw underground.
<v Speaker 2>That kind of that that also happened the same night.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you had a whole bunch of new stuff
<v Speaker 2>start which again new great. So before I give my thoughts,
<v Speaker 2>do you from again very small sample size of course,
<v Speaker 2>but what do you think about Raw Underground? Are you
<v Speaker 2>feeling it? Are you kind of like rolling your eyes?
<v Speaker 2>What do you think?
<v Speaker 4>No, this one, I think I'm more intrigued about than Retribution,
<v Speaker 4>just because I feel like this one they are more
<v Speaker 4>excited about because they put way more production and way
<v Speaker 4>more effort into it, and I feel like this one
<v Speaker 4>they really have a strong idea for going forward, But
<v Speaker 4>it just depends on exactly what they what they have
<v Speaker 4>in mind going for, because it's kind of weird that
<v Speaker 4>all of a sudden they bring Sham and Mann back in.
<v Speaker 4>There's this new underground thing and then wrestlers that we
<v Speaker 4>just saw on Raw or all of a sudden underground
<v Speaker 4>and what is really the end game? Like what what
<v Speaker 4>do you gain from being underground? And like winning a
<v Speaker 4>match or a fight or whatever it's classified as, Like
<v Speaker 4>is there like a title, a specific title for underground
<v Speaker 4>or what is it? So I'm just or is it
<v Speaker 4>just like bragging rights? So I'm curious to see that.
<v Speaker 4>And in each of the wrestlers that were down there.
<v Speaker 4>Each had like an edgier and different side to them.
<v Speaker 4>Like with war Raiders, there wasn't really their typical like
<v Speaker 4>get up. They looked more rugged, more just like Rough
<v Speaker 4>or Eric did rather. So I'm just curious to see
<v Speaker 4>how they play this while not going forward, especially with
<v Speaker 4>the Herd business getting involved at the end as well.
<v Speaker 4>I think maybe it's it's geared to kind of like
<v Speaker 4>boost them and Bobby Lashley maybe, but I don't know.
<v Speaker 4>I'm really interested in this one though, to see how
<v Speaker 4>it plays out. And again I don't hate it, but
<v Speaker 4>I'm not saying this is going to like fix like
<v Speaker 4>the ratings or anything like that. But I mean, I
<v Speaker 4>think it's it's a good step in the right direction.
<v Speaker 4>For sure, they've.
<v Speaker 2>Got people's attention. They've got people's attention with this, They've
<v Speaker 2>got people's attention with Retribution. But the key is to
<v Speaker 2>have a long term vision for this, of which WWE
<v Speaker 2>has proven time and again that they often don't have
<v Speaker 2>long term booking ideas. It's a lot of times hot shotting,
<v Speaker 2>which will do a quick spike in the ratings and
<v Speaker 2>then it's boom right back down to where it was.
<v Speaker 2>So I hope that the effort and the vision and
<v Speaker 2>the desire is there for them to create these two
<v Speaker 2>storylines in a way that is actually long term sustaining
<v Speaker 2>building stars. It's not just a oh, the spike the ratings.
<v Speaker 2>Let's do something different and shake it up. Where are
<v Speaker 2>we going? I don't know, Let's just do this. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I really really hope that's not the case. And with
<v Speaker 2>Raw Underground again, it's hard for me to pass judgment
<v Speaker 2>on this right now, given it's so new. From what
<v Speaker 2>I've seen, didn't make any sense that Seane McMahon was there,
<v Speaker 2>given that Kevin Owns fired him a number of months ago. No, like,
<v Speaker 2>I mean, okay, Like, I've just gone beyond the fact
<v Speaker 2>that anytime anyone gets fired, it's just no matter what
<v Speaker 2>they say, they're coming back. I mean, so Shane's back. Fine,
<v Speaker 2>He's in a role that is kind of like the
<v Speaker 2>the the organizer of this group of guys, and I
<v Speaker 2>like the environment. I gotta say they did a great
<v Speaker 2>job for the production of a smoky, just sweaty, dirty
<v Speaker 2>place that these guys go. It's a ring but no ropes,
<v Speaker 2>and they fight it out and it's funny when you
<v Speaker 2>look at the guys in there. You know, you think,
<v Speaker 2>you know Eric and Ivar are there, and they they
<v Speaker 2>were in there, and you just think about where they were.
<v Speaker 2>They went from basically high school gymnasiums playing basketball to
<v Speaker 2>an underground layer of being you know, fight club. I
<v Speaker 2>mean Ziggler. Yeah, well look at Dolf Ziggler. He is
<v Speaker 2>the classic example. This was a perfect small sample of
<v Speaker 2>Dolf Ziggler's career that on a bigger level is exactly
<v Speaker 2>what Dolph's career has been. And that is, you come
<v Speaker 2>out of nowhere, you get involved in the main event.
<v Speaker 2>We all know you're not gonna win, you lose a
<v Speaker 2>couple of times, and you go right back into obscurity.
<v Speaker 2>And that's exactly what Dolf's career has been. And that's
<v Speaker 2>exactly where it's gone now. And now Bobby Lashley and
<v Speaker 2>the Hurt business came in and took over and at
<v Speaker 2>the end of the show stood tall and they all
<v Speaker 2>stood there. And I like that group, and we'll get
<v Speaker 2>into that later. I don't I'm not sure where they're
<v Speaker 2>going with it. I was hoping Lashly would kind of
<v Speaker 2>break out here, and it's weird that Lashley kind of
<v Speaker 2>feels like the third wheel in this, which is weird
<v Speaker 2>given that where Lashley was. But yeah, it's hard to
<v Speaker 2>pass really any kind of judgment given that we've seen
<v Speaker 2>this for a week.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah yeah, And like you said, I agree completely. I
<v Speaker 4>love the look and the feel of it, and I
<v Speaker 4>think as they progressed with it, because I obviously believe
<v Speaker 4>this will be around for a decent amount of time,
<v Speaker 4>I feel like they'll add and tweak it as we go,
<v Speaker 4>so especially with Shane being involved, because he seems to
<v Speaker 4>really dig it and really be invested in this concept.
<v Speaker 4>So I'm very hopeful to see what his input in
<v Speaker 4>it will look like.
<v Speaker 2>I am too, the only you know, again, this is
<v Speaker 2>just a week. But the concerns I have are right,
<v Speaker 2>What is the purpose of this? Do you think that
<v Speaker 2>when you get into a live format with fans back,
<v Speaker 2>whenever we're back to our normal lives again, whenever this
<v Speaker 2>passes vaccine, whatever it may be, that fans in an
<v Speaker 2>arena are going to be okay with this being a
<v Speaker 2>backstage segment every single week where they just have to
<v Speaker 2>sit there and they're like, wow, I could have just
<v Speaker 2>been home watching this if it's going to be throughout
<v Speaker 2>the entire show, Like how do you translate that into
<v Speaker 2>a into a live format, because you have to think
<v Speaker 2>like that, is this going to be something that's here
<v Speaker 2>when fans finally come back. We don't know.
<v Speaker 4>But people who are yeah, I'm sorry. And then the
<v Speaker 4>people who are on Underground, are they gonna not be
<v Speaker 4>on the show then? And then if it's like a
<v Speaker 4>big name, then if you of course we're talking who
<v Speaker 4>knows when in the future. But if this concept this
<v Speaker 4>can be around for a while, then you got to
<v Speaker 4>think of, okay, well, if like IVR and Eric aren't
<v Speaker 4>on Raw or are on Raw, then they really shouldn't
<v Speaker 4>be on Underground because where is underground to begin with?
<v Speaker 4>You know, So just there's a lot of variables that
<v Speaker 4>have to come into.
<v Speaker 2>Effect with that, there is, there's so much Look at the.
<v Speaker 4>Established that it's pre recorded, of course, but I don't
<v Speaker 4>I don't think that's the why that they're going with
<v Speaker 4>with no right now. Of course, you said, like it's
<v Speaker 4>just week one, so we'll see you're.
<v Speaker 1>Listening to the WWE podcast. We'll be right back after
<v Speaker 1>this short break.
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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to the WWE podcast. Let's get back to
<v Speaker 1>more great wrestling audio.
<v Speaker 2>The only thing, the only other small thing I would
<v Speaker 2>say to them is again great. I love the production value. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>there were camera angles, but they weren't camera angles that
<v Speaker 2>were head scratchingly like eye rolling, Like how is that
<v Speaker 2>even there? Like they did a nice job of making
<v Speaker 2>it feel authentic and just kind of this dirty, gross
<v Speaker 2>backstage area that people just fight in. Uh, and it's
<v Speaker 2>it's good. What I would say. The only critique I
<v Speaker 2>have is the way that these fights begin and end
<v Speaker 2>seem to be all the same, meaning it was double
<v Speaker 2>lake takedown, pummeling, double lake takedown and pummeling like we right,
<v Speaker 2>And I know it's not supposed to be wrestling because
<v Speaker 2>the wrestling is the in ring stuff. But if you
<v Speaker 2>guys could change it up, I don't know what that means,
<v Speaker 2>because that.
<v Speaker 4>Is like what can you do? Like, because that point
<v Speaker 4>it's gonna be like, well, this is a wrestling match,
<v Speaker 4>just you know. So it's like it sucks because they're
<v Speaker 4>in a weird position with that because you can't just
<v Speaker 4>go right out and punch them square in the face,
<v Speaker 4>you know.
<v Speaker 2>But I'm sure they were instructed to be a little
<v Speaker 2>more stiff than they normally would be. I was concerned
<v Speaker 2>to it first. I was like, oh god, this is
<v Speaker 2>going to be a brawl for all. I was like,
<v Speaker 2>oh no, like, please don't let this be a brawl
<v Speaker 2>for all? That happened in the late nineties and where
<v Speaker 2>they're actually you know, punching each other that that's not
<v Speaker 2>what pro wrestling is, and uh it's not. I mean
<v Speaker 2>I was watching. They did pull the punches, but they
<v Speaker 2>made them look good. The production value is good, smoky.
<v Speaker 2>There's different angles that of the camera that make it
<v Speaker 2>look like the punches are a little bit harder than
<v Speaker 2>they are. But yeah, I don't know. And if this
<v Speaker 2>is such an effective style of fighting, why don't you
<v Speaker 2>use this in the inn ring like in ring like
<v Speaker 2>Because you're telling us that the in ring stuff is
<v Speaker 2>supposed to be authentic and that you're doing your best
<v Speaker 2>to win the match, Well, why don't you just transition
<v Speaker 2>to this? I mean, I don't know, but this is
<v Speaker 2>raw underground. It is a kind of a baby child
<v Speaker 2>of Monday Night Raw or the brainchild of Vince or
<v Speaker 2>whatever analogy you want to make, and we'll have to
<v Speaker 2>see where it goes. I mean, I'm interested. I'm interested,
<v Speaker 2>And just like Retribution, this could go really well or
<v Speaker 2>it's gonna go Oh this thing again, like we could
<v Speaker 2>every Monday Night Raw. We could be excited for this,
<v Speaker 2>or we could just look at ourselves and go like
<v Speaker 2>this eye rolling thing, and I hope it's not that
<v Speaker 2>so all right, Well, onto an actual storyline here that
<v Speaker 2>is I think that progressed very well. This past week
<v Speaker 2>on RAW was Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton and the
<v Speaker 2>promo that these guys had against one another. I thought
<v Speaker 2>was to me, it was sink or swim for McIntyre.
<v Speaker 2>Who is really in there swimming with the big men, now,
<v Speaker 2>the big fish, the deep end, whatever you want to say,
<v Speaker 2>McIntyre is in there. And I thought to myself, this
<v Speaker 2>is this could be a career defining promo for McIntyre
<v Speaker 2>because he's now not just claim more kicking people. We
<v Speaker 2>all know how great he is physically. It's can you
<v Speaker 2>talk with a guy that has been here for twenty years,
<v Speaker 2>that is looked at as one of the greatest of
<v Speaker 2>all time despite many people who looked at him saying
<v Speaker 2>he has so much potential, but he doesn't do anything.
<v Speaker 2>Randy Orton comes out, well, I'm sorry, Drew came out
<v Speaker 2>on Monday night and addressed Randy Orton. And then Randy
<v Speaker 2>comes out and says that you know, Drew, if you
<v Speaker 2>say I don't want to be here, why am I
<v Speaker 2>here I've made my money, and he said, I challenge
<v Speaker 2>you to say one original thing about Randy Orton. And
<v Speaker 2>then Drew talked about a story about how when he
<v Speaker 2>was his life was crumbling around him his first go around,
<v Speaker 2>that Randy Orton could have said something to lift him
<v Speaker 2>up and he didn't. And so I really enjoyed. This
<v Speaker 2>promo was to me, really engaging. I think Drew came
<v Speaker 2>off really well. Did he knock it out of the
<v Speaker 2>park into Grand Slam, No, but he was to me
<v Speaker 2>it solidified him even further. I think as a legitimate,
<v Speaker 2>authentic champion. Randy Orton again, we all know how good
<v Speaker 2>he's been. He was really good Monday night. I love
<v Speaker 2>this angle and I hate to get into predictions. But
<v Speaker 2>on the backside of your response to what I just said,
<v Speaker 2>I gotta know, because I don't think you're on the
<v Speaker 2>prediction show, I gotta know what your prediction is a
<v Speaker 2>little early for Orton and McIntyre.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I think our schedule is off now for our
<v Speaker 4>prediction shows. But the promo I loved it. I like you.
<v Speaker 4>I was a little nervous when Randy was like, you know,
<v Speaker 4>go for it. You know, just just talk to me,
<v Speaker 4>and Drew was like, all right, we're gonna shoot. I
<v Speaker 4>was like, Oh, here we go. Like I was, I
<v Speaker 4>really didn't know what to expect, and I was a
<v Speaker 4>little nervous just because regardless if Drew is the champion
<v Speaker 4>or not, Randy ort And is Randy or Randyoran can
<v Speaker 4>get away with a lot more or have more leniency
<v Speaker 4>than just your average wrestler. And I think Drew has
<v Speaker 4>definitely built his stock up and I'm not definitely, definitely
<v Speaker 4>not saying that he is a regular wrestler by any means,
<v Speaker 4>but at the end of the day, it's Randy Orton,
<v Speaker 4>you know. So I was like, I don't, you know,
<v Speaker 4>I don't how far are they going to go? But
<v Speaker 4>I think Drew did a really, really great job. But
<v Speaker 4>I think Randy Orton is he's just on a different
<v Speaker 4>level right now and going into WrestleMania. I was all
<v Speaker 4>for Drew and I still am. I just I feel
<v Speaker 4>so bad for Drew of the timing of everything, but
<v Speaker 4>I think he has done a phenomenal job, and I
<v Speaker 4>think he was the right decision and has been the
<v Speaker 4>right decision for this for this timeframe. But I think
<v Speaker 4>right now with Randy Orton just being just as fire
<v Speaker 4>as he's been, especially with Edge. I don't want to
<v Speaker 4>say not in the way, but just kind of out
<v Speaker 4>of the picture right now. I think Randy Orton can
<v Speaker 4>really use this time for probably the next if not year,
<v Speaker 4>to at least wrestle Mania, just building the title backup,
<v Speaker 4>building roll, being a dominant champion, and along the way,
<v Speaker 4>building solid challengers because where he's at promo wise right now,
<v Speaker 4>he's just he's feeling it. He's just there's just a
<v Speaker 4>different level to him right now. So I'm just I'm
<v Speaker 4>excited to see this version of Randy Orton going forward.
<v Speaker 4>So that leads to my prediction being I think they're
<v Speaker 4>going to give it to Randy at SummerSlam, I think,
<v Speaker 4>and I think Drew is is better chasing as well,
<v Speaker 4>especially with they're not being a live audience, because I
<v Speaker 4>think Drew is one of those guys who feeds more
<v Speaker 4>off of the live crowd than like a Randy Hurton
<v Speaker 4>for instance, Randy Orton can just kind of thrive been
<v Speaker 4>whatever setting. And again, Drew has done a really, really,
<v Speaker 4>really great job, but I think he just gets that
<v Speaker 4>little extra something from a live audience. But at the end,
<v Speaker 4>of the day. I think Drew is better chasing, and
<v Speaker 4>I think especially with the Randy Orton champion right now,
<v Speaker 4>that would be that could carry you for another three
<v Speaker 4>to six months for sure.
<v Speaker 2>I cannot wait to see Randy Orton with the championship.
<v Speaker 2>I firmly believe they'll give it to him.
<v Speaker 4>By his side too, I'm on half of that visual visual.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's Rick Flair. He's not as sharp as he was.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, but hey, he's seventy five years.
<v Speaker 4>Old, say anything. He just needs to stand there just
<v Speaker 4>like seeing him, you know, Randy Orton, it can just
<v Speaker 4>and he can say a couple of lines if anything, Claire,
<v Speaker 4>But I mean Randy Orton right now is like I
<v Speaker 4>just want to hear what Randy has to say. And
<v Speaker 4>that's crazy for me to stay with, you know, but
<v Speaker 4>it's just I'm so into this direction for him. But
<v Speaker 4>I'm sorry, I think.
<v Speaker 2>No, I mean, I'm that excited too, because like Randy
<v Speaker 2>Orton right now, for years we all knew how good
<v Speaker 2>he was, but he was just hiding on SmackDown. He
<v Speaker 2>was just kind of like, all right, cool, well let's
<v Speaker 2>just get to the RKAOL so we can all pop
<v Speaker 2>like that's how he felt, and we know how good
<v Speaker 2>he is. He always put on great matches like this
<v Speaker 2>is the Randy Orton that I wish we saw for
<v Speaker 2>the last twenty years, and I wish it didn't take
<v Speaker 2>Edge to come back to see him motivated. And so
<v Speaker 2>I'm with you that Randy Orton is going to win
<v Speaker 2>at SummerSlam. I actually I don't think it's a lock.
<v Speaker 2>It's crazy to say it's a lock that Drew McIntyre's
<v Speaker 2>gonna lose, but it's pretty damn close because to me,
<v Speaker 2>the only person that should defeat Randy Orton and take
<v Speaker 2>that championship from him would be Edge. So for Edge
<v Speaker 2>to not only beat Randy Orton, but to take his
<v Speaker 2>championship from him after a significant reign would be apropos
<v Speaker 2>I think that would be the right person to do it.
<v Speaker 2>As great as Drew has been and authentic as he's been,
<v Speaker 2>and I do not regret for a second Drew become champion,
<v Speaker 2>come becoming champion. I still think it was the right decision.
<v Speaker 2>He feels like he's a real, authentic champion. Like you said,
<v Speaker 2>in Chase mode, baby faces are always better in Chase mode,
<v Speaker 2>I think, and especially Drew who after he loses. It's
<v Speaker 2>gonna be interesting to see how he loses. Does Brock
<v Speaker 2>interfere and then that springs him right into a Brock
<v Speaker 2>versus Drew non title program? Maybe you know, does it
<v Speaker 2>somebody return? I mean, we don't know, but I think
<v Speaker 2>it's gonna be a ending that protects Drew, furthers a
<v Speaker 2>program with him and whoever screws him over. Randy Orton
<v Speaker 2>could possibly move on to another opponent, but you might
<v Speaker 2>be able to get more mileage out of that program
<v Speaker 2>that goes through the end of the year where Drew
<v Speaker 2>just continues to chase, chase, chase and isn't able to
<v Speaker 2>quite do it until Edge is the person to come back.
<v Speaker 2>I think Edge needs to be that person. They have
<v Speaker 2>built this whole thing around Edge and Orton because that's
<v Speaker 2>where it started. I think Randy Orton, when he finally
<v Speaker 2>gets it, is gonna be It's gonna be a moment.
<v Speaker 2>And I hope this is I mean, geez, I really
<v Speaker 2>hope this is in front of fans, real fans, not
<v Speaker 2>WW robots. I hope this is in front of real fans,
<v Speaker 2>paying fans in a live arena, even in a half
<v Speaker 2>capacity to see this happen, to see maybe Big Show
<v Speaker 2>come back, to see Christian come back, and obviously Edge
<v Speaker 2>all surround Randy Orton and like that moment of just
<v Speaker 2>finally he's gonna get what he's got coming, because nobody
<v Speaker 2>has beaten Randy Orton in ring in ring in about
<v Speaker 2>six months. I mean, it has been a long time
<v Speaker 2>since Randy Orton has lost a match. I know he
<v Speaker 2>lost to WrestleMania, but that was kind of just a
<v Speaker 2>you know, beat him up, take your weapon and hit
<v Speaker 2>your opponent kind of mindless fight. I wasn't down on
<v Speaker 2>the match from the perspective of seeing Edge, but I
<v Speaker 2>don't truly consider that a Randy Orton lost because it
<v Speaker 2>wasn't in ring. So I don't know. This is this
<v Speaker 2>could be a great program that they could string out
<v Speaker 2>for many months as Edge is on the mend and
<v Speaker 2>I'm just I can't wait for this.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, and just one final thing in mind, I could
<v Speaker 4>see them dragging it out to the next draft, which
<v Speaker 4>I believe the draft last year was like October timeframe,
<v Speaker 4>so you can if they do the draft again this year,
<v Speaker 4>like maybe mid October, because I just envisioned and having
<v Speaker 4>like you know, because the way I would see it
<v Speaker 4>playing out is Drew would lose to Randy at SummerSlam,
<v Speaker 4>be in chase mode for the next couple of months.
<v Speaker 4>They have a match where if Drew doesn't beat Randy,
<v Speaker 4>then he will leave Raw goes to SmackDown and just
<v Speaker 4>is the dominant champion on SmackDown and that can be
<v Speaker 4>his show and he can really just flourish there as
<v Speaker 4>the top babyface. I just think SmackDown they need something
<v Speaker 4>to kind of freshen them up, and I think Drew
<v Speaker 4>would be like a perfect fit just in that environment.
<v Speaker 4>It's crazy to say because it's the same setting. It's
<v Speaker 4>just like a different show and just different led lights
<v Speaker 4>and stuff, but it's just like a different vibe. But
<v Speaker 4>I think Drew would really do well on SmackDown, So
<v Speaker 4>just that could be a direction they could go and
<v Speaker 4>then Randy. That would free up Randy to move on
<v Speaker 4>to someone else as well until Edge gets back.
<v Speaker 3>I like that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think you're right, because especially after braun Strowman
<v Speaker 2>and Bray White get done with each other, in assuming
<v Speaker 2>this is probably their last match, this would be the
<v Speaker 2>third one, so I would assume that Summer Slam this
<v Speaker 2>is probably it. It would also free up free Bray
<v Speaker 2>Wyatt up to face Drew McIntyre. I mean, if that
<v Speaker 2>draft is true, that's a that's a hell of a matchup.
<v Speaker 2>So there are certain these things that would benefit Drew
<v Speaker 2>to be that top babyface on SmackDown that desperately needs it.
<v Speaker 2>And yeah, you could say Bronz Stroman is, but is
<v Speaker 2>he really?
<v Speaker 4>I mean, is what happened on SmackDown?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean yeah, we'll get to that, yep in
<v Speaker 2>just the seconds. That was my next topic. But to
<v Speaker 2>close on Randy Orton and McIntyre with that promo as
<v Speaker 2>I was thinking about it and the content of it,
<v Speaker 2>with Randy Orton talking about how I should have been
<v Speaker 2>fired like five, six, seven times, how many chances did
<v Speaker 2>I get and it was because of who I was
<v Speaker 2>and that I'm more valuable to this company than you are.
<v Speaker 2>Like that's true. I mean the heel but man, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>like that's true. That is the exact reason. Yes, you
<v Speaker 2>were a cowboy, Bob Orton's son.
<v Speaker 4>That certainly doesn't hurt.
<v Speaker 2>But the WWE recognized the value of the star power
<v Speaker 2>and the rarity of Randy Orton's star power and said
<v Speaker 2>we look, we can't fire him, like what are we
<v Speaker 2>supposed to find him? And so that's exactly right. They
<v Speaker 2>valued and continue to probably value Randy Orton more than
<v Speaker 2>Drew McIntyre. That is the absolute truth. Like, no, this
<v Speaker 2>isn't like wrestling pro wrestling logic, this is like real life.
<v Speaker 2>So that to me was like, ooh, that's that's very true.
<v Speaker 2>So I one a little small.
<v Speaker 4>Point there, Yeah, And that's that's one of those rare
<v Speaker 4>heal moments where you hate what they're saying, you actually
<v Speaker 4>like despise them for what they're saying because it's true,
<v Speaker 4>you know, and it's easy for you to dislike him
<v Speaker 4>because he's absolutely right. The baby will never let him go.
<v Speaker 4>Especially now with AW and other companies around, Randy Orton
<v Speaker 4>can pretty much do anything he wants to an extent,
<v Speaker 4>of course, and get away with it. So yeah, it
<v Speaker 4>was just enough one of those things. But again that's
<v Speaker 4>just like, that's what makes it so brilliant because he's
<v Speaker 4>speaking the truth and he's getting you to dislike him
<v Speaker 4>for it exactly.
<v Speaker 2>And there's nothing, like you said, nothing worse than a
<v Speaker 2>heel speaking the truth that you hate because it's the truth,
<v Speaker 2>and there's nothing you can do about it. It's Randy
<v Speaker 2>Wan's firing on every cylinder and more. And I can't
<v Speaker 2>wait to see how this whole thing fle is fledged
<v Speaker 2>out and to see when Edge returns and how they
<v Speaker 2>do it, and hopefully it's in front of fans. Randy
<v Speaker 2>Orton is probably the hottest thing they have right now.
<v Speaker 2>And yeah, retribution, but that's kind of like the shiny
<v Speaker 2>new toy. Randy Orton is the constant great heel right now.
<v Speaker 2>So okay, but yeah, moving on to the Fiend and
<v Speaker 2>Braunz Stroman. So we have the Fiend and he comes out,
<v Speaker 2>and Alexa Bliss's appears and she tries to win him
<v Speaker 2>over with like affection, and then Braunz Stroman pops on
<v Speaker 2>the screen and says that with an insanely close up
<v Speaker 2>camera that he is he's the monster that has been
<v Speaker 2>scratching and itching to get out, and basically saying that
<v Speaker 2>he's gone through some kind of character transformation. And I
<v Speaker 2>like that in the sense that they're consistent with the
<v Speaker 2>Fiend changing people. That is to me as much as
<v Speaker 2>I you know, kind of like cringe some of the corniness,
<v Speaker 2>but the fact is they're consistent with what the Fiend
<v Speaker 2>does to people, and I like it seeing who the
<v Speaker 2>monster is? How what is the monster? Is it just
<v Speaker 2>Bronztrowman coming out in a black sheet mask?
<v Speaker 4>Like?
<v Speaker 2>What exactly is the monster versus the Fiend? Now? I
<v Speaker 2>don't know, but we have been we have confirmed that
<v Speaker 2>indeed Braunz Strowman has gone through some kind of epiphany
<v Speaker 2>of Yeah, I've got this demon inside me that I've
<v Speaker 2>let out and it's the Fiend versus the Monster. So
<v Speaker 2>kind of a side don't small prediction here again, because
<v Speaker 2>I know that I can't help myself. Is that I
<v Speaker 2>think I think the Fiend captures the championship. I just
<v Speaker 2>think he does. But what do you think?
<v Speaker 4>I agree? I think they have to go in that direction.
<v Speaker 4>I think they should because Braun really needs something to
<v Speaker 4>freshen up his character. Whether that's a heel turn or
<v Speaker 4>whether that's just a darker version of his babyface character,
<v Speaker 4>I don't know. I don't know, because it just depends
<v Speaker 4>on how they view it going and what their outcome is.
<v Speaker 4>Because if they're gonna put it on the Fiend, then
<v Speaker 4>what does Braun do after that? So especially for him
<v Speaker 4>to say that he doesn't care about Alexa. That's just
<v Speaker 4>that was very interesting to me, and that actually like
<v Speaker 4>really stood out because it's like, either that's just him
<v Speaker 4>just trying to swerve the Fiend and you know, just
<v Speaker 4>trying to say that just to play it off so
<v Speaker 4>he'll stop at attacking Alexa or whatever, or he really
<v Speaker 4>doesn't care about Alexa. And then if he doesn't, then
<v Speaker 4>that's not a very babyface thing to say or do,
<v Speaker 4>So that could be a sign right there. So I'm
<v Speaker 4>more intrigued now after this week's Nightdown going forward to
<v Speaker 4>see how this match plays out at SummerSlam. But yeah,
<v Speaker 4>I don't I really don't know, but I think they
<v Speaker 4>have to put it on the Fiend, and then I
<v Speaker 4>think Bron has to go back with the Fiend just
<v Speaker 4>for a little while, if nothing else, just to do
<v Speaker 4>something different, you know.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And as we look back in the history of
<v Speaker 2>WWE title reigns that begin at WrestleMania, it's not uncommon
<v Speaker 2>for them to end at SummerSlam. You know. Every time
<v Speaker 2>a title match or title change happens at WrestleMania, I
<v Speaker 2>always say that normally that title rain has to stick
<v Speaker 2>through Summer Slam, or can minimum end at Summer Slam
<v Speaker 2>because WrestleMania title title wins should mean something meaning four
<v Speaker 2>months plus and rest SummerSlam falls right within that sweet spot.
<v Speaker 2>So to me, yeah, I think that bron Strowman should
<v Speaker 2>drop it to the Fiend and him saying he doesn't
<v Speaker 2>give a damn a bottle life a bliss. Yeah, I
<v Speaker 2>was surprised by that too, but like you said, it
<v Speaker 2>could have just been him protecting Alexa by saying that
<v Speaker 2>because I had the Fiend known that he cares about her,
<v Speaker 2>then she's also continuing to be in harm's way. So
<v Speaker 2>I think that yeah, more than a more than during
<v Speaker 2>this match. What happens to bron Stroman after this match?
<v Speaker 2>Does he go back to the kind of the fun
<v Speaker 2>loving monster that cracks jokes and you know, tips over vehicles.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know, or is he some kind of just
<v Speaker 2>permanently changed character. It remains to be seen, but at
<v Speaker 2>least we've got some kind of confirmation that bron Strowman
<v Speaker 2>has been changed. And you know, I really wonder the
<v Speaker 2>question is what is the over under on the number
<v Speaker 2>of finisher kickouts at SummerSlam from these two. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I'm not expecting a five star classic by any means
<v Speaker 2>this is.
<v Speaker 4>Gonna because this is a regular match.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, it's just a regular match. Like, what is the
<v Speaker 2>over under on finish your kickout? Somebody should do the
<v Speaker 2>math and draw it like a betting line, please, I
<v Speaker 2>mean I don't know. So, Yeah, it's just as long
<v Speaker 2>as it doesn't turn into the disaster that was you know,
<v Speaker 2>the Hell and a Cell from last year, which is
<v Speaker 2>almost a year ago, which is insane that we all
<v Speaker 2>you know point to is like the big turning point
<v Speaker 2>for Seth, the big turning point for the Fiend, and
<v Speaker 2>the fans just crapping all over it because of the
<v Speaker 2>absolute unbelievability, the ref stoppage and all that. Yeah, I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I just wonder. I would say, if you're gonna say
<v Speaker 2>a number of finishers that the Fiend's gonna kick out of,
<v Speaker 2>I'd say five. I mean, they can't go.
<v Speaker 4>Overboard anywhere between five to ten, I'd.
<v Speaker 2>Say, yeah, I mean I probably.
<v Speaker 4>Probably, I mean for this probably with no fans, I'd
<v Speaker 4>probably five is probably a sweet spot. Five is probably
<v Speaker 4>a good number.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>If they were in an arena, i'd say probably more,
<v Speaker 4>which actually.
<v Speaker 2>Would I think be counterproductive because after a while the
<v Speaker 2>fans just because they remember this stuff. The hell in
<v Speaker 2>a cell in pay per view was so damaging in
<v Speaker 2>so many ways that I think it would make them
<v Speaker 2>kind of tear up an old wound of like, oh
<v Speaker 2>my god, remember that he was hitting with steel stairs
<v Speaker 2>and he had like eight stomps and he still didn't
<v Speaker 2>go down. I think it would bring up some bad memories.
<v Speaker 2>So I think if it was in an arena, there
<v Speaker 2>actually would be less. With no fans there or robots there,
<v Speaker 2>they can kind of get with do what they want
<v Speaker 2>and get away with it, So I think it would
<v Speaker 2>probably be a little bit more. I mean, I still
<v Speaker 2>sick with five Brown Strowman will kick out of probably
<v Speaker 2>two or three maybe ultimately just to come to the
<v Speaker 2>uh to the mandible claw. I think that's probably how
<v Speaker 2>it's gonna end. So all right, uh moving down the
<v Speaker 2>line here, Matt Riddle. Now this to me, this whole
<v Speaker 2>thing with Matt Riddle, Seamus Corbin, Jeff Hardy Shorty g
<v Speaker 2>I actually like I try to wrap my head around,
<v Speaker 2>like what the hell's going on? Because Seamus and Corbin
<v Speaker 2>had a match, which is the first time I can
<v Speaker 2>remember a heel versus heel match in forever I I
<v Speaker 2>didn't hate it. I was just like, WHOA, when is
<v Speaker 2>the last time we had a heel versus heel in
<v Speaker 2>the heel match? Then we had Hardy versus Corbin, but
<v Speaker 2>we also had Matt Riddle of versus Seamus, and everyone's
<v Speaker 2>interfering with everyone's match, and it's like, I don't I
<v Speaker 2>don't hate this. I'm just kind of confused as like
<v Speaker 2>how this is all happening and who's feuding with who?
<v Speaker 2>It seems as almost King Corbin and Seamus swapped their
<v Speaker 2>partners or swapped their opponents of sorts, and I don't know,
<v Speaker 2>it was just kind of weird. Each of them caused
<v Speaker 2>a DQ on the other, which is what led to
<v Speaker 2>Seamus versus Corbin. What do you make of this whole thing?
<v Speaker 2>And really Matt Riddle involved in the middle of this
<v Speaker 2>as the King's ransom, I e. A bounty on his head.
<v Speaker 2>That's what's causing Shorty g to turn heel. This thing.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. Do I feel like it's a mess
<v Speaker 2>or is it just me? I don't know what's going on.
<v Speaker 4>No, No, it's so confusing. First of all, that the
<v Speaker 4>heel versus.
<v Speaker 2>Heel match, it wouldn't be a podcast without your dog.
<v Speaker 2>So no worries no he or she she she has
<v Speaker 2>to no, no, no, she has to make an appearance
<v Speaker 2>every time like it's mind no problem.
<v Speaker 4>Okay, sorry about that, No, but it was. It was
<v Speaker 4>the most confusing thing. So first Corbyn and Seamus. I I,
<v Speaker 4>like you said, I didn't hate it either. I was
<v Speaker 4>just very confused with the direction that they were going
<v Speaker 4>on with that. But I kind of like this weird
<v Speaker 4>little like influx of five or so is wrestlers. But
<v Speaker 4>I just hope, if nothing else, that Shorty G gets
<v Speaker 4>his actual name back and is going back to actually
<v Speaker 4>Chad Gable because that that poor guy, especially if he's
<v Speaker 4>going to be a heel now, like he just he
<v Speaker 4>deserves his full name. So that if nothing else out
<v Speaker 4>of this, I hope Tad gets his name back.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, because you can't call it.
<v Speaker 4>You can't call him Shorty G and take him seriously,
<v Speaker 4>you know, like it's one thing if he's like a
<v Speaker 4>good guy, but come on, like you just you can't
<v Speaker 4>continue with that. But I don't know because to me,
<v Speaker 4>like and what real quick, what is your opinion on Jeff?
<v Speaker 4>Because how long do you know? How long he's going
<v Speaker 4>to be around, or or what his contract is looking like,
<v Speaker 4>because I think that would come into a play here
<v Speaker 4>as well. I mean because I feeling I thought he
<v Speaker 4>was leaving like around the end of the summer, but
<v Speaker 4>I could be wrong.
<v Speaker 2>I found he was too and then there's rumor slow
<v Speaker 2>and then he signed an extension. I mean, so, uh yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I would say what It'll be very telling what they
<v Speaker 2>do with him on TV as to what they're what
<v Speaker 2>his contract is actually in real life. I'm paying very
<v Speaker 2>close attention to how much they use him on promos.
<v Speaker 2>What he says in the promos. Is he just getting
<v Speaker 2>kind of buried in matches? Does is he in programs
<v Speaker 2>that aren't really going anywhere? That's what they do with
<v Speaker 2>people on their way out, which makes sense. You don't
<v Speaker 2>want people that are not gonna be sticking around in
<v Speaker 2>a big.
<v Speaker 4>Angle, and that's what I expected him and Seamus. I
<v Speaker 4>kind of thought that he was, you know, after that,
<v Speaker 4>whether he won or lost, and that was kind of
<v Speaker 4>kind of be it and you're kind of like fade out.
<v Speaker 4>But that's why I was more surprised with Smike on
<v Speaker 4>his role, just with him kind of sticking around and
<v Speaker 4>kind of just being involved in everything. So but I
<v Speaker 4>kind of hope we get somehow like a Matt Riddle
<v Speaker 4>Jeff Hardy match out of this, but I don't. I
<v Speaker 4>don't know how we would, but I would just that's
<v Speaker 4>one of those matches. I would just love to see.
<v Speaker 2>I do too, I really I do too. And and
<v Speaker 2>seeing Shorty g I Chad Gable get destroyed this past
<v Speaker 2>week by Matt Riddle. Boy. I mean usually when you
<v Speaker 2>turn heel, you get some heat on you. And uh,
<v Speaker 2>you know, Chad Gable just got demolished by Matt Riddle.
<v Speaker 2>I mean it was just Chad Gable I think has
<v Speaker 2>a really good, uh heel persona. If he applied himself,
<v Speaker 2>he could be obnoxious and even though he's the underdog,
<v Speaker 2>he could still be a guy. Just because he's undersized
<v Speaker 2>doesn't mean you can't be a heel. I mean you
<v Speaker 2>could be the like the squirmy heel that just somehow
<v Speaker 2>slides out of trouble every time. Like there are things
<v Speaker 2>you can do. You could talk your people your way
<v Speaker 2>into people hating you just because you're small doesn't automatically
<v Speaker 2>mean people love you because you're the underdog. So I
<v Speaker 2>think there is something here with Chad Gable. But I
<v Speaker 2>also think WWE missed the boat completely on understanding why
<v Speaker 2>people were cheering for Chad Gable, like they they just
<v Speaker 2>they didn't what to do. Vince Salmas very vanilla. Let's
<v Speaker 2>give him some wacky SHORTYG character and let's be able
<v Speaker 2>to make him marketable, and they slapped it on him,
<v Speaker 2>and then every single time anyone saw him ever, it
<v Speaker 2>was WW law that you had to make a short joke,
<v Speaker 2>and it became it became just just kind of obnoxious,
<v Speaker 2>like this isn't heal heat, This is just lazy writing
<v Speaker 2>of constantly hitting him for short jokes, like are you
<v Speaker 2>gonna hit Daniel Bryant for short jokes? He's about the
<v Speaker 2>same height. Are you gonna hit raymis Sterio for short jokes?
<v Speaker 2>He's probably shorter than SHORTYG Like yeah, I mean, like
<v Speaker 2>the average height of the Pro A Pro Wrestling WWE
<v Speaker 2>now is considerably lower than it was ten twenty years ago.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, so it's just it was so sophomoric and
<v Speaker 2>and so I don't know why they ever did it,
<v Speaker 2>but there is something there with his heel character and
<v Speaker 2>him and Matt Riddle. I think, unless this is over
<v Speaker 2>with him and Myrtle have a I think a very
<v Speaker 2>good outlook in terms of their match potential at one
<v Speaker 2>on one. We haven't seen that yet, And like I said,
<v Speaker 2>Jeff Hardy and Matt Riddle, there's a lot to do
<v Speaker 2>with Matt Riddle here, who seems to be Vince's new
<v Speaker 2>shiny toy to play with and to see how far
<v Speaker 2>he takes him. I just hope that you know, we
<v Speaker 2>don't have a handicap match like Seamus claimed it was
<v Speaker 2>with Jeff Hardy absorbing alcohol powers, Like I never understood
<v Speaker 2>that with the the bar fight, because you had Jeff
<v Speaker 2>Hardy in there and for the first time in his
<v Speaker 2>entire career he somehow just opened his eyes and had
<v Speaker 2>different contacts in his eyes and basically hulked up and
<v Speaker 2>got some kind of superpower from being in a bar.
<v Speaker 2>I don't I don't understand that. I know that wasn't
<v Speaker 2>this week, but I don't know. That's the first time
<v Speaker 2>I've ever seen Jeff Hardy basically hulk up. I mean
<v Speaker 2>maybe it was the alcohol. I don't know, but it
<v Speaker 2>was kind of weird, So I don't know.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, who knows, Maybe he he it's maybe it's something
<v Speaker 4>in that blood him and that you know, they can
<v Speaker 4>just like tap into these other powers.
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, I'm it'll never be explained. But yep. Uh
<v Speaker 2>So moving on to something that is you know, I
<v Speaker 2>really make an effort to not be negative, but I
<v Speaker 2>don't know why we took so much time on SmackDown.
<v Speaker 2>Instead of focusing on the women's division, we focused on
<v Speaker 2>Mandy's hair. We you know, we had Miz and Morrison
<v Speaker 2>in the ring and they had him or had them
<v Speaker 2>pretend to be Mandy Rose's hair for far too long,
<v Speaker 2>which shouldn't have happened at all. And again, maybe this
<v Speaker 2>is something you enjoyed. Maybe this is something that you know,
<v Speaker 2>kids enjoyed watching the show. I don't know, after they
<v Speaker 2>watched you know, cartoons and they were like, oh, this
<v Speaker 2>is funny. You know, I don't know what this was.
<v Speaker 2>It was supposed to be, again a heat drawing segment
<v Speaker 2>to make fun of somebody who got their hair chopped off,
<v Speaker 2>and then having Sony Deville come out, who admittedly saved
<v Speaker 2>the whole segment because of how good she has shown
<v Speaker 2>herself to be on the microphone, how great she is
<v Speaker 2>naturally at being a heel. She is a formidable force
<v Speaker 2>in the women's division who I think could be smacked
<v Speaker 2>on women's champion in the next six to twelve months.
<v Speaker 2>I don't think there's any doubt about it. She has
<v Speaker 2>really been a breakout star. And having Mandy Rose out
<v Speaker 2>there at the end and not the end of this segment,
<v Speaker 2>but attacked her in a match with the Tag Team
<v Speaker 2>had Tag Team Division of the Heavy Machinery versus Miss Morrison.
<v Speaker 2>That eventually happened. I you know, Mandy Rose, look, we
<v Speaker 2>all knew that she got her haircut. We all knew
<v Speaker 2>that she was gonna look just fine because Mandy Rose is,
<v Speaker 2>She's a good looking woman. Anything that happened to her,
<v Speaker 2>she was gonna look fine anyway, So you know. But anyway,
<v Speaker 2>Sony Devilled to me is the real star of this.
<v Speaker 2>Did you enjoy the hair segment? Like what did you think?
<v Speaker 4>So? I did, just because it gave Sonya more of
<v Speaker 4>an edge, and I think this is the launching path
<v Speaker 4>for Sonya going forward. I feel like when she's done
<v Speaker 4>with Nandy, like actually truly done, I think, just like
<v Speaker 4>you said, I think within I think between now and Wrestlemana,
<v Speaker 4>she is going to be the SmackDown women's champion. I
<v Speaker 4>think maybe she could be the one to dethrone Bailey.
<v Speaker 4>It's kind of hard right now because they're both heels.
<v Speaker 4>But I don't know if Sonya wins some type of
<v Speaker 4>battle royal or or something, which I think they have
<v Speaker 4>lined up. If I'm not mistaken, I think that was
<v Speaker 4>what Stephanie had announced. I'm pretty sure that was for Bailey.
<v Speaker 4>I just maybe it's too soon right now, maybe she's
<v Speaker 4>not the one to actually dethrone Bailey. But I think definitely,
<v Speaker 4>I would say before this year is up for sure
<v Speaker 4>that Sonya should be the women's champion on the SmackDown side,
<v Speaker 4>because she's just something, she's fresh, you know, and it'll
<v Speaker 4>free up Bailey. Bailey can move on to feed with Sasha,
<v Speaker 4>and Sonya will have just a whole fresh new list
<v Speaker 4>of opponents to go after. So I just think it
<v Speaker 4>makes sense. But of course, you know, that's not really
<v Speaker 4>in the picture right now. But I think this is
<v Speaker 4>actually it's refreshing because there I feel like they're actually
<v Speaker 4>building a character right now and putting stock behind someone
<v Speaker 4>in and not just giving her like a one off
<v Speaker 4>feud or having Mandy come back the very next week.
<v Speaker 4>And because Mandy could have very well have came back
<v Speaker 4>beat Sonya and moved on and either moved on to
<v Speaker 4>go after the title or in her own feud, or
<v Speaker 4>just go back with Otis or whatever, but they didn't,
<v Speaker 4>and so I think it's it's it gives me hope
<v Speaker 4>that they maybe see something in Sonya as well, because
<v Speaker 4>she has just been amazing, especially on the MIC as well.
<v Speaker 4>So I'm excited in that aspect. But I think Mandy
<v Speaker 4>has shown a decent side to her as well, and
<v Speaker 4>like just like a new a new like edge in
<v Speaker 4>a way. But the hair cutting angle itself, it is,
<v Speaker 4>it is what it is. But I'm just I'm excited
<v Speaker 4>for what this is hopefully looking for who like series,
<v Speaker 4>just in the right direction for the future for them
<v Speaker 4>at least.
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<v Speaker 5>with confidence?
<v Speaker 2>Definitely? That yeah, I mean that's what I'm trying to
<v Speaker 2>focus on. And that's the silliness of you know, ten
<v Speaker 2>minutes of them pretending they're a clump of hair on
<v Speaker 2>the Titan tron. I mean, so yeah, Like this is
<v Speaker 2>Sonya Deville's time. She's showing it. Every time she gets
<v Speaker 2>an opportunity, she has killed it. I remember the promo
<v Speaker 2>she cut a number of months ago, like whoa, where
<v Speaker 2>the hell has this been?
<v Speaker 4>Like?
<v Speaker 2>Where has this been the last like a couple of years,
<v Speaker 2>and it's something like this.
<v Speaker 4>Imagine if it's going after the title something actually serious,
<v Speaker 4>you know, that's it.
<v Speaker 2>I mean she could and now again, Bailey right now
<v Speaker 2>is also killing it with Sasha Banks. I mean they
<v Speaker 2>are they are on another level as well. So for
<v Speaker 2>Bailey to drop it to Sonia, it doesn't make a
<v Speaker 2>whole lot of sense because the heel versus heel. But
<v Speaker 2>whoever that person is that Bailey drops it to, I
<v Speaker 2>think could be the next opponent for Sonya Deville down
<v Speaker 2>the line. I mean, until you gotta look at that,
<v Speaker 2>the dynamics of that, Like, we're a couple of steps
<v Speaker 2>away from Sonya getting involved because of a heel champion
<v Speaker 2>versus a heal opponent. So I think that Tony Deville's
<v Speaker 2>Sonya Deville's twenty late twenty twenty and early twenty twenty one,
<v Speaker 2>I think is very very bright. I don't think we'll
<v Speaker 2>see her champion in twenty twenty. That's just my guests,
<v Speaker 2>because Bailey's on such a hot run. But in general
<v Speaker 2>on SmackDown, though, I'm just I wish entires.
<v Speaker 4>You know.
<v Speaker 2>Again, Sonya Deville got her speaking in. She showed us
<v Speaker 2>that she can talk all that, But I do miss
<v Speaker 2>the fact that they didn't even talk about Naomi. They
<v Speaker 2>didn't talk about Lacy Evans. I mean, the women's division
<v Speaker 2>was basically ignored on SmackDown this past week for a
<v Speaker 2>single storyline about the women in Mandy Rose's haircut. So
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. I'm glad that Sonya got an opportunity,
<v Speaker 2>but I feel for the other women who were just
<v Speaker 2>kind of forgotten and the given Iomi a chance hashtag movement,
<v Speaker 2>which I'm not on Twitter, but I still know what's
<v Speaker 2>going on, so there's that too. But I do want
<v Speaker 2>to also touch on Otis, who is back with Mandy
<v Speaker 2>after a kind of a hiatus. It felt like they
<v Speaker 2>kind of fell off of our TV screens for a while,
<v Speaker 2>which I'm not sad about. I mean, I'm not. I'm
<v Speaker 2>not a big Otis fan after what they've done with
<v Speaker 2>him and portrayed him as it's just kind of this
<v Speaker 2>this kind of goof that loves food and his fun
<v Speaker 2>loving and wears shirts six size is too small, and
<v Speaker 2>he's the beauty and the beast, all these things that
<v Speaker 2>to me discredit him as a true force in WWE.
<v Speaker 2>Is somebody that I can relate to as somebody that
<v Speaker 2>I can, you know, not I roll with and so
<v Speaker 2>I don't like the way that Vince sees him. I
<v Speaker 2>like the way that he was originally brought up into WWE.
<v Speaker 2>Is this big man that can go, that is a
<v Speaker 2>big force in the tag team division. They never really
<v Speaker 2>got a chance as heavy Machinery to do a whole lot.
<v Speaker 2>Maybe this past week is a turning point, but it's
<v Speaker 2>just stopped dead in its tracks after Vince saw saw
<v Speaker 2>Otis as this fun loving, funny guy with a bowl
<v Speaker 2>full of jelly, Like that's what it felt like to me,
<v Speaker 2>and it was just it was it was disheartening. But
<v Speaker 2>that's Vince McMahon. When he sees somebody that he thinks
<v Speaker 2>is relatively funny, he puts comedy over believability and authenticity
<v Speaker 2>often more often than not. But you know, with Otis back,
<v Speaker 2>he's still the money in the bank, holder, like the
<v Speaker 2>money in the bank briefcase holder, Like, we can't forget that.
<v Speaker 2>So do you think they'll ever do anything with that?
<v Speaker 2>Or it possibly when the heck he'd cash in, or
<v Speaker 2>if it's successful.
<v Speaker 4>I don't think so. I don't think. Well, of course
<v Speaker 4>he's gonna have to, but it could be one of
<v Speaker 4>those situations where he goes to cash in and he fails,
<v Speaker 4>or he puts it on the line for maybe Mandy's
<v Speaker 4>sake or something like that. But I don't. I don't
<v Speaker 4>think he's gonna successfully cash in. I just I don't.
<v Speaker 4>I don't see it. I don't see it. I think
<v Speaker 4>he'll I think he'll end up losing the briefcase, maybe
<v Speaker 4>to like Biggie or something like that, like if Biggie
<v Speaker 4>turns like Heel or something. But I don't know. I'm
<v Speaker 4>just I don't. I think the momentum behind him has
<v Speaker 4>kind of died now, I just what do you think?
<v Speaker 4>I just I don't think whatever was there a few
<v Speaker 4>months ago, it's not there anymore, you know.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the charm is gone. The I mean that the
<v Speaker 2>whole it's like, and I made this analogy at my
<v Speaker 2>show a couple nights ago. I said, like that, it's
<v Speaker 2>kind of like chewing the same piece of gum for
<v Speaker 2>a while. Eventually you want a new piece of gum.
<v Speaker 2>And again, this wasn't my flavor of gum anyway. To
<v Speaker 2>use the analogy of what Vince saw in him. The
<v Speaker 2>second that I saw what they were doing with him,
<v Speaker 2>this whole character to me was just eye rolling and
<v Speaker 2>I liked it initially when he came in his heavy
<v Speaker 2>machinery because number one, the tag team division needs a
<v Speaker 2>whole lot of help, and to sacrifice that tag team
<v Speaker 2>that never even got a chance to get off the
<v Speaker 2>ground to just a comedy act with Otis that I
<v Speaker 2>was mildly interested with the whole Valentine's date that happened
<v Speaker 2>and what the fallout of that, and wanting to see
<v Speaker 2>him to get together. And they finally did at WrestleMania. Fine, great,
<v Speaker 2>but then they just continue to I don't know, make
<v Speaker 2>him this I guess lovable loser, but is also you
<v Speaker 2>know this this guy, you don't want to get angry.
<v Speaker 2>And there was a comment made once backdown somebody said
<v Speaker 2>it that you know, I've never seen Otis angry, Like
<v Speaker 2>somebody said, I don't know if his partner said it.
<v Speaker 2>Tucker said somebody. And I'm sitting there like, what are
<v Speaker 2>you talking? I mean, what about Dolf Zigler? Like we
<v Speaker 2>saw this before we saw this at WrestleMania. We didn't
<v Speaker 2>even ever see Otis angry. But I don't know. I
<v Speaker 2>think he'll be unsuccessful because with Babyfaces carrying that briefcase
<v Speaker 2>that's really a it's really a prize for heels to
<v Speaker 2>win because it's very it's it's very easy for heels
<v Speaker 2>to use this in a just kind of a a
<v Speaker 2>sly underhanded way of taking advantage of the moment. And yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it's designed for that, but as a babyface holding a
<v Speaker 2>heel prop, you have to give your opponent a heads up.
<v Speaker 2>John c did it, right, I mean John Cena did it.
<v Speaker 2>I think he gave somebody a week or two notice
<v Speaker 2>as before he cashed in. I think Otis will do
<v Speaker 2>the same thing of cashing in, but giving a heads
<v Speaker 2>up because I'm a babyface. I don't want to take advantage.
<v Speaker 2>I had to do this man de man, and I
<v Speaker 2>think he'll be unsuccessful. And I think he should be
<v Speaker 2>unsuccessful because I don't think he's anywhere near ready to
<v Speaker 2>cash in that money in the bank briefcase. I honestly
<v Speaker 2>wouldn't be surprised if he somehow because this is WWE logic,
<v Speaker 2>if he somehow was able to transfer this to maybe
<v Speaker 2>give it to Mandy so she can cash in on
<v Speaker 2>the women's championship, like I could see them doing that.
<v Speaker 2>Where's he loves his peach so much that he is
<v Speaker 2>giving it to her as revenge or giving her as
<v Speaker 2>an opportunity showing his love for her by again this
<v Speaker 2>contractually makes no sense. But WW doesn't care about this stuff.
<v Speaker 2>So could you see that happening where he just gives
<v Speaker 2>it to Mandy?
<v Speaker 4>Absolutely that was when the dire since I kind of
<v Speaker 4>thought that they would go in originally when he won.
<v Speaker 4>I could totally see him doing that. Probably I could
<v Speaker 4>probably actually be that you bring that back up. I
<v Speaker 4>could see that happening before he even attempts to cash
<v Speaker 4>it in for himself maybe down the road. It's just
<v Speaker 4>weird because I see I can see them kind of
<v Speaker 4>having him hold onto it for a while, just because
<v Speaker 4>they really don't have anything else to do with it
<v Speaker 4>right now, and it would be a waste just to
<v Speaker 4>have him cash in like next week for instance, and
<v Speaker 4>then lose it and then, like you said, he's not
<v Speaker 4>really there right now to be like a believable champion,
<v Speaker 4>So why not have him hold on to it? Right So,
<v Speaker 4>depending on how long you're going to drag this out,
<v Speaker 4>because you could technically go the whole year, and within
<v Speaker 4>that year if you have Sonia become champion and Mandy
<v Speaker 4>is frustrated and mad and can't get that title opportunity
<v Speaker 4>to go against Sonia, and then maybe he can give
<v Speaker 4>it to the briefcase to Mandy and let her cash
<v Speaker 4>in and go against Sonia. Of course, that could be
<v Speaker 4>any anywhere between now and what was it a month?
<v Speaker 4>Was it in May? Money as a bank, so you
<v Speaker 4>still have plenty of time, you have almost obviously the
<v Speaker 4>whole year, So there's just so many different directions you
<v Speaker 4>can go with it. But I would definitely see that
<v Speaker 4>as a possibility because I just, like you said, I
<v Speaker 4>don't see him winning the title right now, and it
<v Speaker 4>would be such a waste to go through to have
<v Speaker 4>because then what's the point of the pay per view
<v Speaker 4>itself then, right, if it's not taken seriously. But I don't,
<v Speaker 4>I don't know, I don't know. It's it's a weird thing.
<v Speaker 4>It's a weird thing. And I know you weren't really
<v Speaker 4>a fan of him winning to begin with, but it's
<v Speaker 4>just they kind of it's just it's funny because they
<v Speaker 4>put themselves in this situation to begin with, so it's
<v Speaker 4>like you could have gone so many other different directions,
<v Speaker 4>but now they're not stuck necessarily.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, how about we don't make a comedy act
<v Speaker 2>the money in the bank briefcase.
<v Speaker 4>Holder to start for your heavyweight title, which is but
<v Speaker 4>if they.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I will say, if they do go through
<v Speaker 2>with this, and they think, oh, what the hell, you know,
<v Speaker 2>let's let's try this, you know, let's see what the
<v Speaker 2>fans do. And he goes in and he successfully cashes in,
<v Speaker 2>I don't care who it's against. If it was in
<v Speaker 2>front of a live audience, I think he would get
<v Speaker 2>boot out of the building. I really, I really think
<v Speaker 2>that because I don't think fans believe he's ready, especially
<v Speaker 2>in a in a smart city like if it was
<v Speaker 2>in New York, Chicago.
<v Speaker 4>Wherever, Dallas, Chicago, Oh my god.
<v Speaker 2>It would be it would you know, people would riot.
<v Speaker 2>I mean it would be. So they got to be
<v Speaker 2>very careful if they do this, fans gonna backlash. But
<v Speaker 2>they can backlash on Twitter all day. It's it's a
<v Speaker 2>matter of you don't want your product on air to
<v Speaker 2>be to be shut down by fans who are rejecting it.
<v Speaker 2>So social media is one thing. But yeah, I don't
<v Speaker 2>know if they'll have the guts or the or the
<v Speaker 2>the grapefruits. Evince would say to go through with him
<v Speaker 2>actually cashing in successfully, I would be very surprised. But
<v Speaker 2>on that note, I know that you have a question
<v Speaker 2>from somebody on Twitter, So why don't you lay that
<v Speaker 2>one on me?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah? Yeah, So it was regarding Big e and whether
<v Speaker 4>or not we think he's do you think he's gunning
<v Speaker 4>for a US title shot or if they're gonna putrom
<v Speaker 4>straight to the dirty title itself, and we just want
<v Speaker 4>to see him work with either Brown Bray or a
<v Speaker 4>j A because maybe a potential Big Eie and fiend
<v Speaker 4>Feod could be pretty awesome in the future. That's one
<v Speaker 4>of the followers had mentioned. And I think it's it's
<v Speaker 4>pretty intriguing, but I'm want to kind of see what
<v Speaker 4>you think first, yeah, and what direction that you think
<v Speaker 4>and and do you think that they're actually gonna allow
<v Speaker 4>him to take like a serious role now, especially after
<v Speaker 4>the permanent he kind of SmackDown. He just it was
<v Speaker 4>kind of a little a little a different side of
<v Speaker 4>a Biggie. But if they'll actually go forward with it, you.
<v Speaker 2>Know, it's weird because with Biggie, we we've been saying
<v Speaker 2>I've been saying many fans have been saying, Cork Graves
<v Speaker 2>have been saying in his podcast that we've all been
<v Speaker 2>saying that Biggie needs to get a singles run. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>there's just some out he needs a chance at seeing
<v Speaker 2>what he can do going solo. What does this mean
<v Speaker 2>for Biggie and his first week out? He does a
<v Speaker 2>log roll down the ramp and it's like, oh my god,
<v Speaker 2>he will not drop this silly character of Really. I
<v Speaker 2>know it made him successful in the New Day, one
<v Speaker 2>of the most successful teams of all time, no doubt.
<v Speaker 2>But this past week on Backdown, we got a backstage
<v Speaker 2>promo from him, and he was more serious, but it
<v Speaker 2>was like a New Day more serious. It wasn't a
<v Speaker 2>Biggie Langston serious. I feel like he's cutting promos and
<v Speaker 2>he's not talking to me, Like, I feel like that's
<v Speaker 2>not him. If he's going to be successful, I think they,
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I know people are Why should he do
<v Speaker 2>one hundred and eighty degree turn. I'm not saying he
<v Speaker 2>should turn against the New Day, but I think he
<v Speaker 2>needs to scrub the New Day off of him right
<v Speaker 2>now because he will forever be looked at as just
<v Speaker 2>a part of the New Day if they don't give
<v Speaker 2>him his own identity right now. He is just suffocated
<v Speaker 2>with this new He's still wearing the outfits, he's still
<v Speaker 2>cutting promos the exact same way he cut them as
<v Speaker 2>as a part of the New Day. He needs to
<v Speaker 2>stop with this cutting a promo and just talk to me.
<v Speaker 2>You can be intense and be yourself, but I don't
<v Speaker 2>feel like he's himself. It's just this still. It's the
<v Speaker 2>same Bigie we've seen and I don't know how to
<v Speaker 2>explain it other than that I'm just looking at him
<v Speaker 2>like this is not real. Like yeah, I'm sure there's
<v Speaker 2>a part of him that is part with this New
<v Speaker 2>Day and why it's so successful. But I don't feel
<v Speaker 2>like i'm being talked to and I'm seeing the real
<v Speaker 2>hymn that could be successful. I'm seeing just the Biggie
<v Speaker 2>a part of New Day, and I don't want that.
<v Speaker 2>I think, you know again, I need his own identity,
<v Speaker 2>Like come up with your own ring gear, you may
<v Speaker 2>change your music. I'm not saying go heal. No, I'm
<v Speaker 2>not saying completely like I'll turn against everybody or no. No,
<v Speaker 2>I'm just saying because that is what I think fans
<v Speaker 2>are gonna gravitate to. That's why we want a singles
<v Speaker 2>run is because we want the big eie that's not
<v Speaker 2>a part of the New Day, to see what we
<v Speaker 2>can do, and instead you're giving us a promo heavy
<v Speaker 2>New Day version of you of the big ee character
<v Speaker 2>in the New Day. I don't know how to explain
<v Speaker 2>it other than that. And as far as his opponents,
<v Speaker 2>I don't think he should skyrockets at the top. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>if anything WW has learned from the Rome reigns experiment
<v Speaker 2>that continues to go on and when he's coming back,
<v Speaker 2>you know we don't know is to go step by
<v Speaker 2>step here. Do not rush this. Yes, the fans have
<v Speaker 2>wanted it, but let's see how it goes. So No,
<v Speaker 2>I would not bring him into the major title picture
<v Speaker 2>of Universal Championship WW Championship. If there's a you know,
<v Speaker 2>a draft, obviously that would have to happen. I would
<v Speaker 2>say AJ Styles for the Intercontinental Championship would be his
<v Speaker 2>first major stop and float around there for a while,
<v Speaker 2>like months, float around the Intercontinental Championship picture, see how
<v Speaker 2>things go. I think him and AJ Styles could have
<v Speaker 2>really good matches together. AJ Styles could work with anybody,
<v Speaker 2>and to me, that was the very first pit stop
<v Speaker 2>I would I would say that Biggie could become Intercontinental
<v Speaker 2>Champion as soon as SummerSlam. I mean, if you're gonna
<v Speaker 2>annoy somebody at a big pay per view, there's no
<v Speaker 2>better pay per view to do it during the summer
<v Speaker 2>than SummerSlam. I mean, so to me, aj Styles versus
<v Speaker 2>Biggie is gonna happen, and it should happen for months.
<v Speaker 2>You could drag that on for two three months. But
<v Speaker 2>that's how I feel about Biggie. I'm underwhelmed right now
<v Speaker 2>because it's still the same guy and I need, I
<v Speaker 2>need something different. He should evolve and he's not evolving.
<v Speaker 2>Does that make sense?
<v Speaker 4>No, it definitely does. And I think because as you
<v Speaker 4>were talking, I was sitting there thinking about Koky, right
<v Speaker 4>because Koki obviously became champion for six months, and he
<v Speaker 4>didn't leave New Day, he didn't necessarily stop. What he
<v Speaker 4>was doing was pancakes. It was still coming out like
<v Speaker 4>everything was pretty much the same. But I think the
<v Speaker 4>thing that stood out to me with Kofe was we
<v Speaker 4>had we saw the serious side to Kofe, Like we
<v Speaker 4>knew why he was, we knew the why essentially, we
<v Speaker 4>knew the story behind him. I feel like that's kind
<v Speaker 4>of what's missing with Biggie right now, Like we know
<v Speaker 4>Biggie just like we knew KOFE, and we know Biggie's
<v Speaker 4>been around for a while. I don't think it's been
<v Speaker 4>quite as long as KOFE, but a good amount of years.
<v Speaker 4>I would say at least what six seven years by now,
<v Speaker 4>I would imagine, if not that long. For sure, he's
<v Speaker 4>definitely been here for a good amount of time. But
<v Speaker 4>we don't know, like now that he's on his own,
<v Speaker 4>like what his goal is, like if he wants to
<v Speaker 4>go after the intertow entary Lee West titled in the
<v Speaker 4>Heavyway title what is he wan to win? Does he
<v Speaker 4>want to go whin the real rumble headline Russell Maina,
<v Speaker 4>like what does he want to do now? So I
<v Speaker 4>think like we just need that promo from him. We
<v Speaker 4>just need that moment, whether it's like a backstage down
<v Speaker 4>or if it's in the ring or whatever the case
<v Speaker 4>may be. But I just think that's what's missing, and
<v Speaker 4>like you said too, just kind of freshen him up,
<v Speaker 4>like appearance wise, Like I don't know if that means
<v Speaker 4>I take him out of like the single and just
<v Speaker 4>like dip an attire or what but or maybe if
<v Speaker 4>finished just that promo and then you can kind of
<v Speaker 4>kind of do what Kofi did. Maybe if they don't
<v Speaker 4>want to move him away completely for whatever reason, he
<v Speaker 4>can still like kind of flat between both sides, like
<v Speaker 4>the serious but the New Day side. But yeah, I
<v Speaker 4>do agree with you as well. I think he needs
<v Speaker 4>to go after AJ. Him and AJ can have a
<v Speaker 4>really good two to three month feud and then like
<v Speaker 4>you said, like he can become the champion and then
<v Speaker 4>hold that title for six to nine months and then
<v Speaker 4>build him bog to get to that point to battle
<v Speaker 4>for the Universal championship. If he gets to that point,
<v Speaker 4>and if the moment's right, like you, just because he's
<v Speaker 4>a singles wrestler doesn't mean he has to go become
<v Speaker 4>the world champion now, like just give him time. But
<v Speaker 4>I think the first step is letting us know why
<v Speaker 4>he's here and what he wants to do now, you know,
<v Speaker 4>and going from there, I think at the very least
<v Speaker 4>the fact we need to know why, and I'm sure
<v Speaker 4>he wants I'm not saying it's him, like, I'm sure
<v Speaker 4>he would love to go out there and just like
<v Speaker 4>speak to us as a normal human being and just like,
<v Speaker 4>you know, just tell us why he loves wrestling and
<v Speaker 4>why he wants to be here, but and like what
<v Speaker 4>his goal is.
<v Speaker 2>But it's like big yeah, it's like just that thing totally.
<v Speaker 2>And I guess the best way to put it is
<v Speaker 2>that they haven't humanized Big Eie, like he's just a character.
<v Speaker 2>And I get it that characters are how you market
<v Speaker 2>yourself because you come up with logos, you come up
<v Speaker 2>with colorful stuff, you have an entrance. But if there's
<v Speaker 2>no soul to it, I don't feel it. And right now,
<v Speaker 2>Big Eie as great as a performer he is, and
<v Speaker 2>he's certainly got all the emotions down. He's very vivid
<v Speaker 2>and he's very you know, he emotes well all that,
<v Speaker 2>but I don't feel him because I don't feel that's
<v Speaker 2>him and he needs to just and again this is
<v Speaker 2>you know, me speaking here, sitting in my sitting at
<v Speaker 2>my desk here, you know, from one hundreds of miles away.
<v Speaker 2>But I just think that he doesn't or WWE is
<v Speaker 2>not understanding that just because he was successful in a
<v Speaker 2>New Days this character doesn't mean that he has to
<v Speaker 2>continue this character because he's a part of that group
<v Speaker 2>and that's his identity. No, as you said, the KOFE
<v Speaker 2>Kingston character. I think his whole run was very underwhelming
<v Speaker 2>in my mind because of the fact that he just
<v Speaker 2>didn't evolve. And Kofe even I remember, brought that up
<v Speaker 2>in a promo about how, you know, some people want
<v Speaker 2>me to be serious and or something. I remember he
<v Speaker 2>he addressed it in some kind of promo. He slipped
<v Speaker 2>it in and I'm like, yeah, man, like, that's what
<v Speaker 2>you need to do, because you come out even after
<v Speaker 2>he lost to brock Lester, He's out there the next
<v Speaker 2>week throwing pancakes and I'm like, dude, like, and he
<v Speaker 2>addressed that even in a and I'm like, there's no
<v Speaker 2>excuse for that. And it's not. Again, it may not
<v Speaker 2>be Koffee's fault. It's creative events. Whatever you want to
<v Speaker 2>know pin it to. But it's like, you guys get it,
<v Speaker 2>like you don't. You should not put the New Day
<v Speaker 2>act above the WWE Championship, And that's what they did.
<v Speaker 2>They used the WWE Championship to try to build the
<v Speaker 2>New Day And it's like no, no, no, no, no, no no,
<v Speaker 2>Like the w WA Championship should be the end all,
<v Speaker 2>be all, and yet you have kofee just it's just
<v Speaker 2>another night I lost the belt. But that's okay, you know,
<v Speaker 2>in seven seconds whatever it was, and it's that's exactly
<v Speaker 2>the problem. He didn't change his character. There was never
<v Speaker 2>any anger, even during the Randy Orton part of his
<v Speaker 2>title defense, which was arguably probably the best part when
<v Speaker 2>it was the whole stupid, stupid thing with Randy Orton.
<v Speaker 2>And I mean, I don't know, Like, I just think
<v Speaker 2>that they value the New Day Act so much that
<v Speaker 2>they're willing to put it ahead of almost anything else.
<v Speaker 2>And that's where I completely disagree. But I'm look, it's
<v Speaker 2>been a couple of weeks since Big E has been
<v Speaker 2>on his own again, so much, so many different things,
<v Speaker 2>Like we're our conversation tonight is about so many things
<v Speaker 2>that are just starting, rather than we have a sample
<v Speaker 2>size that we can really dive into and talk about.
<v Speaker 2>This is all just speculation, but from what we've seen
<v Speaker 2>so far, it just seems like same old, same old
<v Speaker 2>Big E. And that's to me not going to carry
<v Speaker 2>him very far.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I think next time we talked, for sure, we'll
<v Speaker 4>have more substance for all of these storylines that pretty
<v Speaker 4>much just started this week and or last week, and
<v Speaker 4>we'll definitely have like a better idea of what direction
<v Speaker 4>are going in and just it'll be fun, you know
<v Speaker 4>for like raw Underground, you know, restitution all that stuff,
<v Speaker 4>so it it'll definitely be fun to see how it
<v Speaker 4>plays out in just a couple of weeks.
<v Speaker 2>It's crazy, exactly exactly. There's going to be a lot
<v Speaker 2>to come here, and there's so much new to talk about.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I can't remember the last time so many
<v Speaker 2>new things had started at once. It's I mean, it's great,
<v Speaker 2>but it's just like I can't remember the time the
<v Speaker 2>last time this happened. So a couple of things quickly
<v Speaker 2>and then I'll tell us to you if you have
<v Speaker 2>anything as Apollo Cruise m v P. MVP is still
<v Speaker 2>the United States Champion, which to me is out of
<v Speaker 2>the entire group, you know. Yeah, Shelton Benjamin lost his
<v Speaker 2>twenty four seven championship, and uh, Apollo Cruise is the
<v Speaker 2>United States Champion?
<v Speaker 3>Or no?
<v Speaker 2>Was it V did MVP retain? I'm losing it here.
<v Speaker 4>M v P No, No Apollo one.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, okay, yeah, Apollo one. It's weird that in a
<v Speaker 2>group that calls himself the Hurt Business has Bobby Lashley is,
<v Speaker 2>as I said at the beginning of the show, like
<v Speaker 2>the third wheel. And yeah, MVP is great at talking
<v Speaker 2>Shelton Benjamin in there, gives him some kind of something
<v Speaker 2>to do other than sitting and catering. That's good having
<v Speaker 2>Shelton Benjamin out there. And then they dominated at the
<v Speaker 2>end of the show on Raw in an underground How
<v Speaker 2>are you? What do you think of again? Something new?
<v Speaker 2>This is like the fourth new thing, the Hurt Business.
<v Speaker 2>How are you? How are you evaluating them? Are you
<v Speaker 2>do you kind of look at this as like a
<v Speaker 2>short term thing? Is it weird that Bobby Lashley almost
<v Speaker 2>feels like the third wheel in this? I mean, you
<v Speaker 2>could know, I could argue Shelton, but at least Shelton
<v Speaker 2>had a championship, you know, MVP had a championship and
<v Speaker 2>you have you have Lashley over here, Like, yeah, guys,
<v Speaker 2>Worre's mine. It's weird, right, Like, I don't know, but
<v Speaker 2>I like this group. It's certainly something new, and I
<v Speaker 2>think they're gonna be a big, big influence on Raw.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, no, I dig it. And I really like what
<v Speaker 4>MVP has done for Bobby Lashley these past few months,
<v Speaker 4>and I really like, like, like you said that Shelton
<v Speaker 4>has something to do, and Shelton is actually on TV
<v Speaker 4>because he's so talented, Like it's it's sad just because he,
<v Speaker 4>I guess wasn't the best on the mic that they
<v Speaker 4>just never really saw like much in him to really
<v Speaker 4>give him a push. I mean, yeah, he was in
<v Speaker 4>Recondo Champion and things like that, but I just think
<v Speaker 4>that they could have gotten more out of him earlier on.
<v Speaker 4>So I'm just happy to see him being utilized for sure,
<v Speaker 4>But it's it's weird to me. It's kind of where
<v Speaker 4>we were talking about, like with Raw Underground. With that
<v Speaker 4>you have MVP and them lose on Raw and then
<v Speaker 4>they just go to Raw Underground, Like where like how
<v Speaker 4>did they get there surceast? Like where is Raw Underground?
<v Speaker 4>Like I don't know, like some like little things like
<v Speaker 4>that I just sit there and think about. But they
<v Speaker 4>kind of like went down there with the purposes of
<v Speaker 4>taking it over. So what is that going to mean
<v Speaker 4>for them going forward? You know? And are they working
<v Speaker 4>with sham Mann or they just like was that just
<v Speaker 4>their mission to begin with? So I'm curious to see
<v Speaker 4>how that plays out with them and in that aspect.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it seems that as if if they ended the
<v Speaker 2>show with them standing there dominant after they took everyone out,
<v Speaker 2>that they should be some kind of mainstay figure on
<v Speaker 2>the Raw Underground show. But yeah, I don't know. I
<v Speaker 2>don't know what this role is going to be. It's
<v Speaker 2>like we have new two new storylines intersecting. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>you have the their hurt business and then you have
<v Speaker 2>of Underground colliding. So what does this mean for both
<v Speaker 2>We don't know yet. And eventually, I'm sure we'll get
<v Speaker 2>to retribution destroying Raw. Maybe that happens this next week.
<v Speaker 2>And does her business get involved, Like eventually someone's got
<v Speaker 2>to stand up to retribution? How does that happen? I
<v Speaker 2>mean if they have chainsaws, bats and crowbars, I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I don't know how that happens. But you would think
<v Speaker 2>that WWE and Raw is coming Monday would have security
<v Speaker 2>surrounding the building or at least pretend that they do
<v Speaker 2>to use some kind of logic that these guys aren't
<v Speaker 2>allowed building. And it's not exactly the biggest building in
<v Speaker 2>the world. The Performance Center is not exactly the center.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I mean the most like unsafe area in Orlando apparently.
<v Speaker 2>Oh it is. I didn't know that well.
<v Speaker 4>Because with everyone getting in and like just the generators
<v Speaker 4>getting blown up out someone you know, and just if
<v Speaker 4>you think back to it with Roman rines and stuff
<v Speaker 4>like that, like it's just in the parking lot, it
<v Speaker 4>is just hitting run angle. It's just yes, getting attacked
<v Speaker 4>at n XT's like, man, I did not go in
<v Speaker 4>the parking lot in the performance.
<v Speaker 2>It's like, yeah, I mean if you did, like a
<v Speaker 2>crime per capita in the like in that area, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>they certainly would be at the top of the list
<v Speaker 2>of vehicular assaults. And yeah, like arson, I mean, like
<v Speaker 2>you name it, and that's true. Yeah, that's very true.
<v Speaker 2>And yet WWE is supposed to be protecting their top
<v Speaker 2>stars and they are doing a poor job of providing
<v Speaker 2>a safe work environment. But anyway, the last thing I
<v Speaker 2>want to touch on and then I'll toss it to
<v Speaker 2>you is Bailey and Sasha. Again. I know that last
<v Speaker 2>time you were on we both sung their praises. We can,
<v Speaker 2>at least I continue to I think that they are
<v Speaker 2>killing it. We continue to see small cracks just when
<v Speaker 2>you think they're getting along perfectly. One of them volunteers
<v Speaker 2>the other for a match, and that's where you start
<v Speaker 2>to see the cracks which teases every few weeks. And
<v Speaker 2>last time we had Sasha put Bailey up in the
<v Speaker 2>ring with Oscar. Who if Oscar win against Bailey, she
<v Speaker 2>has to defend their championship against Osca. Sasha has defended
<v Speaker 2>against Osca at SummerSlam. We all know that it means
<v Speaker 2>Asasha needs an opponent. It's two weeks out from SummerSlam.
<v Speaker 2>It's almost a showing that Oscar's gonna win. So we
<v Speaker 2>had Steputy come out this past week and basically give
<v Speaker 2>us our main events for SummerSlam without naming the actual people,
<v Speaker 2>saying that, yeah, it could be Sasha versus Osca if
<v Speaker 2>Osca beats Bailey, and it's gonna be Bailey versus whoever
<v Speaker 2>wins this Tri Brand Battle Royal next week, and so
<v Speaker 2>that's gonna be interesting. Could here's the thought as I
<v Speaker 2>just thought of this, now, is it possible that if
<v Speaker 2>it's a tri Brand Battle Royal, that the NXT Women's
<v Speaker 2>champion could be involved, leading to a title versus title
<v Speaker 2>and then they truly have all the championships Or am
<v Speaker 2>I just maybe overstretching this?
<v Speaker 7>No, it's funny to say that because Stephanie mentioned NXT
<v Speaker 7>on Monday, and that really stood out to me because
<v Speaker 7>I was shocked that NXC was mentioned because normally, I mean,
<v Speaker 7>of course nowadays, for sure NXC is mentioned, but it's
<v Speaker 7>kind of still like not really talked about, like you'll
<v Speaker 7>get a commercial for it, but they don't really unless
<v Speaker 7>it's jocally involved in like Charlotte or something like that,
<v Speaker 7>or Sasha is going to be appearing or something like that.
<v Speaker 7>But since Stephanie mentioned NXC, I was like, that's interesting.
<v Speaker 7>And of course it turned out because they're going to
<v Speaker 7>be involved in the Battle Royal as well, but you know,
<v Speaker 7>and for her to mention also that they have almost
<v Speaker 7>all of the goal except for NXT, I was like, oh,
<v Speaker 7>that's that's an interesting point, Like why.
<v Speaker 4>Would she bring it up so you could be onto something?
<v Speaker 4>And I mean, because I hate to say it, but
<v Speaker 4>they're not really doing much in the NXC women's title
<v Speaker 4>picture right now, where the focus isn't as strong as
<v Speaker 4>it normally is for that brand, So sahit, you know,
<v Speaker 4>I could see Sashow winning that title or or Bailey.
<v Speaker 4>I just I could I could see them literally having
<v Speaker 4>all of the gold that would be and that's just
<v Speaker 4>it makes me, it kind of makes me laugh just
<v Speaker 4>thinking about it because it's so obnoxious and just to
<v Speaker 4>think of what the world and wrestling has become. But
<v Speaker 4>it's just one of those things. And then it will
<v Speaker 4>truly like at that point, like how would how will
<v Speaker 4>it affect their breakup at that point? So, man, there's
<v Speaker 4>just so many directions that could go there.
<v Speaker 2>Are there is. Uh. I don't know if they'll do it,
<v Speaker 2>but I will say that if you're gonna do it,
<v Speaker 2>there's no better time than now, because there's there's never
<v Speaker 2>gonna be probably another time the next few years minimum
<v Speaker 2>that you have these that you have two women that
<v Speaker 2>are have like ninety percent of the gold. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>so if you're gonna do it, a situation kind of
<v Speaker 2>warrants like this is your time to do it or
<v Speaker 2>don't do it? I mean, it would be obnoxious. I
<v Speaker 2>would think that people would real sick of them real quick,
<v Speaker 2>or it could just continue to build heat for them.
<v Speaker 2>But I will say that that would be the top
<v Speaker 2>of the mountain. I would say that if that happens
<v Speaker 2>and they capture the NXT Women's Championship, that you would
<v Speaker 2>then start to see the collapse happen. I mean, because
<v Speaker 2>you can't go any higher. The mountain is is that?
<v Speaker 2>I mean, that is the top of Everest, and from
<v Speaker 2>there we should start to see something cracking the descent
<v Speaker 2>the you know some you know, maybe they whoever wins.
<v Speaker 2>If if Bailey wins the NXT Championship, she'll lose that,
<v Speaker 2>then you know, then they'll she'll they'll lose the tag
<v Speaker 2>team titles, and then Sasha loses the Raw title, and
<v Speaker 2>then you know, Bailey would be the final person to
<v Speaker 2>lose the SmackDown Women's Championship because she's had it the
<v Speaker 2>longest and added a ton of value to that belt.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, geez, So I think that that could be
<v Speaker 2>the case where they just slowly start to lose all
<v Speaker 2>their gold because there's really nowhere to go but down
<v Speaker 2>from there. But I like how they're teasing it. I
<v Speaker 2>know you and I have mentioned and you know we're
<v Speaker 2>I'm for the slow burn of this because we're not
<v Speaker 2>in front of fans, so really, what's the rush? I
<v Speaker 2>hope we all hope that if this happened, when this happens,
<v Speaker 2>that they are in front of fans, because this is
<v Speaker 2>a fan worthy, a fan worthy event to finally see
<v Speaker 2>these two break up that we all know is inevitable
<v Speaker 2>as we've seen the cracks over the last several months.
<v Speaker 4>So I agree, I agree.
<v Speaker 2>Well, I don't have anything else on my list. I
<v Speaker 2>know there's little things here and there that we didn't
<v Speaker 2>talk about, but I don't want to keep you too long.
<v Speaker 2>So is there anything that we didn't discuss? I know
<v Speaker 2>there's a lot of new stuff happening right now, there's
<v Speaker 2>so much new stuff, but anything that you wanted.
<v Speaker 4>To ask, No, I think that's pretty much everything. Like
<v Speaker 4>I said, I'm excited for next time that we talked
<v Speaker 4>again because everything that we're talking about now that's starting
<v Speaker 4>will have some depth to it next time with a
<v Speaker 4>Futch two or three weeks from now. So it will
<v Speaker 4>definitely be fun to talk next time. See how much
<v Speaker 4>we progressed between now and then.
<v Speaker 2>No, definitely will. As things evolve, it's gonna get a
<v Speaker 2>lot more interesting with so many new storylines even just
<v Speaker 2>intersecting one another. And as we really, I mean we're
<v Speaker 2>two weeks away from SummerSlam, I think it's gonna be
<v Speaker 2>extremely eventful. So it's it's a blast talking with the
<v Speaker 2>Ashley and before you go if you'd like to share
<v Speaker 2>any social media you can at this time.
<v Speaker 4>Oh yeah at ashs awesome.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah that on that Twitter that I don't even know
<v Speaker 2>if I have the app on.
<v Speaker 4>My phone anymore.
<v Speaker 2>Ye, yeah, I think I don't know. I just keep
<v Speaker 2>I keep appealing the decision, hoping that one of the
<v Speaker 2>whoever is is in a good mood that day. Over
<v Speaker 2>the Twitter staff goes, eh, what the heck, and they
<v Speaker 2>just like say, you know, fine, yeah, I mean, like,
<v Speaker 2>what's the worst they can say is no, okay? So like, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I'll continue to try and if anyone has the connections
<v Speaker 2>over at Twitter, please like you know. I so I
<v Speaker 2>do miss it, I really miss it. So it's been
<v Speaker 2>like three months now, but on May nineteenth, Yeah, so
<v Speaker 2>of course, yep. All right, well Ashley, thanks for joining us,
<v Speaker 2>and we'll we'll definitely be in touch as we get
<v Speaker 2>to SummerSlam and closely thereafter.
<v Speaker 4>So yeah, sounds good.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, Thanks Ashley, have a good night you too. Bye,