Mailbag Episode #178: Listener Predictions for WrestleMania 40

The WWE Podcast

It's that time of the week once again to let the listeners have a voice on the show. What do you like or dislike about the current WWE product? Want to rant? Ask me a question? The floor is yours! Tweet us @Wrestling_Audio or call and leave a voicemail at 518-952-0247.

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2024-04-04 71 min Transcript

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Transcript

This is WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre, and you're listening to the WWE podcast.
Stop the show, the one that everybody wants me. God tell you somebody,
I'll stand three sixteen, So just us, your ass is modern,
you can acknowledge me. Well, let's get into the mailbag everybody on this
Wednesday, April third, twenty twenty four. We'll get through as many as
we can here, maybe an hour or less. You know, as always,
I can't promise that those who aren't patrons get on the show, but
if you are a patron, we'll get you on the show for sure,
and get your email read. Voicemails are questionable, That obviously is with WrestleMania
week. There's a lot of submissions, a lot of voicemails, so we're
going to do the best we can. I mean, that's all I can
say. But I would like to welcome some new patrons. Jay Martinez,
Big Time, Blaze Bishop. Thank you so much, guys. I hope
you enjoy your free trials and maybe you'll end up staying with us. All
righty, well, with just a few days until WrestleMania, let's see what
your predictions are, your thoughts all of your all of your projections as we
get towards WrestleMania, and let's start with let's see here, We're going to
start with Kyle. Let's start with Kyle. He says, Welcome to WrestleMania
forty week. Go to the predictions here, and these are doing You're going
to do this by giving us your elked order, match match order, and
the first off WrestleMania Saturday, re Ripley retains the Women's World title against Becky
Lynch. You think that Awesome Truth is going to win the Unisputed tag titles
from Damian Priests and Finn Balor, New Day, Austin Theory and Grayson Waller
in the New Catch Republic in the ladder match. So wait, I'm not
sure which one you mean, but anyway, So you think Ray, Maisterio
and Dragon Lee are going to defeat Santos and Dominic in the tag team match.
Jayu So defeats Jimmy and there's a small tease of Jimmy wanting to rejoin
Jay and leaving the Bloodline. Next, you think Bianca, Naomi and Jade
Cargill are going to defeat the Damage Control in the six women tag team match.
Sammy wins the Icy title from Gunther. Chad Gable comes out to celebrate
with Sammy, and then next Monday on Rod Chad takes the credit for Sammy
winning and wants the first title shot and finally pun intended the main event,
Drew Mcatyre interferes Roman and Rock defeat Cody and Seth to make the night too
main event a bloodline rules match. So okay, you know, it's hard
for me to comment on this other than to say okay, because I don't
want to give away my predictions for the show we're doing in a day or
two. All right, WrestleMania Sunday. First off, I think throughout this
match, Seth will be in a lot of pain from night one, and
Drew wins the world title from Seth. After Seth puts out a handshake,
Drew low blows him and beats him up to stop getting involved in the main
event and also writing him off TV to take some well earned time off.
I like that. I think, you know, honestly, we could definitely
use a Seth rollins break. I think that would be very beneficial for him.
Seeampunkong commentary. Stares down Drew with a once I'm cleared, I'm coming
for you in that title kind of look. Next, Bobby and the Street
Profits defeat Carry Across an AOP and because the Final Testament have dominated a lot
more of this feud, La Knight beats AJ Styles and the grudge match and
it makes AJ go mad An attack Knight, making this a multi match program
and a rematch set up for Backlash. Next, Logan Paul retains, you
think Kevin gets pinned, but not Randy. This will set up a title
match at Backlash. At first, it's just Cody and Roman, but then
after about ten minutes or so, Rocks, Solo and Jimmy start getting involved.
Cody has the odds sacked against him, seth is two hurt to come
out, and then the glass shatters, Stone Cold comes out. He's brawling
with the Rock. Then Jay Usso comes out and starts brawling with Jimmy.
Solo is attacking Cody, giving him a Samoan spike, and then John Cena's
here. John Cena gets his vengeance on Solo from Crown Jewel last year and
beats him up, and then Cody gives Roman three crossroads and goes for the
pin. One two three. You know That's something that I think we should
think about, is how many crossroads is Cody going to have to hit in
a row to beat Roman last year? I mean, I can't tell you
how many, and your finish can't be that powerful if you have no faith
in it, that one can't put your opponent down, that you have to
buy choice do three in a row on top of the fact that the crossroads
looks exceptionally weak and you are clearly the one taking the bump, not your
opponent. I mean, it's not just Cody Rhades, the babyface character.
I despise. I don't care, I don't care who this is who's doing
this maneuver. It looks awful. I kind of felt the same way about
Sister Abagail with Bray Wyatt too, but that's another story. As far as
John Cena goes, the thing is stone Cold's the bigger star here. You
want Stone Cold to be the guy that comes out at the end, the
very last guy that you want to save the best for last. And Steve
Austin would get a bigger reaction than John Cena would. And that's saying something,
But I think that that's a strong prediction. Kyle and let's see Cody
wins and ends Roman's reign, and after Cody celebrates, I don't think we
get a Roman Rock breaking up yet. I think it will be more teased
when Rock returns from his upcoming movie. But after this match, Jimmy Usso
shocks everyone. He tells Roman, Solo, and Rock he loves all three
of them, but he's sorry Jay's his brother and refuses to leave his side
of her again. Thanks Kyle, and Yeah, I mean there's a lot
of I feel like these similar predictions coming, but let's get to more of
them as we go to Let's see another patron and this Thomas Franco haven't heard
from in a while. He says, it's been a while A been a
long time since I last wrote in, but I feel like I couldn't miss
out on writing this week during the biggest week in the world of wrestling.
I find the build of wrestle MANI this year ten times more intriguing than the
last year is when we had Vince still in charge. I'm super excited for
the tag match with Cody and Seth, Rock and Roman, and the world
title match between Seth and Drew, the two mid card title matches and the
six pack ladder match for the tag titles, to name a few. The
more the time passes, the more I think that whatever the outcome on Night
one, Roman is going to retain on Night two. I just think WWE
believes that Hogan's record is an important milestone for Roman to beat, and the
bloodline story has still drawing great numbers. I'd love to see a world where
Cody wins because I've seen what a Roman title reign looks like. I think
it's time for a chain the Rock Cody, Rock versus Cody for the title.
That SummerSlam can happen and we can start building for Rock and Roman and
next year's WrestleMania and from there since it doesn't need the title involved. Also
looking forward to seeing all the cool entrances to the wrestlers and any surprise debuts
and returns. That's all for me. Keep out the great work as always
in the best podcast in the wrestling space. Thanks Thomas. So there's a
lot here I mean that I could dive into. I think, with the
interest of time here and getting through emails, I won't, but I'll pick
a couple of things. As far as the build, Yes, I would
agree. It is much more intriguing this year. Some of it has to
do with Vince, some of it has to just do with the talent and
how far a lot of the talent have come now. Is your projection that
a prediction that it's going to be Rock and Cody for the title at Summer
Slam after Cody wins. I think there could be something to that because WWE
has stumbled on this heel Rock character that I think is more successful and more
fun than than anyone expected it to be. And I wouldn't I wouldn't switch
back to the typical Dwayne Johnson playing the Rock character. Yet this is a
much more fun, vicious, invested Rock than that typical Rock we've gotten over
the years of him popping in and out. So do they want to turn
Rock babyface right away? I mean maybe maybe not. I personally wouldn't because
there's something they have here, and sure, Rock's filming a movie so for
a few months he won't be here. That's okay, But it feels like
the Rock should be on SmackDown every week now. It feels like when he's
not, there's a big hole that's left. That's how quickly the Rock has
just slid back into the product and felt like he belonged right away. It's
amazing. But Rock and Cody at SummerSlam, why not? I mean,
I'm okay if they keep the Rock heel through that point. Here's what I
don't want. I don't want to heal Rock versus a babyface Roman at next
year's WrestleMania. There should be no title and it should be simply Rock versus
Roman, the match we were supposed to get this year, except it's just
a year later with the heel being Roman. End of story. You know
I wouldn't mess around with it, all right, Thank you so much,
Thomas. Next email and I don't see a ton of emails, But let's
go to Let's go to Matt Matt Brown. He says, I'm listening to
your raw review talking about the judgment Day's lack of community communication being a part
of why they break up. Do you think a failed cash by priest because
he didn't do you think a failed cash by priest because he didn't talk it
over with the group will finally be what really breaks them up? Also,
when Sammy said he was afraid is Rocky is from Rocky three? When Rocky
is on the beach with Apollo and his wife Adrian. At least that's how
I took it. Since Rocky is from Philly, that's a good analogy.
Here's a sad piece of truth from my life. I've never seen the Rocky
movies. I know a lot of you just said to yourself, what how
I know what Rocky is. I've seen scenes, I know what it is.
I understand the PREMI okay, but I've never ever watched them through ever.
So it's not that I don't want to. I just never got the
motivation. Too. There's a lot of other movies too, like The Lord
of the Rings. I know what it is. I know like the famous
lines. I know enough to make you pretend I've seen them if you've never
met me. But I have never ever seen Lord of the Rings all the
way through. I've never seen Star Wars and see if anything else I can
say that will shock you into oblivion, that pretty much covers the really bad
ones that you just are going to be shocked to learn. I'd have never
seen all the way through, or even like more than half an hour at
a time. I fell asleep during Lord of the Rings. It's too damn
long and I've seen Harry Potter. Okay, there you go. Does that
does that make it better? Does that make it worse? I've seen all
the Harry Potter movies. I love them all, So maybe I just made
it worse. But as far as your Rocky three analogy, that's probably right
versus my analogy. But you're right that the failed cash is a very real
possible ability. It's a very real post and in fact, that could be
the straw that breaks the camel's back for the judgment day. I think that's
a good call. PS. We'll be in attendance for smack Down the Hall
of Fame both nights or Mania roth Termania and would love to talk to you
if after the events, have a great rest of your week and enjoy WrestleMania.
I appreciate that, Matt. I mean, here's the thing, I've
got so many people asking me to do that. I will just say this.
How about you. You can choose whether you want to send in a
voicemail giving us quick notes, or you want to just bullet point some of
your in person your in person perspectives and things that you want to make sure
that people know about when you attend the event that you'd think you would find
interesting for listeners. So how about that simply because I just I don't have
the time. I've already got a co host lined up for almost every single
show moving forward, so it's nearly impossible. You know, It's just it
is. But I'm jealous. You have a hell of a wrestling week coming
up. Good for you. All right, let's get to another patron Nick
from Eugene. He says, happy Mania week, with the mail bag undoubtedly
flooded with predictions, I'm gonna swerve, all right, let's do it first.
I'm loving the idea of a faction developing between Naomi Bianca and Jade.
I fear it will be short lived, but perhaps they get a good run
building to the inevitable Jade. He'll turn to set up Bianca versus Jade at
WrestleMania forty one. It's a good point. Yeah, that's a very temporary
tag team. Certainly, they're not meant to be a faction of any kind.
They are three single stars. They don't get anything out of being together
other than just two have wwe be able to say, oh, look,
for the first time ever, three black women are you know, in a
six woman tag team Matter and or Victorious at WrestleMania. Look fine, yeah,
I know what they're trying to do there, And you're like, hey,
it's cool. But to me, I'm looking at merit. I'm looking
at accomplishments. I'm looking at resume. While you know, some people look
at it as oh my god, the skin color isn't that cool. It's
like, I honestly, I'm not blind. I'm not gonna pretend I don't
see it. But it's not the focal point for me. I don't care
if they're all green. I don't care if they're all gray. I mean,
just to me, it's how good are you? What's your focus?
What's your mission? How can I connect with you as a character? But
I know why they're doing it anyway, I would agree they're not meant to
be together as a long term team. Okay, with nearly every faction in
the company running off the same formula of three to four men and one token
woman, how about we infuse some of the reverse. Wouldn't it be fun
to see montees Ford join up with three women in a faction? How about
maccine to pre Tiffy Time and Chelsea Green with a little otis armcandy. I
like that that would change things up, you know. I really like here's
the problem, though, what are they gonna do? Because the reason that
they do it one of not all of them. But I think the reason
that they have the token woman is because they were able to inflict a punishment
on the men while the men can't retaliate, and the men will protect a
woman, while if a man is in a woman's group, the women are
fighting with other women, and the men can't do anything physically to the women
because while they're women and they have an invisible shield around them. I think
that's why they don't do it. Second, I watched the heart wrenching Bray
Wyatt documentary. My best friend died abruptly of a heart attack late last year,
so the family dealing with the fallout of Wyndham's death really hit home.
Very tough stuff. It did leave me yearning for the possibility of Bo Dallas
coming back as either Uncle Howdie or the final version of the fiend that they
created. I hope he is able to embrace the ladder. I hope fans
get on board. I hope a returning Alexa Bliss joins him, maybe with
Braun Strowman too. That's kind of my early thoughts are that they'll pay tribute
to Bray at some point during the show with his brother coming out to his
entrance music, holding the lantern, maybe in the fiend mask and you know,
paying tribute to Bray Wyndham Rotunda. So I think that's a very real
possibility WrestleMania, and one that I think would be done in good taste.
But as far as a real faction goes with Alexa and Braun, yeah they
could. They could. Here's what I don't want them to do. I
don't want them to constantly talk about Bray. I want them to have their
own identity. But I'm built on the foundation of Bray's ideas and Bray's mission
because I think a lot of times, like with Eddie Guerrero, look,
he was an amazing wrestler, one that I think is underappreciated and we really
didn't realize how good he was until he left. But there are so many
people who use the Eddie Guerrero shimmy and the lie, cheating and stealing type
of personality and the Three Amigos, the Three Suplexes, and the announcer is
telling us so well, Selena Vega is here only because or no, Sasha
Banks is here because her hero Eddie Guerrero inspired her. And like you know,
there's too many people trying to live off the legacy of Eddie Guerrero.
I think it's getting a little bit much, given it's been nearly twenty years,
which is crazy, all right. Third, I can't avoid one prediction.
Rock is going to get Mama Rhodes tears on the weight belt on Sunday
night. I should say Cody is He'll wipe her cheek as they celebrate his
victory, rub them on the belt and throw in Dwayne's face. As much
as I hate the current version of Cody, I'm all in on him finally
getting the belt off of Roman and w we moving to the next into the
next decade. I mean, that's how a lot of fans feel. And
here's what I put this out on Twitter, and it was a serious question.
I said, you know, what if Cody loses, What if a
lot of people are threatening that, you know the city's gonna burn like Philadelphia
is gonna burn down, They'll be the riots will ensue. I really,
do you know if all that chaos and I'm sure people are being just over
dramatic and not serious. But isn't it more interesting? You can't, even
even if you are the most hardcore Cody fan and you just live and die
by every word he says, you can't deny that a Cody loss would be
infinitely more interesting than a Cody victory, not to say Cody's victory of victory
and stopping the streak and Roman's title is over and all that his title reigns
over. That is sure, it's a moment, and it's a fun moment.
It's one we all expect, heavily expect, and it will be a
fun, heartwarming finish to the story of blah blah. Right, But you
can't tell me that people wouldn't be more intrigued by, Oh my god,
Cody lost. Are you fing kidding me? I actually think that would get
people talking more, and I think it would actually increase viewership. While people
are saying the opposite. You know why it wouldn't be the opposite because people
would lose their minds and want to see what WWE does. It wouldn't stop
people from watching the product. I think it would have the opposite effect.
So to me, The more interesting, although very unlikely scenario is Cody losing
again. Fuck mean, just think about it. Think about it. It'd
be amazing. It would be amazing. I mean, my jaw would be
on the floor because I would loved It would be like the equivalent of the
Undertaker's streak ending at WrestleMania thirty. No music, it would just be that
kind of dead silence, people's jaws on the floor, like they'd be booing,
but just more shock. I think it's widely expected that Cody wins here,
but boy, oh boy, it's got me so intrigued. Thanks Nick.
Okay, let's talk to another another patron. This is Hungry Pup.
Thank you. You love my show. I appreciate it. Go easy on
Pharaoh. It's on partial to puffs. Hey. Look, I'm also not
really a dog person. Okay, I know a lot of you like I
don't. I don't, I don't don't. I don't actively dislike dogs.
But when people call dogs their children, I think you've gone too far.
Oh he's just he's like my child. No, you're just a caretaker of
the right. Like children mean that they are born and bred from you,
or you have adopted them as human beings. Dogs are neither. You adopt
dogs, but they're not human beings, and children are a little bit actual
human being. Children are a little bit more complicated to take care of than
a dog. Okay, but now I just anger at all the dog lovers
out there. Again, I don't hate dogs. I'm just not like I'm
not just I don't seek them out and go, oh my god, I
don't. That's another story for another day. However, I have nothing against
Pharaoh. I have something against Cody bringing Pharaoh. See that's the thing.
I'm not attacking Pharaoh. I'm attacking Cody's character for being such a dork and
like a little girl. Again, I will break it down the This is
the best way and the best just simplified, condensed reason why I don't like
Cody's character. He's a feminine man, you know. And it's not to
say, oh, mascom toxic man, toxic masculinity. No, no,
no, no. First of all, masculinity and is inherently not toxic.
You can have toxic people, you can have toxic femininity, you can have
toxic anything. If there's if it's not the right flavor or the right if
people's personality traits are toxic, but being a dominant, just man's man,
I know, has been vilified in today's society, but I think there's actually
a lack of it. Everything's been feminized in a lot of ways, and
I think Cody's character has been feminized, whether he realizes it or not.
He's a soft, smiley, manicured hair is just so bright white teeth.
Sued on bringing his dog with a stupid handkerchief, I'm going to surprise he
didn't bring a man person, have a Chihuahua inside of it. Maybe carry
a Starbucks cup while he's added and head to Target on Saturday instead of a
WrestleMania. I mean, he fit right in. So that's why that's generally
why I hate it. I don't like his character is because he's a feminine
soft man. Sorry, don't relate to that. Not to say that I
laugh or look down upon people who have emotions, but when you're talking about
pro wrestling, it's just it's weak sauce, dude. So anyway, let's
move on. I'm going off the deep end. I'm loving the Sammy's Ain
program, and I'm from Philly and I'm feeling the Rocky vibes love that Gable
as his coach fingers cross Sammy's Ain wins and becomes Icy Champ. Then Gable
turns heel and faces him next. Yeah, I really I'm strongly on that
side as well. I think that's very, very likely and I'd love it.
I mean, look at the match that Gable and Sammy's Ain had at
the end of the Gauntlet match a few weeks ago. Incredible, incredible.
Not loving the rock and all the language. It's hard to watch with my
nine year old son. The blood in Mama Rose is kind of lame.
We hope Cody and Seth beat him down, but doubt it. Last point,
Ricochet's killing it more Ricochet less Pete Done. I have nothing against that
either. Look, I don't love Pete DoD. I also don't love Ricochet.
I know Ricochet probably for most people, especially younger, like if you
have a nine year old son, I'm sure maybe I'm guessing gravitates towards Ricochet.
He's very flashy, he's very fun to watch, but he's very shallow
character wise. So that's where I think for me, it's a disconnect.
But you're a nine year old son, Yeah, I would agree. That's
got to be tough because you see the Rock come on and he's doing brilliant
things, but the language, he's really TV fourteen rock on a TVPG product.
He's being given special privileges. Was I actually don't care about. And
I know the talent are angry about it because he's being given all these special
privileges that they don't have. To me, it's a whole bunch of when
when when. But when you're that big of a star, too bad,
you get to just call your shots and that's just the way it goes.
I have nothing bad to say about that. But if you have a younger
child watching with you, I absolutely understand why it's uncomfortable. You have to
just kind of turn the volume down and you don't want to, and that
I would agree with that. See, that's the drawback of the Rock character
doing that, is you have to kind of shield your kids from some of
the language and the actions that he's doing because it's not PG, you know.
So that's true. So thank you, Hungry Pup, thank you for
becoming a patron. Let's talk to another patron. Let's go to Anthony Capella.
He says, good morning from California. This should be fun. Less
than a week away from many and I still can't wait for Saturday. The
Rock's heel presence just looms so large. The attitude was really something to behold.
Seeing the random post about the days of Romans run having me ask why
him how did Rock or Austin not make their way into the top five runs
of all time? Even now, Roman just looks like the brother carrying his
toy belt from Walmart when he's next to the Rock. That being said,
these are WWE history making moments. We'll see picks and VIDs from this year's,
previous year, and years to come in promos and commercials. I think
they've mishandled Bailey's Royal rumble win and her Mania match that they should have just
had the beat downs from Damage Control closer to Mania to make them more impactful.
So I'll pause there so I know that you're saying that Rock or Austin
how did they make their way into the top five? To me, it's
about the impact of the run. What did the run mean? What did
you do while you were on your run? What was the you know,
what was the scene like? What was the environment like? Who did you
work with? Had you headline pay per views, you know. Like to
me, it's not necessarily the length. I mean, I'm not all about
a one day title reign like Caine back in nineteen ninety nine after you beat
Austin at King of the Ring. But I also was it ninety eight ninety
eight. I also understand that you know when you're looking at all time greatest
title reigns. To some people, length of the title run is the determining
factor of how great it is. But again, I don't think that anyone
would deny that Stone Cold Steve Austin still had a bigger impact than the Rock
had a excuse me, a bigger, larger, more wide ranging impact on
the business than did Roman Reigns. Now, Roman reigns in his own right
has really done an amazing job in his transformation from the big dog to the
tribal chief. But I think overall the Rock in Austin single handedly have transformed
the business. Where Roman reigns, I don't know if he's transformed it.
He's certainly been the face of it, though, So greatness shouldn't be measured
by number of days. In my mind, a lot of it is intangibles.
It's you can't put a number or you can't measure it. You just
feel it and you know it. But all right, as far as the
damage control stuff, let's continue. Uh, let's see the damage control is
going to get demolished this weekend. Three mid sized ladies going and give it's
going against three physical monsters in Bianca Jade Naomi good luck. Yeah, definitely.
I mean, if anyone thinks that Jade Cargill taking the pinfall on Saturday
Night, I mean, you just you haven't watched pro wrestling more than ten
minutes. But I do agree that the Royal Rumble win for Bailey has been
kind of lost in translation here and I feel bad for her, but they
can make up for it and having a kick ass match on was it Sunday?
I think they're on Sunday? Yeah, wrestle Mania Sunday is the Women's
WWE Championship match, So okay, I'm still reserving the judgment day judgment on
Jade. Will she be all show and no go If she ends up being
just on some picks on social media and can't wrestle, fans will suss that
out pretty fast. Becky has improved, but the whole daughter thing is stupid.
How many wrestlers have kids and having met grandparents and YadA YadA. She
can say whatever she wants about Rhea and her bum, but doesn't She still
doesn't change the fact that her character is stale as f and after this program
with Rias shall struggle again. She should focus on her character instead of Rhea's
bum. I hope you all hear the glass shatter at some point this weekend.
Only one month till my free mug. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for everything you say, Lackey's till next time. Yeah, thanks,
Antony. Okay, so you're you're comparing me to Rush Limbag, got
it? Now, let me just say rear Ripley doing the bum thing Rea
even here here, here's the one thing that I continue to say, but
I'll say it because it's true. I'm not going to go on a dietrap
about Rehea Ripley and her outfits. Okay, I've already done that, but
I will say that when anybody does something that's on a house show non televised,
they know very well that everyone in the audience has a camera in their
pocket. Everyone has a high definition camera in their pocket, and anything they
do at a house show like that will be posted all over social media,
So it is kind of a de facto televised event because it's going to be
seen by millions of people, even if it's not televised, because of the
fans and attendance that'll post it. And so she knowing that she knew what
she did would be posted everywhere. But when something like that is done,
you know what the effect is going to be. It's going to be the
attentions on you. But then we're supposed to be punished for noticing. See,
it's the crime of noticing these things. When something like this happens,
we're all supposed to just either ignore it, pretend it didn't happen, or
just quickly acknowledge it and move on and goh, it's just silliness and that's
it. And to a lot of people it is. But you know,
again, the sin of noticing today is one of the biggest sins you can
commit. I mean, like truth, there's a lot of truth that's being
it's kind of warped in our world, and when you speak the truth,
suddenly you're the enemy. Truth is under attack. I'll stop there because I'm
going off the rails. But I will give you that that. Becky Lynch's
character has been in a bit of a stale bread type of pattern for a
while now. It's she's been over the last several months slowly climbing out of
that hole, but she's not out of it. Well. The only way
to get her out of it is to not give her the title, but
to give her something different. I don't know if turning her heel again is
the right move may but I also don't know what the solution is. I
really don't. Becky's gotten into this comfort zone of her character and the fans
feel it, and it's it is stale, but the crowd still reacts positively
to her. It's gonna be interesting to hear the crowd on Sunday or Saturday
whatever I think Saturday, right, So all right, let's continue. Let's
go to Dino another patron. He says, Hey, Matt, it's d
from Glasgow. All right, let's go. Your email is not too long,
so we'll we'll rock it through here. I noticed that you do that.
I noticed you do that really annoying thing that Michael Cole used to do
and incorrectly pronounce the name of the city it's it. It's not glass Cow.
It's pronounced Glasgow. Oh whoops, well I'll see there you go.
Well, I will say phonetically, it's looks like it could be glass Cow.
Okay, Glasgow, Glasgow, got it, Glasgow. I felt that
I need to point that out. Well, thank you. It's like when
people say Albany. You know, I'm from Albany, New York, but
people say Albany. That's how you know they're not from here. No one
in the world. There's nobody that lives here that says Albany. It's Albany,
and I hear even the announcers sometimes make that. You know, it's
annoying, right, Okay, breaking news just coming in. On Friday June
fourteenth, SmackDown will be alive in the Ovo Hydro previously the Ssee Hydro.
And then Saturday, June fifteenth, Scotland gets its first ever pl I got
super hyped that immediately realized. Friday June fourteenth, that's the same night Scotland
plays Germany in the opening game of the Euro twenty twenty four I don't know
what that is? Is that soccer or to you guys, I'm like,
what is that is? That soccer. I'm guessing at soccer because that's the
only sport that really matters in Europe, I guess. So I'm guessing it's
some kind of you know, soccer tournament. Sorry, in the United States,
soccer is like not even in the top five sports here. No one,
like no one here watches soccer, really no one. So when I
hear people talk about soccer other than the FIFA World Cup, all of a
sudden, everyone becomes patriotic and wants the United States to win. And then
when the when their country is kicked out of the tournament, they try to
burn their country down again. Right, but suddenly during the tournament everyone's on
their country side. It's it's funny, okay, So I'll need to record
smack Down and watch it later that night. Now, I don't want to
be salty about it, but they must not have a clue of how big
of a game this is. For Scotland. No one's going to smack Down
over our first game in the Euros The game is an eight pm kickoff on
that Friday, so they'd be wise to move the event by a week if
they really have a brain. And also because the majority of Scotland will be
hung over on the Saturday too. We know we probably won't get Roman and
we won't get the Rock either, which is really disappointing. Anyway, I've
signed up for the pre sale, so let's hope I'm lucky enough to get
my hands on a ticket and hopefully I'll be in attendance the Saturday and at
Saturday night. Either way, I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, they
clearly have no clue. I mean, either they don't have a clue or
don't care that there's a soccer game going on. They're not really understanding how
much of a big deal it is for you guys, and or they're just
saying, yes, screw it. If they were going to go, well,
they'll go. It's an overseas show, and they'll go because they know
if they don't they're not going to have an opportunity for a few years.
I still think that even though it's a big game, you guys will probably
still sell out. There'll be enough people who will still go. Really,
I mean, just based on the WWE's confidence and every time they go overseas.
You guys are crazy. You guys are you make in the United States
crowd just look like a children in comparison. You embarrass us straight out.
Okay, is there any update on the change about pay per view preview prediction
shows. I remember last year that you mentioned that the preview prediction shows were
the only going to be available for those on the SmackDown level above, wondering
if this is the plan so I can come in time for that coming into
effect. No, so I know I mentioned that at one point that,
ah, the preview prediction shows are only going to be for SmackDown and above.
No, I'm still going to keep it for all patrons. Right now,
our exclusive shows for the SmackDown chain above is the the after dark shows
that we produce once a week. But there will be more shows coming up
that are exclusive to higher tiers. We're working on that, but I think
the preview shows and the pay per view shows, and those are the ones
that are in really high to I think would be shooting ourselves in the foot
to not allow everyone to listen to those, So for now, the plan
is to keep those for all patrons. So well, last thing, my
prediction is that Roman walks out of Mania with the championship, and I'm going
to kick back and enjoy all the reaction online afterwards. A bold, brave
prediction, some might say, But I guess we only have to wait a
few more days to find out. That is a hell of a prediction,
my friend, know one that I don't think you're right about. But I
I as you heard me a few minutes ago, I would love to see
that much more than a Cody victory for so many reasons. But I just
don't think it's in the cards, even though it would be beautiful to watch,
would it not. Okay, let's move on here. Let's go to
another patron kaiser. Let's go it, says hey, Matt Hopeball as well.
I'll be heading to Philly this Friday with my mom for Mania. Super
excited. We leave Friday afternoon from London and get to Philly in the later
afternoon. So if timing works out, we'll probably get a last minute ticket
for the SmackDown Hall of Fame show. That would be cool to see.
Man, you guys are making me so jealous anyway. Well, save flights,
safe travels, Safe flight anyway. Just wanted to ask a quick thought
on the whole Cody Roman Rock saga and whether or not it was truly a
work in the first place, or not. Initially, my assumption was that
Cody giving up his spot to the Rock was genuine, a genuine plan moving
forward, and that WWE thought the crowd would be so excited for the Rock
Roman match they would accept Cody giving up his spot. Then with the backlash
that followed, they decided to scrap that by turning Rock heel and going back
to the Cody Roman match. So this is a Oh, let me continue,
then I'll give him my thoughts. So you said your opinions starting to
change. I'm starting to think this may have been the plan all along,
that they knew there would be massive outrage from the fans when Cody gave up
his spot. My reasons for this are how they focused the camp on Cody's
sad face when they gave up in the main event spot, rather than having
him look happy with the situation, and how easily the Rock took Cody's spot
from him. Surely, if WWE wanted no backlash, they would have found
a way for Rock to take Cody's spot in a way that maybe would have
had him more endearing to the fans. I'm not sure exactly how maybe Cody
getting beat down and the Rock thinking that maybe he would have had more,
maybe would have been more endearing to the fans. I'm sorry, maybe Cody
getting beat down and the Rock makes the save. Even with the backlash online,
WWE themselves could have kicked started that we Want Cody movement. All it
takes is getting a couple hundred people with the hashtag going online before it spreads.
Anyway, just wanted to get your thoughts on this. Either way,
it's been an amazing Roha Domania and getting a heel Rock has been incredible.
Whether it was the plan all along or not looking forward to Mania, would
love to let you know about it at my ex mailbag. Thanks Kaiser.
This has been a topic of Converse station, you know, especially a month
or two ago when this whole thing went to hell in a handbasket in a
good way. I don't think this was the plan. I really don't,
because here's the thing. They tested the waters when the Rock, if you
remember, came back on raw January first, and he said that he wants
to go to a bar and sit in a booth, or maybe he should
sit at the head of the table, remember that, and the crowd went
crazy. That was a litmus test. Everyone cheered. Everyone cheered until they
realized, wait, whoa whoa, whoa whoa wa wait a sec. Cody
just won the rumble. Rock said he wants Roman. We've been waiting for
Cody to finish his story. He got screwed last year. He's been on
a two year journey since returning at WrestleMania thirty eight and declaring that's what he
wants to do is win the belt for his daddy. We want Cody.
They they can try to claim ownership of the movement. They can try to
claim and pretend to me that that wasn't their plan. That would be a
very roundabout way and risky, risky, unnecessarily risky way to get to Cody.
A Rock being booed by the fans. I mean the fact that the
fans were talking and have been asking for Rock Roman for so long, and
then have the fans by design of WWE's by design from WWE to get the
fans to turn on Rock. I don't think they're that smart. I really
just don't. I don't think they're that clever. I don't think I don't
have the faith in them to do that and it's no slight on Triple h.
The reason I'm saying this is I don't think they would want to do
something like that. That wasn't their mission. They just had Cody be the
nice guy and step aside, did they. I mean, that's what he's
his characters about. And yeah he looks sad, but I think he genuinely
was what's he supposed to do? I mean, you know, he just
had his WrestleMania spot taken from him, of course voluntarily like a fool.
And then, uh, you know, the fans are like, what the
hell? And you know this is ridiculous, this is stupid. He won
the rumble and it all makes sense. So no, I don't think it
was by design. But ultimately does it even matter? I mean you know
what I mean, like, does it even really matter? We're getting an
amazing version of the rock. This is a better version than I could have
ever hoped for. So thank you so much, Kaiser, save travels.
Okay boy, oh boy, let's go to DJ Kuzmo. Let's go to
your predictions. He says, it's here wrestle Mania forty. And before you
get carried away, I must mention for the one millionth time we missed.
Yes, I know you miss mister and missus the rest casual Westling fan.
I told you I have no clue where they are. They fell out the
face of the earth, and that's the honest truth. That's a god's honest
truth. I've reached out, like I told you a couple months ago,
but I don't want to keep, you know, messaging them like a you
know, a crazy X boyfriend or girlfriend. So they're always welcome to come
back if you're listening. Guys, you know you have a spot here anytime
you want it. But I have not heard from them. There's no bad
blood. They just fell off the face of the earth. I think they
had life happened to them, and I understand, but I agree we want
them back too. I totally agree. All right, here are your predictions
and zero potential spoilers. You're gonna get Jade, Bianca and Naomi winning Awesome
Truth winning the atisputed tag titles. Ray and Dragonly win against Santos and Dirty
Dom. Bobby Lashley in the Street prophets Aka The Pride will win in the
six man Philly Street Fight tag team match. We have La Knight beating aj
Styles, ju So beats Jimmy You so Gunther retains the ICY title, Logan
Paul retains the US title, rear Ripley retains the women's title, and Bailey
wins the WWE Women's Championship. Wow. A lot of retentions, A lot
of retentions, three retentions and one title change according to you on night one?
Now or not night one? That's not all night one, but so
far now here, here we go. Here's the last two. You think
that Seth is going to retain, but something else happens after the match.
Hmm, okay, your prediction is Cody and Seth will win the tag team
match with the help from I don't know you're being you added emojis. I
don't know what the emojis mean. Last, and certainly not least, your
prediction is Roman Reigns retains. Really okay, DJ, your bold prediction.
You're thinking that Roman Reigns retains. It doesn't seem likely, but okay,
DJ cousmos signing off, enjoy Stand, nxt Stand and delivers one night two.
Have a great weekend and see y'all in the Discord chat. Yes,
everybody, if you want to go to the Discord Chat and you want to
become a patron. Thank you for the plug there, DJ, you transition
that nicely. If you are a patron, you get priority placement in the
show, you guarantee yourself a spot in the mail bag, and you have
a Discord server chat area where you can talk with all the other patrons throughout
WrestleMania. And right now there is a one week free trial available on Patreon,
so you can get everything for free for a week and then just bail
and not pay a dime. Or you can also join us on Apple Podcasts
for a week for free. No better time than to go. Right now
is the best time to get everything for free ad free. And I think
it's a really it's no risk to you whatsoever, so no cost nothing.
All right, thank you, DJ. Let's talk to Let's talk to Charlie.
He says, what's up y'all? Or what's up all you fellows and
lady fellows on this good old planet earth. Charlie from Milwaukee. All right,
here are your predictions, Charlie. Night one miss and our Truth win
the Raw attack, Well they're not raw? Did the UNO speeded tag titles?
While Judgment Day wins the Smacktown tag titles. So you're thinking they're gonna
split it. I don't think so, I mean to me, while they
haven't actually created a physical unification of the two belts, which is just stupid.
To go back to two tag team titles where they can't even manage one
very well, I think is not a good idea, but not impossible.
Number two Gunner beat Sammy to retain the Icy title with sammy' Zan's He'll turn
on Chad after the match. Jay beats Jimmy with Rikishi announced before the match
starts as a special guest referee. Dragonly pins Dominic Mysterio, giving him and
Ray the win. Jade Cargill and Bianca Naomi beat Damage Control, with Jade
pinning Dakota Kaye, Okay, you're getting too specifics here. Let's okay.
Fair. Ria Ripley beats Becky retain the Women's championship. Hopefully this leads to
Bianca Bellair versus Rea Ripley. At the main event of WrestleMania forty one,
the Rock and Roman beat Cody Roads and Seth Rollins, and then Night two
La Knight beats aj The Final Testament beat Bobby Lashley in the street profits Bailey
beats Eo, Drew McIntyre beat Seth to become our new World Championship, and
then after the match, Preachs attempts to cash in, only to be met
by Sam Punk. Roman Reigns beats Cody Rhodes once again. Also, Matt,
you asked last week how we were able to keep my five year old
niece up for the show. Simple, we gave her a bottle of mountain
dew before we went in. That's all for this week. Ooh, smart,
smart, smart man. I need to really find a strategy because I'm
worried that if I bring my five year old he's just gonna collapse five minutes
in and we're gonna have to go home. It'll be a whole waste of
time. So okay, So caffeine and sugar check, got it, smart
man. Okay, let's let's see this. Okay. I don't know if
there's any other patrons. If there are no there are there are? I
keep lying to myself and lying to you guys. I'm a terrible person.
All right, let's talk to the next patron here as we am trying to
log in. So going in, I'm going in, I promise Okay,
the first message up here, this is directly in Patreon we have Let's see
Justin. Justin says he'll be in Philadelphia all weekend for WrestleMania, so I'll
report back next week. Thank you. I appreciate that you're gonna be at
Night two, and honestly, it feels like Night one has some better matchups.
I hate to say it, but Pride versus Final Testament is pre show
worthy at best. That's my bathroom break match. Yeah, it hasn't been
exactly a whole lot of build to this, off on on off. It's
not, you know, not exactly an exciting match, but maybe we'll be
surprised. You think guntherer retained And on Monday Night Raw, he cuts a
promo on how many how on how no man is worthy of beating him and
Brock Lesnar's music hits. I'll be in attendance for that show and would love
to see the Beast return. That's really yeah, I keep forgetting about Brock
floating out there. Sadly, all signs point to Cody defeating Roman a night
too. With the constant beatdowns, Cody's getting weak after week. It seems
obvious that the underdog will be victorious. And if that happens, I'm torn
on living in the moment and cheering for him and enjoying every moment with the
fans with the other fans, or walking out and disappoint I'll let the liquor
decide. Uh, that's a great way. Yeah, boy. You know
there's a lot of times in my life where I let the alcohol decide,
and the alcohol always chooses a very usually regretful option, but sometimes ones that
make memories. Right, there's an after dark episode for you. Finally,
the only security guard who gets a pass from the Becky Rhea segment is the
one who got kicked in the nuts. I know from local and Indian local
indie shows and he goes by the name Joey Ace. He's the five star
stud and his incredible as an incredible athlete airs any local wrestling fan to check
out his work anyway, enjoy wrestlingy weekend. Well, thanks justin so okay,
cool, so the indie shows. His name is Joey Ace. Check
him out, guys, if you get the opportunity, if you're interested in
the indies. Cool. Let's talk to another patron and Kareem quick one.
He said, the two Man Powertrip versus the Bloodline, Roman reigns in the
Rock who wins? Enjoy WrestleMania Boyle Boy, the two man power Trip,
Rock and Austin, or rather Austin and Triple H versus Rock and Roman.
Who wins? Well, if this was done and when they're both in their
prime, probably the two Man Power Trip. I mean, you forget how
good those two were and how short we got the rug pulled out underneath that
two man power Trip at the top of his game. Austin just freshly turned
heel still at the top of his game. And yeah, I think the
two man power Trip wins. Oh that's a fun one to think about.
All right, let's talk to David David Any David B. He says,
Hey, I gotta send in my mail bag here. Yes, here we
are. Hope you and everybody listening are doing well and are excited for Mania.
I'm assuming everybody is sending predictions in for WrestleMania, and I know I'll
hear your opinions in the preview and predictions, so so I'm going to send
in something different. Here's my wish list for the next year of WWE leading
into WrestleMania forty one. Okay, I like that Dominic gets a singles push,
maybe a stint with a mid card belt. I just think it's ridiculous
one of your hottest heels is a borderline jobber. That's a good point,
you know. It is very frustrating that Dominic is not He's treated like a
essentially an in house enhancement talent. But it also is a testament to him
at how much people hate him that he's able to continue getting the heat Ida
has. I mean, typically when a heel is treated like a jobber like
that, the fans just go on, well, yeah, why even bother
hating him because he's just gonna get beat And I don't really care. But
for the fans to continue to boo him at the level they boo him,
that's true hatred, even though you get your ass kicked all the time.
That's that combination is almost impossible, all right, a women's wrestler. Women's
wrestlers to have more screen time to develop their characters, and the tag team
division taken seriously, Dave, I have to say, I'll believe it when
I see it. Sadly, I'm all for more time for the women I'm
all for the tag team divisions on both sides of the aisle being taken more
seriously given more time, but the consistency has been the enemy of both of
those. You'll see it one week and then it's gone for five weeks,
and you'll see it pop up and there's no consistence and see there. So
I have my doubts on that the Rock and Solo to leave TV sometime after
Mania, and when they return, they turn on Roman and Rock reveals he's
training Solo to be the next travel Chief, so we can have Roman versus
Solo in the middle of Rock Roman leading to WrestleMania forty one. There's no
doubt that Solo is eventually going to turn on Roman or vice versa. Groups
are created to break up. That's the only reason that they're created. They're
created to break up and then make single stars out of the breakups. But
Roman turning on Solo does it happen this year? Maybe? I mean,
Solo has yet to do anything significant. He was a monster in this kind
of like soft spoken, heavy for Roman, and then he just started losing
match after match. So I think Solo has been hurt and taking time off
will help him Tiffany Stratton money in the bank winner. I would love that
Judge un Day imploding, leading to Summers having tension rising after losing the tag
belts Damien's cash in at pl before running the bank to subdue the tension,
and then this eventual lost cause a full implosion. Sorry if this is long,
but one more Cody Roads not to finish his damn story. Have a
great week everybody. Hope you enjoy WrestleMania. That's it right there, Okay,
so thanks, thanks David. I think that Judgment Day, I think
there's a trend here. The final straw that will break the camel's back,
as I've said, will be the failed cash of Damian Priest. That is
a perfect way because they're building to the Judgment Day breaking up. They've set
the groundwork over the last several weeks. I think it's coming and that could
be the one that totally blows the whole thing up. All right, Let's
talk to Freeman and he says, the excitement for the weekend is overwhelming.
I can't wait to see what happens. I have a lot to write about,
but trying to keep it short. Yes, please, thank you.
I appreciate that We've got a couple more emails after this, so I appreciate
that. First, can Priest use money in the bank on the tag titles?
We all see Judgment Day losing the titles here, but with tension in
the group rising, if they are all told they need gold to be in
the Judgment Day and lose the tag titles, then it would make more sense
for them to keep the contract, or to use the contract to keep his
emballish place in the Judgment Day secure while others are forced to move on.
Maybe we see cash in an awesome truth at Backlash. I think you're overthinking
it a little bit because the cash could, in theory be used for the
tag titles, It could be used for any championship in WWE, and it
would actually be something that has never been unprecedented. WWE loves their first ever,
this first ever that But to me, Damian Priest, I think would
be as a character, he would be kind of done dirty if they did
that, because to me, Damian Priest is ready to move to that next
level, whether it's as Intercontinental Champion, which I'd love, or if it
is in the World title picture. Tag titles feel a little bit, a
little bit beneath him right now. It's kind of like been there, done
that. Priest has felt like a breakout star, and I think he's ready
to move on to the next level. With Judgment Day's tensions rising, it
seems clear they are moving Dirty Dom closer to Legatto del Fantasma. I like
to move. It adds to the character. But what do you do with
Ria's in Dom's relationship which has been magic to watch. I've seen suggestions that
Dom gets caught cheating with Ria, with Electra Lopez causing the move and an
instant few between Ria and Electra, which would turn Ria babyface in the process,
But personally, I feel Ria is above her in terms of matchmaking.
What are your thoughts. I don't need to see Ria in any kind of
love triangle. I mean having Dom cheat on Ria. That's actually not a
bad idea because it does continue to put heat on Don for being a slimy,
sleazy sob Ria's already a baby face, So turning her baby face,
she's already there, you know, even though she's in the Judgment Day,
she gets cheered. She's a babyface in the heel group, kind of like
Sammy's Ain was in the Bloodline last year. So but I like that where
Dom defects but cheats on Alexa or cheats on Rhea Ripley with Electro Lopez.
That is a fun little segment to think about. But I also want the
focus to be on Rhea's dominant victory. I don't need to necessarily be on
the side story. And in closing on this topic, I will say Rhea
and Dom's relationship doesn't feel as hot as it did. It feels like it's
been not talked about much. There hasn't been a ton of focus on it,
and I'm not asking for focus on it, but it feels like it's
falling apart anyway organically. Lastly, and this is slightly off wrestling, but
why does WWE field the need to group people by race? New Day All
Black Damage Control puts Oral the Orientals together, and an Into Sheer puts the
Asians together, not mentioning LWO in their whole gimmick. Then Naomi Bianca and
Jade, and rather than putting Bailey in the mix, which would make narrative
sense, they put another black woman in there and grouping them by race.
Again, it seems very common in American media, so I was wondering if
all the others saw this as well. Seems like race mixing is taboo on
American TV and especially in WWE. I just don't understand why the heck of
a question, A loaded question one that I'm going to try to stay on
topic with now, there's no doubt about it, and I will acknowledge this
that you know, there has been instances of racism in WWE in decades past,
not recently, specifically when Vince's was in charge, many many many years
ago. Again not in then the early two thousands, and you know,
not during its heyday, but more of the early wrestling days where you know,
African Americans had time breaking, a tough time breaking into the industry and
in that kind of thing. But it is I wouldn't call it racists today,
you know, like to say that it's racist to put their racist together.
It's not racist, although that's a word that people love to throw around
and accuse each other of as if it holds any weight anymore. I mean
calling somebody racist, Sorry, it doesn't carry any weight anymore because everybody just
uses it. But I wouldn't actually say it's racist. Racist means you discriminate
against somebody based on just how they look. To me, they're just grouping
people of similar ethnic backgrounds and racist together. So I know some people,
Oh, it's racist when they do that. No, that's not what racist
means. They're grouping just similar ethnicities together, not racist. But it also
is very common. Like you said, it's not taboo, I would say
it's taboo. It's just a pattern. Now, why do they do that
well in real life? Just this is just reality. People of similar background
backgrounds and ethnicities tend to gravitate towards each other and be friends. And and
there's when people get married and date. Typically, of course, not all
the time. We know that there's a ton of interracial couples in the United
States and very successful ones and all of that. Yeah, of course,
but typically by the numbers, by stats, raw data. Typically people do
date and marry within their own race. Typically, there's nothing wrong with that.
It's just the way it is, you know. And yes, there
are a lot of interracial couples, but majoritaily people date and marry within their
own ethnicity. So it's not that they're really not they're actually almost mimicking what
real life is like. But I would also agree that it would be nice
to see kind of a mix every once in a while. And it's it
is a weird topic to talk about because it's like, well, what's wrong
about this? Is there anything wrong about this? Or is it just simply
an observation that WW puts people that are up all the black people. Oh,
here we go with Bobby Lashley industry profits. They're all black. You
got Jade and Naomi and and Bianca all all three black women. And then
you've got, of course the Orientals, right, the Asian women with the
Koda Kai Eosky I'm sorry, not Dakota Kai, but Eoski, Osca and
Kyrie saying all together. You know, so there it is. It's a
pattern. It's not it's not by accident. But again, I wouldn't say
it's it's racist. It's just that's how they've grouped them together. And there
is some truth outside of wrestling, in real life that would support the narrative
that, Okay, yeah, they typically are you know, do they do
have Typically your friends are in your same race, right, or a lot
of your friends are in mimic your ethnicity or race, So they're not not
It's not that they're doing something unprecedented, but I would agree that it's just
kind of like, well, you know, a little bit of mix would
be nice once in a while. I would agree it's a weird topic,
right because I don't know what the objective is here. It's weird. It's
it's weird in the sense that they just always seem to do it, you
know, always. So all right, let's get to a couple more and
then we'll call it a night. Let's talk to Andy Mackie. And yes,
I gave you your shout out. I thought it was an email.
No, although, and didn't you email me? I think you did.
So let's let's take a look at uh at that and uh yeah, Andy,
so you said. Let's see here. I emailed you about a month
ago getting about getting me back into wrestling for the first time since O four
and still absolutely loving it. My daughter is enjoying and loving it as much
as I did. I'm even letting her stay up and watch WrestleMania both nights
with me as well. We're in the UK. Well cool, hell,
I even went out and bought us Cody Rhoades T shirts to wear. I'll
send the picture across the email. I know you love his dog. Yeah,
please don't do that. I mean, I don't want to. I
mean I'm saying that sarcastically. That would be cool to see, you guys.
It's always fun to see, like what the fans look like. I
should say fans listeners, you guys aren't really fans. It feels weird to
say fans of the show. Listeners of the show is more appropriate. Unfortunately,
over here in the UK, the weekly coverage of Raw and SmackDown isn't
what it was back in the nineties and two thousands. It isn't shown on
Sky Sports anymore. It's on a separate channel called TNT Sports, which is
unfortunately an additional twenty pounds a month, which is a lot on top of
paying for Sky Sports as well. So we are getting our Raw and SmackDown
viewings through WWE's YouTube channel, which does a great job of condensing it down.
But I still miss the intros and watching the show in full. But
it's better than nothing, and that's kind of crappy, I have to say.
You know, like WWE, for all of their globalization, can't come
up with some kind of agreement with Sky Sports or you know, that's kind
of unfortunate. I remember the Sky Sports that was the big channel for you
guys, But so I feel fortunate to be in the United States where it's
kind of like I can get it in like four different places. I go
on Hulu, I can get it, you know, YouTube, obviously we
all get it the USA Network soon to be Netflix. But when they go
to Netflix, that should help, right, I would think, Okay.
I showed her the footage from Raw at the end of Cody getting blooded up,
and I couldn't believe how horrified she was. I think I kind of
took it for granted when I was younger watching the Attitude era, seeing wrestlers
get bloodied as it happened so frequently, But the actual segment was fantastic and
enthralling to watch, even though it was our favorite wrestler. I did have
to say to her, though, I'm sure Cody will get his uh,
get him back at WrestleMania. You got be You gotta be a dad,
right, you got you gotta make sure that they're not too sad about it,
So that's just being a good dad. Finally, I think to see
to the Rock in this way was quite alarming. If you cast back your
mind back. You never saw this side to the rock back in the nineties
and two thousands. He's healed times as Rocky Maivia than the corporate rock,
than Hollywood Rock. It was him being healed, but I don't think I
ever saw him being this sadistic and graphic. Thanks for the fantastic shows.
I really enjoyed listening to all of them. Thanks Andy. That's that's what
I'm saying. The rock is an evolved version of a corporate heel Hollywood Rock.
Like, he's not doing exactly what he did back in the nineties and
two thousands. He's not trying to mimic the two thousand and three version of
Hollywood Rock. The music may be partly the same, which is a blast.
His entrances just keep getting better. He has the same throwback vests in
the sunglasses and the Gucci shoes, and it's all kind of a very nostalgic
feel and we all love it. As the Rock says, sit back and
enjoy the ride the rock has taken you on. It's so true. But
yeah, the sadistic part of the rock that we didn't actually get to see
this part, I would agree, this is an evolution of a heel Rock
character, So he didn't just mirror what he did. He evolved and that
is so important in pro wrestling to continue to stay relevant and feel fresh.
So I would agree. Yeah, I think that's a good point to make,
that this sadistic part of the Rock is something we didn't get to see
even when he was a heel for so many years, twenty years ago,
more than twenty So thanks Andy. All right, let's uh, let's see
we got a couple more. Wrap it up? I think one more,
one more as Alex, Alex the French guy is wrap it up. He
says, stop simping too much on Ria Ripley. I said earlier. Rhea
knows what she's doing. She should be appreciated for her gimmick in ability as
a wrestler, not booty wise. You guys, simping over her makes me
want to slap you in the face. She starts to get in my nerves
with Mommy's always on top. Okay, we get it, but WWE is
to blame here. The best program was to have her against Bianca bell Air,
the best women's wrestler in the industry. Bye, guys, yeah,
Alex, listen, Okay, nothing like ending On that note, Ria Ripley,
Yeah, creative is partly responsible, but the gree Ripley still has some
agency over what she wears and does in the ring and does, especially on
howse shows, house shows. There's really no script other than hey, you're
going over, you're winning, you're winning, you're winning, you're losing.
Ria Ripley does a lot of things off script or rather on untelevised shows that
are of her own volition. But yes, I want here's the thing.
I agree with you in principal, Alex. I want to just care about
her gimmick and her ability as a wrestler, and her promo ability and her
mission and her character. Those are the things I want to care about.
But then at the same time, she's saying, well, look at my
ass, Oh, look at look at look at how uh look at look
at my front side? Right oh, Mommy's always on top and she's always
got this sexual vibe and the way she says things, so it's like,
yeah, I want to, But then she's saying, well, no,
also, I'm very sexual look at these things, and it's like, well,
no, no, no, no, you don't get to have it
both ways, and don't tell me. Well, don't focus on that.
No, no, no, no, no, don't do it if you
don't want us to focus on it. Again, As I've said, the
sin of today's culture worldwide, I think, is noticing things that people say
that they and do publicly that when you notice them, you're villaized. You're
villified for noticing things that people do publicly. I'm not. I reject that.
I reject that crap, like you can't do something publicly and then not
expect people to notice, and when they take notice and criticize things you've done
publicly, suddenly those are the people that are villains because they noticed. No,
no, that's not how this works. That's not how this works.
You don't get to do that. You don't get to do things like being
sexualizing your character, which you are overtly doing. And then also say,
well, don't focus on that. I'll do those things, but don't focus
on that. Care about my character, no, care about my wrestling ability?
Hey, I want to, but when you sexualize yourself, willingly stop.
I mean, like, you don't get to have it both ways,
you just don't. I'm not simping over anybody. I'm just observing what I'm
seeing. I'm observing Rhea and others. Rihea is just the face of this
and others who are just simply I think, taking women's wrestling back a bit.
They're doing the very things that put the women in the partly partly.
Look, the company is responsible for a lot, a lot. The company
is responsible for a lot of the mishandling of the women, but also the
women being sexualized. The women did voluntarily, like no one's got an anchor
to your ass. Everything is done voluntarily. No one's actually forcing you to
do anything. So the women are doing some of the very things that brought
them down in the first place, and somehow calling that women's empowerment. How
is it empowering to have a male, predominantly male audience look at you as
a sex object. Tell me exactly how that's empowering. Again, it's not
so to me. Ria Ripley is more intriguing when look, if you are
an attractive woman and you are in good shape, which ninety nine percent all
of the women have to be in good shape, right, almost all of
them outside of certain people that have And yes, I'm talking about Niajax,
but she's not in shape. She's not. I don't think she doesn't look
like the rest of the women, but she has turned that into a positive
for her character. But if you are a very attractive woman, that should
be a byproduct of just you on TV. It shouldn't be something that you
use to further your character unless you're a heel and talking about how beautiful you
are. But there's something that there's a effing between calling yourself beautiful and the
most beautiful woman in WWE, which that's gimmick's been used before, and overtly
sexualizing yourself. Again, this isn't the Attitude era, okay, you know.
And also it's a predominantly male audience. As I've said, it's meant
for male consumption. It still is to this day. Yes it's PG,
but the core audience is still men. Men haven't changed in the last twenty
years. Men are still the same way, wired the same way. So
if you want us to respect women's wrestling, and you want us to continue
to push them forward, which the men are predominantly responsible for because we are
the core audience, then make sure we take you seriously by caring about the
things that aren't the things that got you in trouble in the first place.
Okay, I can't say it any clear. It's not simping. I mean
like we are trying to push them forward, while at the same time,
the people that are supporting, oh, who cares, she's just no,
no, no, you may not care or pretend not to care about the
whole the women who are just overtly showing off their bodies, which has nothing
to do with wrestling, nothing to do with character development, nothing to do
with promo ability, nothing to do with n ring. It's simply just getting
likes and clicks all over social media and now a house shows even on air
on camera now on Raw and SmackDown, you're seeing hints of it here and
there. And there's nothing wrong with beautiful women. I don't want them wearing
potato sacks. But I also don't want them using their sexuality as a part
of their character unless they understand that. Hey, okay, if the men
want to, if the men want to just simp at me and look at
me as a sex object, then I guess that's what I'm gonna be.
But if that's not your goal, then don't do the things that will make
men think of you that way. So hey, I mean, that's all
I got to say about that as a stone cold would stay all right.
So ah yeah, yeah, all right, that'll do it for me tonight,
guys, fun Way and the show. I know that there's a ton
of voice smails. I didn't get to them. I'll try to get to
them at some point, but maybe maybe not. I can't promise anything as
we have a jam packed week of wrestling audio and again I am talking with
Anthony in the next day or two. Maybe I'll attach the voicemails to the
back of that or something. But yeah, so that'll do it for me
tonight, guys. I appreciate all of your support. Consider going to Patreon,
Consider going to Apple Podcast, get yourself a one week free subscription,
get Over the Gang free for Wrestleminnie week, and take care. Talk to
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