WWE RAW Review: Seth Rollins Stripped of World Title, New Opponent Revealed to Face CM Punk, New Tag Team Champions, SNME Build

<v Speaker 1>So Seth Rollins is out. Seth Rollins is out out
<v Speaker 1>for who knows how many months we didn't get it
<v Speaker 1>a specific number from WWE. Many have speculated six months.
<v Speaker 1>I am optimistic he'll be back before WrestleMania. That's just
<v Speaker 1>my own hunch. I'm sure that's what they're aiming for
<v Speaker 1>as well. And I think this is going to be
<v Speaker 1>an interesting time in the company, specifically in the world
<v Speaker 1>title side, as we have Cmpunk challenging jay Uso at
<v Speaker 1>Saturday Night's main event. The winner will become the or
<v Speaker 1>the new World Heavyweight Champion on the Monday night raw side. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>jay Uso, not to l A Knight. No, no, not
<v Speaker 1>La Knight. We have jay Uso once again. And I'm
<v Speaker 1>not sure what the company is really thinking here. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>if the idea is to start the official turn of
<v Speaker 1>jay Uso as well, then congratulations, you're on the road.
<v Speaker 1>Because Jay us for a while has been teetering on heel.
<v Speaker 1>We know that there's been a lot of tension between
<v Speaker 1>him and Jay, him and Roman specifically, and this past
<v Speaker 1>week with Jay eliminating Jimmy and La Knight, I think
<v Speaker 1>that that adds to that narrative. If you want to
<v Speaker 1>go down that road, would I go down that road.
<v Speaker 1>I'm not against Jay turning heel. I'm against Jay competing
<v Speaker 1>against his brother. We've been here. It feels like we
<v Speaker 1>were just here. We were just here with At WrestleMania forty,
<v Speaker 1>I know that him and Jay had a match and
<v Speaker 1>it was regarded as one of the worst matches of
<v Speaker 1>the entire pl It was horrible, which is maybe the
<v Speaker 1>only time in history that you could say Jimmy and
<v Speaker 1>j had a bad match. I mean, they're so talented,
<v Speaker 1>but with the overuse of the super kicks, the match
<v Speaker 1>was just it was not good. I mean, they spent
<v Speaker 1>so much time being partners, they don't know how to
<v Speaker 1>be opponents. So maybe things have changed. And I'm not
<v Speaker 1>going to go off the rails about it. I'm not
<v Speaker 1>going to lose my mind about it. But if they're
<v Speaker 1>going Jimmy versus Jay again, then you know it is
<v Speaker 1>what it is. I don't personally think that it's a
<v Speaker 1>great idea. I've never been on board with Jimmy and
<v Speaker 1>Jay again, but it's a different year. They're not a
<v Speaker 1>part of the bloodline anymore. They're still loosely aligned with
<v Speaker 1>Roman reigns who pops in and out of television. So
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I'll watch, but maybe there is an audience
<v Speaker 1>out there who wants this. I really, at least right now,
<v Speaker 1>I don't. But unless you know, again, if it's to
<v Speaker 1>turn Jay heel and then you have another top heel
<v Speaker 1>on run it et raw, that's fine because don't forget
<v Speaker 1>Seth Rollins is now on the shelf for the foreseeable future.
<v Speaker 1>So you need to replace that top heel. And yes,
<v Speaker 1>Braun and Bronson can fill that role, but they can't
<v Speaker 1>fill Seth's role. They already had their own role of
<v Speaker 1>being heels, So that to me is something that's gonna
<v Speaker 1>need to be filled and you could have Jay Usso
<v Speaker 1>make that case. Now, does that mean Sampunk's going to
<v Speaker 1>lose the belt or lose the World Championship at at
<v Speaker 1>Saturday Nights main event. Maybe maybe he'll lose the match.
<v Speaker 1>He's not champion, but he'll lose the match and J
<v Speaker 1>becomes champion. I'll say this, If J becomes champion, you
<v Speaker 1>can throw any idea of Ja being a babyface out
<v Speaker 1>the door, because when it comes to the fans choosing
<v Speaker 1>between Punk and J, they're gonna choose Punk. They just will.
<v Speaker 1>He's a bigger star. He hasn't really had a proper
<v Speaker 1>run as champion. You're gonna take that to the bank
<v Speaker 1>that the fans are gonna side with c M Punk
<v Speaker 1>if they're forced to choose, and they might be forced
<v Speaker 1>to choose, They're going to be forced to choose at
<v Speaker 1>Saturday nights main event in Salt Lake City, which of
<v Speaker 1>course is coming to us in week and a half.
<v Speaker 1>H oh, interesting development. We'll get more into the Battle
<v Speaker 1>Royal as we get on into the show here, but
<v Speaker 1>first I want to welcome you. If you're new, Thank you.
<v Speaker 1>You can head on over to patreon dot com slash
<v Speaker 1>and WWE podcast if you want to go add free
<v Speaker 1>along with a bunch of other benefits including shoutouts and
<v Speaker 1>coming on the show and all the rest of it,
<v Speaker 1>so check it out. You also get access to a
<v Speaker 1>Discord server and that's available on Patreon, So let's dive
<v Speaker 1>into it. And by the way, guys, if you are
<v Speaker 1>interested in an NXT review, if you love NXT and
<v Speaker 1>you want to be a part of the show. NXT
<v Speaker 1>is a great show. I know it is because I
<v Speaker 1>had several people do it throughout the years, and it
<v Speaker 1>got me starting to watch a little bit of NXT,
<v Speaker 1>you know, as much as I could. And I know
<v Speaker 1>that it's a show that a portion of our audience
<v Speaker 1>do watch. So if you are interested in NXT, you
<v Speaker 1>love what's going on there, or you're just passionate about wrestling,
<v Speaker 1>send a message to me at my email address, okay,
<v Speaker 1>mailbag at ww podcast dot com and send me an
<v Speaker 1>audio clip five minutes or less just talking about NXT,
<v Speaker 1>and then that way we can get an idea of
<v Speaker 1>how you sound and all the rest of it. So okay, well,
<v Speaker 1>let's let's get into it. To start with Monnett Raw.
<v Speaker 1>We'll start right at the top here. We'll start with
<v Speaker 1>what was the open? I got to look at the reviewer. Oh,
<v Speaker 1>Adam Pierce is in the ring. He was announced by
<v Speaker 1>Lily and Garcia, who just doesn't age she's found the
<v Speaker 1>Fountain of Youth like her and aj Lee for some reason,
<v Speaker 1>I've just they have been able to identify the goal,
<v Speaker 1>holy Grail of the Fountain of Youth. I don't know
<v Speaker 1>how they do it, but we have bron Breaker, Bronson
<v Speaker 1>Reid and Paul Haymon exiting a truck backstage. Breaker had
<v Speaker 1>the World Championship over his shoulder as they walked through
<v Speaker 1>the backstage area and made their entrance and joined Pierce
<v Speaker 1>inside the ring. Pierce said he knew Seth Rollinds was
<v Speaker 1>injured coming out of his match with Cody and said
<v Speaker 1>Rollins underwent surgery and would be on the shelf for
<v Speaker 1>a while because of what Breaker and Reid did to him. Well,
<v Speaker 1>I have to step in here because you guys know
<v Speaker 1>I'm a big fan of logic. How are you telling
<v Speaker 1>me that he's injured coming out of the match. Pierce
<v Speaker 1>said he knew that that Ronalds was injured coming out
<v Speaker 1>of the match with Cody, Yet he's blaming the surgery
<v Speaker 1>on what happened because of what Breaker and Braun died
<v Speaker 1>to him. But no, I know they're trying to have
<v Speaker 1>their cake and eat it too and put the blame
<v Speaker 1>on Breaker and Read and give them heat like you
<v Speaker 1>gotta pick one, you gotta pick one. You can't have both.
<v Speaker 1>You can't tell me you knew he was injured and
<v Speaker 1>still having him, by the way, competing in an upcoming
<v Speaker 1>match with Saturday Night's main event. But then also say that, well, no,
<v Speaker 1>I knew he was injured, but the reason he had
<v Speaker 1>surgery is because of Breaker and Red stop fine, It's
<v Speaker 1>just sometimes the insult and on our intelligence is striking.
<v Speaker 1>So Pierce did to a new world champion will be
<v Speaker 1>crowned at Saturday Night's Made event. He said Cempunk earned
<v Speaker 1>the number one contender status last week and that he
<v Speaker 1>would be in the match. Pierce said that there would
<v Speaker 1>also be a Battle Royal on tonight's show to determine
<v Speaker 1>who would face Punk for the world title. Pierce told
<v Speaker 1>Breaker that the belt no longer belongs to Rollins and
<v Speaker 1>it sure as hell doesn't belong to you. He asked
<v Speaker 1>and demanded that Breaker handed over to him, and Breaker
<v Speaker 1>said you didn't say please, which was really actually pretty good.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, Breaker, Breaker could be babyface really at any
<v Speaker 1>moment if they really wanted to switch him. Fans love
<v Speaker 1>brand new toys to play with, and Breaker right now
<v Speaker 1>is playing that heel role. But if they wanted to
<v Speaker 1>Breaker could i mean Pun intended break out and be
<v Speaker 1>a babyface if they really wanted him to be. But
<v Speaker 1>we did have Breaker say that you know that, or
<v Speaker 1>teased that he would hand the belt to Pierce, but
<v Speaker 1>he handed it to Hayman, who then handed it to Pierce,
<v Speaker 1>and then Hayman asked the fans why they're so mad
<v Speaker 1>at him, and he said he watched and this is again,
<v Speaker 1>what are we doing here? Paul Hayman then says that
<v Speaker 1>he watches or watched WWE Unreal and this gets worse
<v Speaker 1>and he gets that they're the bad guys and the
<v Speaker 1>villains or the heels, and Hayman said the vision had
<v Speaker 1>nothing to do with Rollins, and that Hayman said he
<v Speaker 1>made the move at WrestleMania because Breaker is the future.
<v Speaker 1>And Paul said that he made the move because he
<v Speaker 1>always knew that Reed was better than Roman reigns. Oh
<v Speaker 1>really did you? Okay, there's multiple levels of problems with us,
<v Speaker 1>despite the fact that it's Paul Haman saying these words,
<v Speaker 1>which somehow for many people absolves him of having to
<v Speaker 1>just deal with logic and common sense. Okay, first of all,
<v Speaker 1>number one and least importantly, no, you certainly did not
<v Speaker 1>believe that Bronson Reid an upcoming star that did nothing
<v Speaker 1>other than his biggest achievement up until that point was
<v Speaker 1>injuring Seth Rollins quote unquote remember the sixth Tsunamis And
<v Speaker 1>then you know, of course, when Seth came back, he
<v Speaker 1>brought Bronson Reid on a lah the vision. But up
<v Speaker 1>until that point, Bronson Reid had really done not a
<v Speaker 1>whole lot. He had what had a program with who
<v Speaker 1>was it? Who was it? Braunz Strowman, That's what it was.
<v Speaker 1>He had a program with bron Stroman that was a
<v Speaker 1>lot of fun. And he was tsunamiing people off of
<v Speaker 1>ambulances and you know, high places, and that was cool.
<v Speaker 1>But you can't tell me that Paul Hayman's character believes
<v Speaker 1>that it was actually true, that the truth was Bronson
<v Speaker 1>Reid was better than Roman Reigns. Really, like an eight
<v Speaker 1>time WrestleMania main inventor was championed for nearly four years,
<v Speaker 1>held every championship, w W has to offer box office attraction,
<v Speaker 1>needle mover all the rest of it, face to the company,
<v Speaker 1>record sales and merch. The list goes on. And you know,
<v Speaker 1>we're supposed to believe that the character of Paul Hammond
<v Speaker 1>knew that bron Breaker is better. I'm sorry, Bronson is
<v Speaker 1>better than Roman Reigns. Anyway, Again, these things are just
<v Speaker 1>things that he says that no one's gonna check him on,
<v Speaker 1>except I do Also, he said that the vision had
<v Speaker 1>nothing to do with Rollins. Well, that's it's true that
<v Speaker 1>any group is built to push forward younger talent. At
<v Speaker 1>least that should be the principal purpose of any any
<v Speaker 1>faction that gets started, right, it should be because you
<v Speaker 1>got to build new single stars. That's fine. I actually
<v Speaker 1>don't have a ton of problem with that, because it
<v Speaker 1>really isn't about Seth Rollins. I mean, it is, but
<v Speaker 1>it's not the short term. It's about Seth, but it's
<v Speaker 1>a long term vision, which means the vision. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>the group is so aptly named it's hard not to
<v Speaker 1>punt it. The way you describe the group is actually
<v Speaker 1>the way that the group is designed in real life,
<v Speaker 1>so the name is very apropos So I actually don't
<v Speaker 1>have a problem with that. But then again him talking
<v Speaker 1>about the Heels and how we're the heels and the
<v Speaker 1>bad guys and we watch on real so it's like
<v Speaker 1>a meta meta kind of fourth wall breaking, but we're
<v Speaker 1>still in the show, so hopefully you guys come along,
<v Speaker 1>But we're Heels and we're the bad guys. But did
<v Speaker 1>you see the show about the show that we're doing
<v Speaker 1>right now, of which we're scripted to say what I'm
<v Speaker 1>saying right now, and also please believe us. You see
<v Speaker 1>that just stupidity of constantly bringing again. It's just I
<v Speaker 1>don't see the need for this. It doesn't make things
<v Speaker 1>more real or make people invest more. By telling the
<v Speaker 1>fans all the time that what they're watching is scripted,
<v Speaker 1>even if what they're saying is a meta thing to say,
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't make it more real. It's like inception. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>you have all seen that right with Leonardo DiCaprio. It's
<v Speaker 1>like a dream within a dream within a dream. Am
<v Speaker 1>I still in a dream but it's a dream? Am
<v Speaker 1>I dreaming that I'm dreaming? Am I stuck in a
<v Speaker 1>dream even though I woke up? That's where I'm at.
<v Speaker 1>My head is just spinning on this crap. How about
<v Speaker 1>we just try not try to reinvent the damn wheel here?
<v Speaker 1>You know what it means, just means trying to make
<v Speaker 1>people believe without trying to be more real, because being
<v Speaker 1>more real about talking about the business you're in makes
<v Speaker 1>it less real and reminds fans oh wait, yeah crap,
<v Speaker 1>Like what we're watching is silliness. What we're watching is
<v Speaker 1>completely fabricated. It's completely contrived. It's it was created in
<v Speaker 1>a boardroom with Triple H and his goons. That's where
<v Speaker 1>this was created. Oh yeah, that's right. Thanks for reminding me, Paul.
<v Speaker 1>It's I don't know, I know a lot of you
<v Speaker 1>just glance over this and go, oh, okay, whatever, it's Paul.
<v Speaker 1>I don't. I don't absolve Paul him, and as great
<v Speaker 1>as he is, I don't absolve him or his character
<v Speaker 1>from saying these things. Is it sacriligious to me? It
<v Speaker 1>is against pro wrestling. It is because I like things
<v Speaker 1>just the way they were in terms of just trying
<v Speaker 1>to have some respect for the business. This is a
<v Speaker 1>complete disrespect for the business that everyone has just got
<v Speaker 1>accustomed to. And everyone's okay with everyone just could just
<v Speaker 1>let it go. Everyone just who cares? It's twenty twenty five,
<v Speaker 1>as if the year has anything to do with how
<v Speaker 1>you should respect or not respect something. Again, like you'll
<v Speaker 1>hear that being used for so many different things. It's
<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five and then insert X thing that suddenly
<v Speaker 1>is acceptable that you know previously wasn't, And the year
<v Speaker 1>is just supposed to explain away all the reasons why
<v Speaker 1>something doesn't matter anymore. You hear that a lot about it,
<v Speaker 1>A lot of stuff, do you not, and not just wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>It's twenty twenty five, it's not nineteen fifty eight anymore.
<v Speaker 1>You know you could use that. Again, we won't talk
<v Speaker 1>about those things on this show, but you know what
<v Speaker 1>I'm talking about. With a lot of just cultural stuff
<v Speaker 1>and with wrestling, this is no different. I'm sure a
<v Speaker 1>lot of people it's twenty twenty five, it's not nineteen
<v Speaker 1>ninety six or whatever. Again, doesn't mean that just because
<v Speaker 1>it's twenty twenty five that your vision, no pun intended,
<v Speaker 1>of what wrestling should be is a better version of it.
<v Speaker 1>Progression doesn't mean improvement. Progression doesn't automatically mean better, and
<v Speaker 1>moving forward in time doesn't necessarily mean better. Sometimes the
<v Speaker 1>formula can be very simple and the formerly it doesn't
<v Speaker 1>need to change, but a lot of people think it does.
<v Speaker 1>I don't, So that means I'm right everyone else is wrong.
<v Speaker 1>That's I guess the bottom line here. So, okay, I
<v Speaker 1>promise we're not going to make the rest of this
<v Speaker 1>show this long. I really do. I pinky promise. So
<v Speaker 1>Paul Hayman then continues, it was the vision over the bloodline.
<v Speaker 1>He said, Rollins couldn't shoulder that nice little light, nice
<v Speaker 1>little wordsmithing there. He couldn't shoulder the responsibility of leading
<v Speaker 1>the vision into the future. Hayman called Rollins a bum
<v Speaker 1>shoulder bitch. Mmm. That was again, for all the criticism,
<v Speaker 1>I just gave the writing for this segment. He turn
<v Speaker 1>and around you to say this stuff. It's good stuff.
<v Speaker 1>It just is the way Haymon said it. He said
<v Speaker 1>that winners, winners write history. Hayman said Rollins was going
<v Speaker 1>to main event WrestleMania, but that spot was taken from
<v Speaker 1>him by Breaker. Haymon said, Breaker and Reid conspired to
<v Speaker 1>take that away from Rollins, and they have the vision
<v Speaker 1>and intensity to become WrestleMania main eventters. Do there you go?
<v Speaker 1>I mean again, the the expectation that bron Breaker is
<v Speaker 1>going to be a main event, a main event of
<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania continues to loom large over his head. I've never
<v Speaker 1>heard anyone say this ever about any talent ever up
<v Speaker 1>and coming. Are they that confident? Are they that sure?
<v Speaker 1>Are they that completely bought? Like they're completely all in
<v Speaker 1>on bron Breaker. You could argue right now that he's
<v Speaker 1>for the front runner to win the Royal Rumble this
<v Speaker 1>year for twenty twenty six. The way that they're talking,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, yes, you have Sammy's Ain in there and
<v Speaker 1>kind of an early look here Sammy's Ain. You have
<v Speaker 1>La Knight, who continues to be a perennial kind of
<v Speaker 1>outside outside talent that you're thinking he could or should
<v Speaker 1>win this year. And we'll talk about La Night. Don't worry.
<v Speaker 1>I know a lot of people are really upset about
<v Speaker 1>what happened at a Monday Night raw in the Battle Royal.
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, you I mean you have La Knight, you
<v Speaker 1>have of course, you have Juso floating out there. You
<v Speaker 1>could have Roman Reigns floating out there. You could have
<v Speaker 1>Cody Roads floating out there unless he's you know, well
<v Speaker 1>he's champion right now, but if he drops the belt
<v Speaker 1>before and I don't think he will, so I don't
<v Speaker 1>think actually Cody Roads will be involved. But you've got
<v Speaker 1>some front runners and guess Bronson Reid so bron Breaker
<v Speaker 1>certainly could be your front runner right now for the
<v Speaker 1>Royal Rubble if you're looking that far ahead. So we
<v Speaker 1>have the the next segment here with Finn Balor and
<v Speaker 1>JD mcdonoughh first match here taking on AJ Styles and
<v Speaker 1>Dragon Lee for the World Tag Team titles. And if
<v Speaker 1>you listen to me on my weekend review show, you
<v Speaker 1>knew that I was of the belief that this is
<v Speaker 1>a title changing matchup because the titles haven't really been
<v Speaker 1>in the focus of WWE for a while. The people
<v Speaker 1>who are or individuals holding the belt at this point
<v Speaker 1>have been kind of quiet. And when that happens and
<v Speaker 1>they suddenly, out of nowhere put the titles up, and
<v Speaker 1>this goes across the board, Men's singles title, women's singles title,
<v Speaker 1>tag titles, it doesn't matter. You kind of know that
<v Speaker 1>that's a indication they're about to switch things up and
<v Speaker 1>start to focus on them, but not with that current
<v Speaker 1>champion holding the belt. They're gonna make a change, and
<v Speaker 1>that's exactly what happened here. But it's the right call.
<v Speaker 1>So here's the finish. As AJ Styles and Dragon Lee
<v Speaker 1>win the World Tag titles to a big pop, McDonough
<v Speaker 1>tags out and hit Styles of the Moon. Salt Balor
<v Speaker 1>ends up following with a coup de gras he covered
<v Speaker 1>Styles and McDonough tried to block Lee, who dove over
<v Speaker 1>him to break up the pin. Balor set up Styles
<v Speaker 1>for a Styles clash, but then Styles avoided it and
<v Speaker 1>hit the move on Balor before pinning him. I'm shocked
<v Speaker 1>that we didn't have Dom somehow involved in this. That's
<v Speaker 1>the only piece I thought was missing, is that we
<v Speaker 1>didn't have finally a Dom versus Finn matchup that has
<v Speaker 1>been going on. I mean, at this point, it feels
<v Speaker 1>like twelve eighteen, twenty four months that we've been teased
<v Speaker 1>a Dom versus Balor match, and I figured this could
<v Speaker 1>be a great opportunity to go there and to start
<v Speaker 1>burning that program red hot where Balor gets you know,
<v Speaker 1>starts to flip out on Dom for a misqueue or
<v Speaker 1>something during that Finn where Dom could be the reason
<v Speaker 1>for the loss, and that didn't happen here. So all right,
<v Speaker 1>But again, cool to see AJ Styles and Dragonly win
<v Speaker 1>the World Tag team titles. Cool to see really AJ
<v Speaker 1>do anything at this point because of you know, his
<v Speaker 1>impending retirement next year that I believe is all but confirmed.
<v Speaker 1>So it's gonna be fun to watch AJ and Dragonly
<v Speaker 1>defend the tag team titles have a nice little run
<v Speaker 1>for a while. I don't think to hold him more
<v Speaker 1>than three four months. It could be you actually could
<v Speaker 1>be all the way to maybe January at the latest,
<v Speaker 1>maybe into wrestlemane deep into WrestleMania season. I have my
<v Speaker 1>doubts that you're gonna have AJ and Dragon legal that
<v Speaker 1>far six month run. But as long as you can
<v Speaker 1>keep these two going, is it not fun as hell
<v Speaker 1>to watch these two works? It's great? So okay, the
<v Speaker 1>next segment here, Jimmy USO is in the dressing room
<v Speaker 1>taping his fingers. Jay Uso comes in. Jimmy asked if
<v Speaker 1>he was supposed to acknowledge Jane now, and Jay conceded
<v Speaker 1>that what he told Jimmy last week wasn't right. Jay
<v Speaker 1>said he was mad at himself for making the same
<v Speaker 1>mistake he did in Paris and mentioned something about Big
<v Speaker 1>Oose and Jimmy cut him off and said Roman wouldn't
<v Speaker 1>be in the Battle Royal later in the show, but
<v Speaker 1>they will, And Jimmy said Jay didn't lose his title
<v Speaker 1>because he stuck his neck out to help people. He
<v Speaker 1>lost it because he quotes Jay stopped believing in Jay,
<v Speaker 1>and Jay said Jimmy was right and then added that
<v Speaker 1>Roman might be right too. Jay asked if they were
<v Speaker 1>good and that was that? So seemingly things are smoothed over.
<v Speaker 1>The tension that was boiling up last week at this
<v Speaker 1>point seemingly was being kind of dealt with, and that
<v Speaker 1>of course changed again through the course of the night. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>so continuing, we then have dom versus Roussa for the
<v Speaker 1>Intercontinental title. The match went nine and a half minutes,
<v Speaker 1>with Dominic beating Russev as expected. It was just a
<v Speaker 1>matter of how he was going to do it, and
<v Speaker 1>the fans were all behind him, cheating to win. I
<v Speaker 1>mean number one, because Russev is not a beloved character
<v Speaker 1>in the baby face role anyway. In the company. We
<v Speaker 1>have Dominic, who's been here a while. People are really
<v Speaker 1>starting to warm up to his character. They see a
<v Speaker 1>lot of Eddie Guerrero in his character. He's taken his
<v Speaker 1>lumps and bumps and losses, and it's just time for
<v Speaker 1>people to come full circle on him and start to
<v Speaker 1>embrace him again. And that's exactly what's happening Dominic. The finish,
<v Speaker 1>if you're interested in and didn't see it, was going,
<v Speaker 1>dom going for a six to one nine, but Russev
<v Speaker 1>blocked it. He found the timekeeper's hammer. Russev did in
<v Speaker 1>Dom's boot and took it, and then Russev wound up
<v Speaker 1>with the hammer. It was going to hit him, but
<v Speaker 1>the ref stopped him. And then as the referees back
<v Speaker 1>was turned, kick Russev's right, you know, right in the nuts.
<v Speaker 1>He kicked him in the backside, but it was supposed
<v Speaker 1>to be a low blow. It's fine. Dom then hit
<v Speaker 1>the six to one nine and a frog splash for
<v Speaker 1>the victory. So after the match, Penta hit the ring
<v Speaker 1>and then hit Russav with the springboard DDT. Penta pointed
<v Speaker 1>a Dom who was watching from the stage. You know
<v Speaker 1>this is I hope to continue. Don't screw with Dom,
<v Speaker 1>don't try to turn him back heel. There's no need
<v Speaker 1>to try to reignite that nuclear heat. You're not gonna
<v Speaker 1>be able to recreate it even if you wanted to.
<v Speaker 1>It's something the fans just decide to have to to do,
<v Speaker 1>and they're not going to be manipulated by w W
<v Speaker 1>E At this point. I don't believe. I think if you,
<v Speaker 1>if you keep Tom on this course and continue to
<v Speaker 1>have him in a position to squeak out of victory
<v Speaker 1>from a more dominating opponent, it's a great place for
<v Speaker 1>him to be He's now the underdog. He's not that
<v Speaker 1>scar smarmy little heel that is always bar and then
<v Speaker 1>you just want to punch his face. He's kind of
<v Speaker 1>now he's transitioned to the underdog because he's not a
<v Speaker 1>muscle bound guy. He's he's got some height, but his
<v Speaker 1>muscle mass is very low compared to most of the wrestlers.
<v Speaker 1>So he automatically has that sympathy there, and his his
<v Speaker 1>mullet and his mustache are now something that that's endearing.
<v Speaker 1>His his style of trying to retain how is he
<v Speaker 1>gonna lie, cheat and steal his way out of this tonight?
<v Speaker 1>He the spirit of Eddie Guerrero has now taken over DOM,
<v Speaker 1>and I hope they run with it. They've got something
<v Speaker 1>here with Dom. We've been through the booze, the years
<v Speaker 1>of booze, let this ride. They have something special here.
<v Speaker 1>It's it's really just kind of obvious here. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>they've got DOM in a great position, and I hope
<v Speaker 1>they continue to push forward and have a longer run
<v Speaker 1>than anyone expects with that Intercontinental title. I think they
<v Speaker 1>could have a lot of fun with DOM and we'll
<v Speaker 1>have to see how long they go or what their
<v Speaker 1>plans are and when the Finn ballard hammer drops. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>So Maxine dupre warmed up while Otis and Akira Tazawa
<v Speaker 1>fired her up, and she came out with Otis and
<v Speaker 1>Nakira as she took on Becky Lynch for the Women's
<v Speaker 1>Intercontinental title and Lili and Garcia delivered the inn ring introductions.
<v Speaker 1>The match went nine minutes and forty five seconds, with
<v Speaker 1>Maxine Duprix beating Becky Lynch but by d Q, thereby
<v Speaker 1>allowing Becky Lynch to retain the Intercontinental Championship. But this
<v Speaker 1>is also a surprisingly fun program. I mean, you have
<v Speaker 1>Maxine Duprix. I mean remember the whole fan video that
<v Speaker 1>came out where Maxine was at a live event or
<v Speaker 1>it was it might have been it was I think
<v Speaker 1>it was non televised, but if it was televised, it
<v Speaker 1>was during a or after the match she had on
<v Speaker 1>raw or something. Regardless it was a match. After the match,
<v Speaker 1>you had the fans say how she sucked and she
<v Speaker 1>doesn't have to wrestle on all this stuff, and all
<v Speaker 1>the other wrestler women's wrestlers came to her defense, whear
<v Speaker 1>Ripley came to her defense everybody came to her defense.
<v Speaker 1>I did not come to her defense for my money.
<v Speaker 1>You put yourself in that position voluntarily. You kind of
<v Speaker 1>know that. Sure, you have to cut your teeth in
<v Speaker 1>front of live fans, but you know that if you
<v Speaker 1>get into this business, fans can be ruthless. That just
<v Speaker 1>comes with the territory. You aren't owed anything. You know
<v Speaker 1>you aren't. You don't deserve anything. You earn respect, You
<v Speaker 1>earn your way up, you earn the fans respect. The
<v Speaker 1>fans are gonna hammer you for a while. Even if
<v Speaker 1>you suck in the ring, fans will be able to
<v Speaker 1>easily detect it, but it won't last long because if
<v Speaker 1>they see you continue to improve, they'll respect that. And
<v Speaker 1>that's where Maxine's at. So, I mean, I never bought
<v Speaker 1>into that, and I never discouraged fans from telling wrestlers
<v Speaker 1>they suck and can't wrestle, because if the wrestler's skin
<v Speaker 1>is that thin, then they don't. They don't belong in
<v Speaker 1>the ring anyway, like you, really, you don't belong in
<v Speaker 1>that profession. This goes for any public profession where criticism
<v Speaker 1>is a part of the game. You're getting paid to
<v Speaker 1>be there. You're not a slave, who's you know, working
<v Speaker 1>for pennies or getting you know, paid nothing to be
<v Speaker 1>in the ring. You are voluntarily there with the full
<v Speaker 1>knowledge that yes, heckling and negative, negative comments from fans
<v Speaker 1>are gonna is gonna happen. Too bad, Too bad, that's
<v Speaker 1>what happens. Oh well, I have no sympathy, zero for anyone,
<v Speaker 1>and all the rest was coming to the defense of
<v Speaker 1>you know, of of Maxine at the time, including rear Ripley.
<v Speaker 1>As if Maxine is some kind of just fragile victim
<v Speaker 1>that can't hold her own, it's ridiculous. Grow up now,
<v Speaker 1>That's what I would have said to Maxine, and I
<v Speaker 1>would still stand by that today. But we've come a
<v Speaker 1>long way. We've come a long way from that. Maxine Dupree.
<v Speaker 1>Is she still a final product? No, she's got a
<v Speaker 1>long way to go, but she's improving. You're seeing the
<v Speaker 1>fans rally behind her. Fans love an organic story. They
<v Speaker 1>love that that new wrestler that comes along, and you're like,
<v Speaker 1>they've got something. I'm rooting for them. I see improvement.
<v Speaker 1>That's a feel good story. It's as a tale as
<v Speaker 1>old as time, and this is a fun story with
<v Speaker 1>Becky who was in peril. She let's get to the finish.
<v Speaker 1>She rolls out of the ring, grabs her title belt,
<v Speaker 1>starts to leave. Maxine went to ringside, got Lynch back
<v Speaker 1>of the ring, but Lynch still held the belt. As
<v Speaker 1>Dupree went for a sunset flip, Lynch held the referee briefly.
<v Speaker 1>Dupre gets a two count and then Lynch hits with
<v Speaker 1>the title belt for the DQ finish. So Becky Lynch,
<v Speaker 1>in a desperation move, ends up hitting Maxine Duprix to
<v Speaker 1>retain the Intercontinental Championship. That does tell you that this
<v Speaker 1>is not over between Maxine and Becky. Do I think
<v Speaker 1>Maxine dupri is gonna win the Intercontinental Championship? Probably not,
<v Speaker 1>Probably not, But it's not the Women's World Championship. You
<v Speaker 1>can make more of a case for it for Maxine,
<v Speaker 1>who's gaining momentum. I mean, she's on a momentum train
<v Speaker 1>right now. Fans are starting to rally behind her. She's likable.
<v Speaker 1>Fans saw her from a place where she was just
<v Speaker 1>a valet with La Knight if you remember back that far,
<v Speaker 1>and then doing silliness with the carrots Zawa and otis,
<v Speaker 1>which she needs to just kind of separate from I
<v Speaker 1>think to now breaking out on her own getting championship matches.
<v Speaker 1>Fans are along for this ride, and I think that
<v Speaker 1>if you put the belt on her, it wouldn't be
<v Speaker 1>the craziest thing in the world for this mid card
<v Speaker 1>women's belt. But Becky Lynch is also doing a phenomenal
<v Speaker 1>job with it. I think she's really adding a ton
<v Speaker 1>of value to that belt, a ton, And I give
<v Speaker 1>Becky Lynch credit. I criticize her for a lot of
<v Speaker 1>different things too, but I mean she's doing a really
<v Speaker 1>good job. The only program I haven't liked thus far
<v Speaker 1>with Becky since her return is Lyra because they had
<v Speaker 1>such horrible chemistry in the ring. I'm sorry on the mic.
<v Speaker 1>On the mic in the ring, they were really good,
<v Speaker 1>Mike on the mic, they just they did not have it.
<v Speaker 1>So other than that, I mean, Becky Lynch, you could
<v Speaker 1>argue should keep it for a little while, but you
<v Speaker 1>want a surprise, fans get a little or a lot
<v Speaker 1>more momentum behind Maxine, you can give her the belt
<v Speaker 1>as well. So Maxine dupri never thought I'd spend this
<v Speaker 1>much time talking about her. She's not somebody you want
<v Speaker 1>to push aside. Anymore. She's somebody you kind of want
<v Speaker 1>to pay attention to, and she's the feel good story
<v Speaker 1>for the women's division right now, all right. So we
<v Speaker 1>then had lots of there's a back or a video
<v Speaker 1>package with the Kaboogie Warriors. Oscar said they need a
<v Speaker 1>new challenge and need new gold around their waists. We
<v Speaker 1>then have Pierce assumed that Haymond wanted him to put
<v Speaker 1>Breaker and read Back in the Battle Royal because they
<v Speaker 1>were taken out. Hammond said that I'm sorry. Pierce told
<v Speaker 1>him to say please, and Haymon obliged, and Pierce said
<v Speaker 1>that wasn't so hard. But then he told Hayman no
<v Speaker 1>and slammed the door door in his face, and that's
<v Speaker 1>when Becky Lynch was staring at him. Hamon spoke about
<v Speaker 1>surviving the day, said there was still a vision that
<v Speaker 1>includes her, and Lynch wasn't buying any of it, and
<v Speaker 1>she Lynch again had a really nice promo here in
<v Speaker 1>a style that you don't see too often, and I'll
<v Speaker 1>get to that in a minute. So she grabs Haymon
<v Speaker 1>by the tie and told him that his snake oil
<v Speaker 1>salesman crap doesn't work on her, or said she doesn't
<v Speaker 1>trust him, never has. She said she never trusted Haymon
<v Speaker 1>and set In neither. But Lynch said Rollins used Hayman
<v Speaker 1>and knew that would he would turn on him. Lynch
<v Speaker 1>said Rollins was actually a little surprised that it took
<v Speaker 1>him so long. And Lynch told Hayman he would be
<v Speaker 1>nothing without Rollins, which of course is ridiculous. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>Paul Hayman to say, out of everything, Okay, let's see,
<v Speaker 1>this's the one criticism if I'm gonna have one, from
<v Speaker 1>just the logical perspective, to say that Hayman would be
<v Speaker 1>nothing without Rollins. Oh, I don't know, other than already
<v Speaker 1>having a Hall of Fame Mount Rushmore career. Yet other
<v Speaker 1>than that, Becky, you know again, way before Hayman and
<v Speaker 1>Rollins ever got together, he had already accomplished this. So yeah, sure,
<v Speaker 1>Hayman would be nothing without Rollins again, even though he's
<v Speaker 1>already had a Hall of Fame career maybe arguably the
<v Speaker 1>best manager career of all time. Sure, but Lynch said
<v Speaker 1>that all the people Hayman surrounds himself with now and
<v Speaker 1>in the future would be killed by Rollins. That was
<v Speaker 1>kind of killed is a little you gotta be careful
<v Speaker 1>using that kind of language in pro wrestling. But Lynch said,
<v Speaker 1>Rollins wouldn't kill Hayman, but he didn't be end up
<v Speaker 1>wishing that he did. So really nice, really nice segment
<v Speaker 1>here with Lynch despite my criticisms and Hayman and what
<v Speaker 1>made this so effective. The content was good outside of
<v Speaker 1>a couple of things. Is that I just said. But
<v Speaker 1>the most important and the most effective part of this
<v Speaker 1>promo was the volume and the intensity and the intimacy
<v Speaker 1>of the promo. It was the camera MIC's catching it.
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't having her hold mic. It wasn't he in
<v Speaker 1>her usual promo voice. It wasn't in any any typical
<v Speaker 1>promo voice where she's speaking for the crowd. It was
<v Speaker 1>if she was only speaking to him and the cameras
<v Speaker 1>happened to catch it. Those are sometimes the most effective.
<v Speaker 1>The way she'd grit her teeth and speak through her teeth,
<v Speaker 1>she wasn't even concerned at least that's how it appeared
<v Speaker 1>that the you know, she was speaking loud enough for
<v Speaker 1>the camera to hear her. That style of promo.
<v Speaker 2>I don't.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if I've seen in uh, I don't
<v Speaker 1>even know the last time I've seen it, it was
<v Speaker 1>just phenomenal, So pats off. Alrighty, we had a women's
<v Speaker 1>World championship. All right, I'm sorry, a non title match,
<v Speaker 1>but the women's world champion we had take on Roxan Perezo.
<v Speaker 1>Stephanie Vatkaire takes on Roxanne Perez and this match, let's
<v Speaker 1>see here, I don't I don't have a time here,
<v Speaker 1>but Stephanie Vicaire ends up beating Roxanne Perez and the
<v Speaker 1>finish was Perez setting up for a move on the ropes,
<v Speaker 1>but she shoved her, but Vicaire shoved her at Rodrigue,
<v Speaker 1>who caught her. Vacer went up top dove onto both heels,
<v Speaker 1>and then Vacaier got Perez back inside the ring and
<v Speaker 1>hit Angel wings for the victory. Immediately, Roxanne, I'm sorry
<v Speaker 1>Rodriguez attacked Stephanie after the match, but lo and behold,
<v Speaker 1>thank goodness, we had the you know, the knight and
<v Speaker 1>shining armor. Nikki Bella ends up running out to make
<v Speaker 1>the save. She put Perez down and then Rodriguez caught
<v Speaker 1>her with a really good looking, almost scary looking boot,
<v Speaker 1>and then Vacaier went up for a springbird move and
<v Speaker 1>slipped and she came up holding her knee, and Vicier
<v Speaker 1>and Bella cleared the heels from the ring. I haven't
<v Speaker 1>heard anything about an injury regarding Stephanie. That was clearly
<v Speaker 1>by accident, and those ropes do get slippery with sweat
<v Speaker 1>and everything else. I'm not faulting Stephanie for slipping. That
<v Speaker 1>is a high risk move and the risk didn't pay
<v Speaker 1>off in that case, and it looked like crap. The
<v Speaker 1>announcers didn't try to pretend it looked good either, which
<v Speaker 1>I appreciate. You just added to the list of botches,
<v Speaker 1>the long list of botches on the women's side of things.
<v Speaker 1>They are cursed with horrible looking botches over the last
<v Speaker 1>couple of months, So just kind of add this to
<v Speaker 1>the pile. I'm not saying the women's divisions on a
<v Speaker 1>massive decline or anything. It's just it's just noteworthy. I
<v Speaker 1>don't even know what to do with the information other
<v Speaker 1>than to just continue to put it, you know, in
<v Speaker 1>a pile, and then do something with it. But the
<v Speaker 1>women lately have had some really just bad looking botches
<v Speaker 1>that you can't even cover for. I mean, they're embarrassing.
<v Speaker 1>But in this case, though, it was more of perhaps
<v Speaker 1>sweat on the ropes or something, or sweat on her
<v Speaker 1>foot or something slippery. It is a difficult move to
<v Speaker 1>pull off. But more importantly than the botch is that
<v Speaker 1>the knee of Stephanie Vauquierre that she was kind of
<v Speaker 1>limping on. Hopefully there's no serious injury. All right, we
<v Speaker 1>then have let's see backstage. Lyra was talking with Adam
<v Speaker 1>Pierce when Bailey showed up. Bailey said she hadn't slept
<v Speaker 1>since they won their match the week before, and Bailey
<v Speaker 1>said she knew Valkyria's birthday was coming up, and Valkyia
<v Speaker 1>wanted to know what Bailey had in mind, and Bailey
<v Speaker 1>told her it would be wouldn't be a surprise and
<v Speaker 1>she'd find out next week. So cliffhanger, massive cliffhanger in them.
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure many of us are going to do next
<v Speaker 1>week in next week, specifically to find out what the
<v Speaker 1>surprise is that Bailey has for Valkyria's birthday. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>that is a that is a hook. So Paul Haman
<v Speaker 1>then entered the entered the dressing room, bron Breaker and
<v Speaker 1>Bronson Reid were upset. Breaker said they arrived at the
<v Speaker 1>World Championship and that now they don't even have spots
<v Speaker 1>in the Battle Royal. Haymond told them the story of
<v Speaker 1>Brock Lesner, saying Lesner listened to him and beat the
<v Speaker 1>Rock to win the title. Hayman said Lesner got four
<v Speaker 1>hundred thirty four days out of the title reign because
<v Speaker 1>he listened to him and him and also said to
<v Speaker 1>Roman Rains listened to him, and everyone remembers Roman's title reign,
<v Speaker 1>so he's just trying to, you know, encourage them. So
<v Speaker 1>we then have a Battle Royal spot here for the
<v Speaker 1>vacant World Championship, and we do end up with Ellie
<v Speaker 1>and Knight, Jimmy Usso, Jay Us Dominic in aj styles
<v Speaker 1>as you'd expect, and we did have again, as I
<v Speaker 1>mentioned at the top of the show, the big spot
<v Speaker 1>that everyone's talking about, the one that's going to be
<v Speaker 1>the most discussed, is Jay eliminating both Ellen, Knight and
<v Speaker 1>Jimmy to advance. And yes, Dominic you're thinking might have
<v Speaker 1>a chance, which was funny that he also was eliminated,
<v Speaker 1>but the refs didn't see it, so he put himself
<v Speaker 1>back in and gave himself a second chance. That's the
<v Speaker 1>kind of stuff they need to do with Dom. It's perfect,
<v Speaker 1>that's exactly what they need to do. It still didn't
<v Speaker 1>pay off, as Dom ends up getting eliminated again and
<v Speaker 1>jay Uso wins and jay Us could say, hey, you know,
<v Speaker 1>I had to take both of you out. I had
<v Speaker 1>to sacrifice you because I saw an opportunity to take
<v Speaker 1>out Night and it might not have gotten that opportunity again,
<v Speaker 1>So he could sell it that way. But Jimmy was
<v Speaker 1>none happy, you know, non too happy about it. And
<v Speaker 1>La Knight was I think an odds on favorite to
<v Speaker 1>win that when you go in, but when you look
<v Speaker 1>at the logic of it again, I know a lot
<v Speaker 1>of people are mad that La Knight didn't win. And
<v Speaker 1>once again, it's never seemingly the right time for La Knight.
<v Speaker 1>We've been saying that for now years since the La
<v Speaker 1>Night movement began, and it has had some staying power.
<v Speaker 1>I have to say I'm very pleased over the last
<v Speaker 1>couple of years of how well the fans have continued
<v Speaker 1>to push for La Knight. It's gone in ebbs and flows,
<v Speaker 1>but generally it's been pretty steady and pretty significant. So
<v Speaker 1>I do feel though because he just he's just the
<v Speaker 1>timing for him has been the worst part. The timing
<v Speaker 1>for him has been his achilles heel. It's just always
<v Speaker 1>seemingly that they're well, they're aiming for Cody, you know,
<v Speaker 1>they're aiming for Seth. Well we got cm punk back.
<v Speaker 1>It never seems to be that things aligned for Night
<v Speaker 1>or it's oh, it's now, it feels like it's Night's time.
<v Speaker 1>It feels like they've always just got something bigger going
<v Speaker 1>on at the worst possible times for La Knight, and
<v Speaker 1>by the time that they align things for him, it
<v Speaker 1>feels like he's gonna get injured or something, some kind
<v Speaker 1>of divine intervention that will take place where some cataclysmic event,
<v Speaker 1>we finally get Night in the picture and then he
<v Speaker 1>gets injured. Not putting it out there in the universe,
<v Speaker 1>but I guess I already did. If you think my
<v Speaker 1>words actually have an effect on something like that happening,
<v Speaker 1>you're probably listening to the wrong show. But I do
<v Speaker 1>agree in the sense that La Knight has seemingly been
<v Speaker 1>pushed to the side for other talent. I mean he has,
<v Speaker 1>actually it's not seemingly, he just has. But when you
<v Speaker 1>look back, Okay, what would you have done with Knight?
<v Speaker 1>What would you have done with Knight in the past years.
<v Speaker 1>I mean you had the Cody Road story that took
<v Speaker 1>up two years. He was completely cannibalizing the entire championship
<v Speaker 1>that Roman Range was holding. He couldn't go after Roman.
<v Speaker 1>He did get one chance at Roman, but we all
<v Speaker 1>knew it wasn't gonna happen. So you can't say that
<v Speaker 1>la Knight has never had the title opportunity. But how
<v Speaker 1>about this. He's never had a title opportunity where you
<v Speaker 1>actually believed he could win. See that's the difference. Things
<v Speaker 1>for Elia Knight have never shaken out where you're like, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>he's got an opportunity here, but it's an opportunity you
<v Speaker 1>believe that, hey, he might have it, he might we
<v Speaker 1>be able to do this. Man, that hasn't happened yet.
<v Speaker 1>It always is like, well, so and so just won it,
<v Speaker 1>or well they didn't get to this program yet, and
<v Speaker 1>Knights a holdover Knights just a stepping stone. When is
<v Speaker 1>it gonna be Allaen Knight's time? I don't know. Is
<v Speaker 1>it ever gonna be l A Knight's time? I don't know. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>he's not a young guy in the pantheon of wrestlers.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, he's in his I think he's in his
<v Speaker 1>early forties. It might be my age, and congrats to
<v Speaker 1>him for looking incredible, but it doesn't seem like they're
<v Speaker 1>going to ever make him the guy. They might give
<v Speaker 1>him a fun little run or run that he can
<v Speaker 1>have a few months with as a title. You know,
<v Speaker 1>I was world champion, and the fans will go crazy
<v Speaker 1>and it'll be a fun, feel good time, But it
<v Speaker 1>doesn't seem like they're ever going to build anything around him.
<v Speaker 1>He's just a nice B plus a minus guy that
<v Speaker 1>you might be able to make champion for a small
<v Speaker 1>amount of time, but he's not a centerpiece. That's how
<v Speaker 1>I feel that WWE feels about him. Okay, we could
<v Speaker 1>be totally wrong, but so far, all the evidence points
<v Speaker 1>that way. In the way that he's been booked for
<v Speaker 1>now several years, like we've had a large sample size
<v Speaker 1>and this is just another opportunity. Even though Ellien and
<v Speaker 1>I has been main eventing for now a long long
<v Speaker 1>period of time. He's been the main events of Raw,
<v Speaker 1>he's been the main events of SmackDown, but he hasn't
<v Speaker 1>gotten that big win yet. And when we look at
<v Speaker 1>the most recent story this past Monday, we had Jay
<v Speaker 1>us win. Okay, well, what would happened if you had
<v Speaker 1>Ella Knight win? Again? If the story is to turn
<v Speaker 1>Jay heel and it's seemingly where they're going, you don't
<v Speaker 1>want to put Elle Knight in a position to get
<v Speaker 1>booed against CM Punk, which in all likelihood probably would
<v Speaker 1>have happened to have been a mixed reaction at best
<v Speaker 1>for La Night. Cmpunk's just a bigger star than Ella
<v Speaker 1>Knight is kind of indisputable. Fans want to see at
<v Speaker 1>least see them Punk at or Run with the Belt,
<v Speaker 1>just like they want to see La Night. So I
<v Speaker 1>don't think they wanted to have the fans be forced
<v Speaker 1>to decide to choose to boo l A Knight, And
<v Speaker 1>I think if they had to choose, they probably would
<v Speaker 1>side with Punk. Again, it depends on the city. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>if they're in Chicago, forget it. Anywhere else it would
<v Speaker 1>be a mixed reaction fifty to fifty, probably sixty to
<v Speaker 1>forty leaning for Punk. But you don't want it to
<v Speaker 1>the fans like that. It's easier to boo Jay Uso,
<v Speaker 1>who had a just for all intents and purposes, a
<v Speaker 1>kind of a bad title run. He has been booked
<v Speaker 1>terribly since WrestleMania. He has had really bad promos. Jay
<v Speaker 1>Uso has been kind of flat, his character has been
<v Speaker 1>up and down. It's easier, much easier to boot jay
<v Speaker 1>Uso than it is La Knight, So you can't put
<v Speaker 1>La Night in that spot. Timing again is not right. Sorry, Night,
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, you gotta do it when ideally there's a
<v Speaker 1>heel champion, we just had one. But now my guess
<v Speaker 1>is that seam Punk's gonna win it, but you could
<v Speaker 1>have Jay. You could certainly have jay Uso win it.
<v Speaker 1>And there's a rival we built in with jay Uso
<v Speaker 1>in La Knight. But if they go with Punk winning it,
<v Speaker 1>do you really want Punk versus Night? Do you really
<v Speaker 1>want that? And also, I don't think Night's in the
<v Speaker 1>equation because regardless of who wins it at my Saturday
<v Speaker 1>Night Man event, whether it's Punk or that's Jay, you
<v Speaker 1>know that their first few title defenses that the minimum
<v Speaker 1>are not going to result in them dropping the belt,
<v Speaker 1>especially coming off of a seth Rollins injury. That's going
<v Speaker 1>to annoying a new champion. You can't have the title
<v Speaker 1>keep bouncing, So I don't think that that's a good choice.
<v Speaker 1>Could they do it? Sure? I mean, anything's possible in wrestling.
<v Speaker 1>They can write the story, they can control the narrative.
<v Speaker 1>But I think you're going to have La Knight for
<v Speaker 1>me my money, not be involved in the title picture,
<v Speaker 1>or at least be a real threat to the champion,
<v Speaker 1>whoever it's going to be Jay or Punk until maybe
<v Speaker 1>Rumble time and again you could look to the Royal
<v Speaker 1>Rumble for La Knight possibly being one of the top
<v Speaker 1>five picks. So yeah, let me, don't you guys think?
<v Speaker 1>You can always email me mail bag at ww podcast
<v Speaker 1>dot com with your thoughts on La and Night. And
<v Speaker 1>if you're furious that he didn't win, but if you're
<v Speaker 1>understanding why he didn't, or if you're just like man,
<v Speaker 1>this is ridiculous. He should have won. This is why.
<v Speaker 1>This is why I'm all open to that too, So
<v Speaker 1>email us mail bag at podcast dot com. I'm interested
<v Speaker 1>to hear what you guys think about that, So down
<v Speaker 1>a looad for me here on the raw review this
<v Speaker 1>forty five minute review. I'll be back in a few
<v Speaker 1>days with your mail bag, of course, and in between
<v Speaker 1>we'll throw some retro shows in there, as we always do.
<v Speaker 1>And maybe some other stuff, So head on over to
<v Speaker 1>Patreon though, get yourself an AD free experience at patreon
<v Speaker 1>dot com slash ww podcast, and we'll talk soon.
<v Speaker 2>Thanks for listening to the WWE podcast. Don't forget to
<v Speaker 2>subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss
<v Speaker 2>a show, or head to wwepodcast dot com and for
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<v Speaker 2>next time.