WWE Raw Review: Seth & Roman Tease, Fatu Looks Strong Again, Oba Femi's Open Challenge, Sol Ruca Botch

<v Speaker 1>Well, Backlash is just a few days away. WrestleMania is
<v Speaker 1>in the rear view mirror as we look forward to
<v Speaker 1>this Saturday's Backlash event. We can look ahead now to
<v Speaker 1>really next big destination, which I mean a lot of
<v Speaker 1>people's minds is Summer Slam. Money in the bank of courses.
<v Speaker 1>In between, we've got some saudy stuff that we all
<v Speaker 1>know and love, Saturday Night main events in between. It's
<v Speaker 1>a full schedule between now and Summer Slam, but this
<v Speaker 1>Saturday is the first stop on the way to Summer Slam,
<v Speaker 1>if you want to look at that as the next
<v Speaker 1>big one from Tampa and last Monday Night. Last Night
<v Speaker 1>more specifically, push things forward nicely, not without its flaws,
<v Speaker 1>not without its head scratching logic at times, but overall,
<v Speaker 1>I think it did a nice job to push the
<v Speaker 1>event as far as it can go for Saturday. Now.
<v Speaker 1>I know there's also this discussion about what is John
<v Speaker 1>Cena going to do? What's his big announcement. Well, we
<v Speaker 1>know what it's not. It's not going to be his
<v Speaker 1>in ring return of any kind. That's done, over sealed
<v Speaker 1>and gone. You know, he's going to be talking about
<v Speaker 1>the Club WWE, which is simply nothing more than another
<v Speaker 1>way that WWE can try to reach into your pocket
<v Speaker 1>and pull out more cash. That's all that is. TKO
<v Speaker 1>is in debt and they are trying everything they can
<v Speaker 1>to squeeze as much money as they can out of you,
<v Speaker 1>and not just out of us, out of a lot
<v Speaker 1>of stars that are reportedly taking pay cuts or agreeing
<v Speaker 1>to pay cuts, or restructuring their contracts, which is what
<v Speaker 1>apparently Roman Reigns has been offered to restructure his contract.
<v Speaker 1>Now what does that mean for those that aren't familiar
<v Speaker 1>with what a restructuring of a contract is. Say I'm
<v Speaker 1>offered fifty million dollars over five years, and I'm getting,
<v Speaker 1>let's make it easy, ten million a year for five years. Well,
<v Speaker 1>they would have offer you and ask you to be
<v Speaker 1>a good old company guy, and you'll get paid your
<v Speaker 1>fifty But what we're gonna do is backload it so
<v Speaker 1>that for the first three years you get five million,
<v Speaker 1>you get five million a year, and then you get
<v Speaker 1>so that'd be fifteen million by year three. Then in
<v Speaker 1>the final two years you would get what is it,
<v Speaker 1>twelve and a half million whatever it is to make
<v Speaker 1>it up for the rest of the contract. So you
<v Speaker 1>would still get ultimately what you were owed, but it's
<v Speaker 1>going to be backloaded. And I don't know if I
<v Speaker 1>would agree to that. I really don't know, because if
<v Speaker 1>that is truly the case, and they are doing that
<v Speaker 1>to stars, including Roman reigns, and they're doing that to
<v Speaker 1>our higher paid stars with good reason, I don't know
<v Speaker 1>if I would agree to that. You don't have to
<v Speaker 1>you don't have to restruct agree to the restructuring I know.
<v Speaker 1>I haven't seen the actual agreements. I don't know if
<v Speaker 1>they can even just do it without your consent, but
<v Speaker 1>they're asking those stars out of courtesy if they would
<v Speaker 1>do that, and if they say no, they'll do it anyway.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know the fine print. I don't know their agreements,
<v Speaker 1>but most restructuring that happens cannot be done without the
<v Speaker 1>consent of the actual employee or in this case, the
<v Speaker 1>independent contractor. Now if that's the case, boy are they
<v Speaker 1>are just scrapping for cash, which explains why there are
<v Speaker 1>four minute ad blocks every ten minutes at WrestleMania, plus
<v Speaker 1>the thirty dollars a month to get in the door,
<v Speaker 1>plus the ad advertisements all over the place. We all
<v Speaker 1>know that We've seen the Trick and Pony Show. At
<v Speaker 1>this point, we know what to expect from TKO. They
<v Speaker 1>will monetize absolutely everything and anything they can. This Clubwe
<v Speaker 1>is just another revenue source that they're trying to create.
<v Speaker 1>And so who knows what John cen is going to
<v Speaker 1>be doing this Saturday. I don't know. I would imagine
<v Speaker 1>it's something big for Summer Slam or I'm not sure.
<v Speaker 1>I really don't. It really could be anything. Speculation is
<v Speaker 1>the name of the game at this point. So he
<v Speaker 1>has a nice hook though for Backlash, huge name. He's
<v Speaker 1>a guy that's just going to be a glorified cheerleader
<v Speaker 1>for WWE over the next ten years. Probably one of
<v Speaker 1>the biggest stars of all time in wrestling, no doubt.
<v Speaker 1>But he's a glorified cheerleader. That's He's a He's a
<v Speaker 1>cheerleader in a suit for the next decade for the company.
<v Speaker 1>He's mister raw raw company guy, mister corporate. That's You're
<v Speaker 1>gonna see John Cena more in a suit than any
<v Speaker 1>other any other clothing. That's it. So get used to it.
<v Speaker 1>But again, John Cene is gonna be on the event,
<v Speaker 1>so that does draw I think a few more eyeballs.
<v Speaker 1>He's a needle mover and they're trying to get as
<v Speaker 1>much money as I can, clearly, and they have not
<v Speaker 1>been ashamed of that for many, many months now. So
<v Speaker 1>we're going to dive into Monday Night Raw in all
<v Speaker 1>of its glory in a moment. But I want to
<v Speaker 1>welcome you to the show. And if you're new, well
<v Speaker 1>go to Patreon if you want to add free everything,
<v Speaker 1>patreon dot com, slash wwwe podcast, or go to Spotify.
<v Speaker 1>That's a great way to to go. Add free and
<v Speaker 1>check us out. Give us a five star rating if
<v Speaker 1>you like us any of it. If you don't, out
<v Speaker 1>of anger, just give us an anger five star rating.
<v Speaker 1>You're like, fuck you, guys, I'm giving you five stars.
<v Speaker 1>That's the attitude you need to have. So anyway, one
<v Speaker 1>more thing, one more announcement, and that is we have
<v Speaker 1>a new NXT show debuting tomorrow. Mario is going to
<v Speaker 1>be giving us his NXT analysis. He's actually got his
<v Speaker 1>own show. If you want to check that out. I'll
<v Speaker 1>give him a little plug here. It is called The
<v Speaker 1>SmackDown with Mario, but he will be a part of
<v Speaker 1>the team here. Moving forward, again, I encourage you to
<v Speaker 1>check out his show The SmackDown with Mario, but also
<v Speaker 1>check him out exclusively here for the SmackDown or I'm
<v Speaker 1>sorry the NXT review that'll be tomorrow. So new voice,
<v Speaker 1>not just my own new voice, new thoughts, and that's
<v Speaker 1>always a good thing. Let's go into Monnette raw here
<v Speaker 1>and it was held from Omaha, Nebraska at the CHI
<v Speaker 1>Health Center. Roman Rains was shown storming through the back
<v Speaker 1>with GM Adam Pierce trying to keep him calm. They
<v Speaker 1>walked onto gorilla position and Pierce got Rains to stop
<v Speaker 1>and listen before telling him that Jacob wasn't there. That's
<v Speaker 1>when Seth Rollins showed up. Yes, Seth Rollins. Rollins told
<v Speaker 1>Rains that he was in his way and Rollins comes
<v Speaker 1>out nice tease here. Now this didn't escalate beyond this
<v Speaker 1>very just quick moment, but I love this stuff. Now
<v Speaker 1>we've seen Roman and Seth before many times, but it
<v Speaker 1>hasn't in my mind, there has not been a proper
<v Speaker 1>Roman Seth program. Somebody else always gets involved. Last year
<v Speaker 1>it was cumpunk Uh. They got involved at WrestleMania forty
<v Speaker 1>but just in a cameo appearance from Seth getting in
<v Speaker 1>the head of Roman bringing back the Shield music and
<v Speaker 1>outfit just to take you know, get his ass kicked
<v Speaker 1>by Roman in an instant. They never have had a
<v Speaker 1>proper post Shield program. It has it's due, and I
<v Speaker 1>don't want a third party of fourth party's. I don't
<v Speaker 1>need any other party involved, no celebrity bullshit. Just give
<v Speaker 1>me Seth and Roman. There's a treasure trove of content
<v Speaker 1>you could pull from. There's no guarantee because as we know,
<v Speaker 1>w WE or TKO more specifically, who's now announced they're
<v Speaker 1>in charge of creative, which puts Tripulation in a very
<v Speaker 1>interesting position of what the hell does he do if
<v Speaker 1>TKO's actually running creator of what is Triple H's role
<v Speaker 1>exactly beyond just in title only being the head of creative,
<v Speaker 1>but in reality it's the front office run in the show.
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of like being a coach of a heavily analytic,
<v Speaker 1>hands on ownership team because you're just the figurehead, you're
<v Speaker 1>the puppet. They just do what you say. So, in
<v Speaker 1>other words, anybody could be in that position because you're
<v Speaker 1>just doing what you're told. There's no real thinking involved,
<v Speaker 1>there's no creativity, ingenuity, nothing, It's just tell me what
<v Speaker 1>to do. And I'll do it. How high do I jump?
<v Speaker 1>That's what it seems like is going to be happening
<v Speaker 1>with Triple H. So if we get on Triple H's
<v Speaker 1>asked about stuff, are we really going to be on
<v Speaker 1>Triple H? Is Triple H really the guy we should
<v Speaker 1>direct our frustrations with.
<v Speaker 2>No.
<v Speaker 1>The reason is more than likely, especially if it's a
<v Speaker 1>very top tier story, if it's one of the main
<v Speaker 1>stories or a couple of stories running through Raw and SmackDown,
<v Speaker 1>more than likely TKO has their fingers all over it
<v Speaker 1>and Triple H is just the one who is delivering
<v Speaker 1>it and executing it. So kind of a dangerous thing
<v Speaker 1>to do if you're TKO, because now the fans know
<v Speaker 1>where to direct their anger. That's at the company, which
<v Speaker 1>they started to do anyway, once they got word that
<v Speaker 1>it was Area Manuel who started to fuck around with
<v Speaker 1>the celebrity involvement of Randy and Cody, which is now
<v Speaker 1>more to the point here that while Seth and Roman
<v Speaker 1>have a treasure trove of content that's dwarfed by the
<v Speaker 1>content that and history of Randy Cody, and they didn't
<v Speaker 1>even touch it outside of the quick promo before the match,
<v Speaker 1>which was well done, but too little, too late. They
<v Speaker 1>didn't fucking touch the incredible depth of that story, which
<v Speaker 1>is a shame. They relied on celebrity involvement rather than
<v Speaker 1>actual storytelling. That's a That is a crime. That's not storytelling.
<v Speaker 1>That's quick cash grabs. That doesn't maintain and retain an audience.
<v Speaker 1>It's not sustained. A lot of tains a lot of,
<v Speaker 1>but it doesn't sustain or maintain any audience. It's just
<v Speaker 1>a quick Oh wow, this person has a lot of followers.
<v Speaker 1>Hopefully they come and watch WrestleMania. Everybody knows what the
<v Speaker 1>fuck wrestling is. If they're not watching wrestling, they're not
<v Speaker 1>gonna watch wrestling because oh wow, I show speed is
<v Speaker 1>in WWE. What's WWE? Everyone knows what that is. Anyway,
<v Speaker 1>let's continue. I just want a proper Roman Seth program,
<v Speaker 1>and whether it's at SummerSlam or all the way to
<v Speaker 1>Nextra's WrestleMania. This was a nice quest. Hey, we didn't
<v Speaker 1>forget they're on the same brand. I like it. It
<v Speaker 1>could be as immediate as the next program that both
<v Speaker 1>of them are in. After Roman gets past Jacob and
<v Speaker 1>Seth gets past bron Breaker, they could be the next
<v Speaker 1>ones up. It could very well be a hey, we're
<v Speaker 1>about to go to this, or it could be hey,
<v Speaker 1>quick tease for many months down the road. Either way,
<v Speaker 1>you know what, I want a proper one on one.
<v Speaker 1>Don't give me the other bullshit. There's rumors of of
<v Speaker 1>you know, Moxley coming back, Dean Ambrose. We'll see, all right. So, boy,
<v Speaker 1>I've only got through the first paragraph of Raw. Not
<v Speaker 1>a good pace. So Seth showed up. Bron Breaker quickly
<v Speaker 1>attacks him from behind, and he hit him over and
<v Speaker 1>dropped him At ringside. A bunch of people came out
<v Speaker 1>to try to break them up. Break Or roughed up
<v Speaker 1>the security guards. Rollins gets in the ring and break
<v Speaker 1>her in past them and break her ends up, of course,
<v Speaker 1>spearing him because that's what he does. He just spears people,
<v Speaker 1>and Seth was left laying We then got Finn Balor
<v Speaker 1>a footage from last week's Raw, a Finn popping up
<v Speaker 1>backstage when in warning Roxanne Perez about the other Judgment
<v Speaker 1>Day members. We then get a live look into the
<v Speaker 1>clubhouse of the Judgment Day and live spoke about Or
<v Speaker 1>spoke with Roxanne while Dom JD and Roquel stood by
<v Speaker 1>and Morgan asked Perez what Balor was doing in the
<v Speaker 1>clubhouse last week and why Perez didn't tell her about it,
<v Speaker 1>and Roxanne said she made it clear to Balor to
<v Speaker 1>eve and never come back. Morgan made Perez promise she
<v Speaker 1>won't keep secrets from the Judgment Day family, and that
<v Speaker 1>was great, nice little I think teased to yes, Ay,
<v Speaker 1>Roxanne Perez split Morgan, I think is going to turn
<v Speaker 1>on her. She's the manipulator, she's the straw that's stirring
<v Speaker 1>that whole Judgment Day drink, and she's really the lifeblood
<v Speaker 1>of that entire group. At this point. It's not a
<v Speaker 1>diss on her whatsoever. You know me, I've I felt
<v Speaker 1>the Judgment Day should have dissolved years that's not hyperbably
<v Speaker 1>years ago. But Morgan is somehow still making this a thing,
<v Speaker 1>and I love her work, So yeah, I'm not going
<v Speaker 1>to not going to use her as a vessel of
<v Speaker 1>frustration because I like her work. I just don't agree
<v Speaker 1>with the concept of the Judgment Day still existing. So
<v Speaker 1>we have Finn and JD McDonough in the match here
<v Speaker 1>the opening match of Raw. The match went almost twelve minutes,
<v Speaker 1>with JD beating Finn Balor because we had Balor. As
<v Speaker 1>the finish, here goes Balor backed into a corner for
<v Speaker 1>a shotgun dropkick, but live Morgan climbs the ropes and
<v Speaker 1>distracts the ref Morgan tosses the ring belt to Roxane,
<v Speaker 1>who hits Baler with it, and McDonough had but Balor
<v Speaker 1>before getting the victory. So McDonough gets a very rare victory.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I don't know has McDonough one what's his
<v Speaker 1>I got to look at his win loss record. It
<v Speaker 1>exists somewhere on the internet. JD. McDonough's record has got
<v Speaker 1>to be like a two hundred record for using baseball metrics.
<v Speaker 1>It's gotta be horrible, all right. But McDonough gets the victory,
<v Speaker 1>and I have no problem with that as it protects Balor.
<v Speaker 1>You want to see him get revenge. He's still feuding
<v Speaker 1>with the Judgment Day. You have Rock Sande who may
<v Speaker 1>or may not eventually defect. There's some stuff going on
<v Speaker 1>here that keeps your interest, I think mildly, at least
<v Speaker 1>for the Judgment Day. All right, more hype for the
<v Speaker 1>Hulk Hogan documentary. I've actually been watching a bunch of
<v Speaker 1>stuff on the WrestleMania eighteen match with Hulk Hogan in
<v Speaker 1>the Rock. I don't know how that's somehow been programmed
<v Speaker 1>into my algorithm lately, I don't know our algorithm. Algorithms
<v Speaker 1>are always very interesting because sometimes I feel like it
<v Speaker 1>reads our minds, or it feel I feel like it
<v Speaker 1>hears you. It'll bring up something that I didn't even
<v Speaker 1>ever look at, and all of a sudden it's there.
<v Speaker 1>But I was talking about it, maybe like you know,
<v Speaker 1>my wife or something the day before, and then the
<v Speaker 1>next thing you know, it's like my in my algorithm.
<v Speaker 1>It's like, what more evidence that we're either living in
<v Speaker 1>a simulation or our phones are listening to us or both.
<v Speaker 1>But we have let's see, I'm trying to not go.
<v Speaker 1>I'm scamming through the entire run of Raw courtesy a
<v Speaker 1>Pro Wrestling Net. Thank you to those those guys over
<v Speaker 1>there who do a great job. We got Coal hyping
<v Speaker 1>Backlash for Saturday. We got a two hour pre show,
<v Speaker 1>a video package then recap the angle with Jacob Otu
<v Speaker 1>and Roman Reigns from last week. Logan Paul was in
<v Speaker 1>the dressing room with the Vision while bron Breaker entertained
<v Speaker 1>off theory by holding his nose while mocking seth for
<v Speaker 1>sounded like a duck, and Paul Hammon came in and
<v Speaker 1>asked Breaker if Rowlins was still breathing. Breaker said he was,
<v Speaker 1>and Logan cut it, and so Joe Hendry wouldn't be
<v Speaker 1>if Hayman let him get his hands on him. Hayman
<v Speaker 1>said that's why Theory would face Henry instead. Hayman explained
<v Speaker 1>that Breaker was nearly suspended for attacking Rollins earlier. All right,
<v Speaker 1>we then get Penta and Jevon Evans taking on Ethan
<v Speaker 1>Page and Russev a match that went almost eleven minutes.
<v Speaker 1>Ethan Page and Russev get the victory after Page distracts
<v Speaker 1>the ref Russev's Urinagi slam Penta on the broadcast table,
<v Speaker 1>and then Russev tosses Penta back in the ring, and
<v Speaker 1>that's where Ethan Page suplexed uh and pinned Penta. So
<v Speaker 1>also a nice win here, continuing the momentum for yes
<v Speaker 1>Ethan Page, but also Russev, who again just before WrestleMania,
<v Speaker 1>they decided to make him look like a threat and
<v Speaker 1>a monster, and they've continued that. They've continued it to
<v Speaker 1>a lesser degree. But Ruscep's not a role. That's where
<v Speaker 1>he needs to be. Yes, Ethan Page, he's new to
<v Speaker 1>the scene, he needs it too. But if you get
<v Speaker 1>to utilize Russev, who's a bonafide star, Let's be real,
<v Speaker 1>He's not a household name by any stretch, but he's
<v Speaker 1>a bona fide star that can bring value to your program.
<v Speaker 1>And they've done almost nothing with him outside of the
<v Speaker 1>last month. So I don't know what this is leading to.
<v Speaker 1>It could be, Yes, a Intercontinental Championship run for Russev.
<v Speaker 1>Let's just hope that's the case, at least in my mind.
<v Speaker 1>So good match. I enjoyed this, okay soul. Ruka was
<v Speaker 1>shown walking backstage while Cole hyped her contract signing segment.
<v Speaker 1>We then had Anna Pierce in the ring and said
<v Speaker 1>that he was a coat when he was a coach
<v Speaker 1>in NXT. His favorite days were when blue chip, can't
<v Speaker 1>miss athletes signed raw or SmackDown contract. He said, one
<v Speaker 1>of those days is today, and he set up a
<v Speaker 1>Ruka highlight package. She made her entrance, joined Pierce in
<v Speaker 1>the ring and congratulated her and handed her the contract.
<v Speaker 1>Rucas looked at the contract and then too the crowd
<v Speaker 1>while the fans chanted her name, and she said it
<v Speaker 1>would feel good when she signed it. Becky Lynch comes out.
<v Speaker 1>Lynch got in Pierce's face and said she was told
<v Speaker 1>that this would be her allotted time for her celebration
<v Speaker 1>of greatness. Pierce asked her who told her that. Lynch
<v Speaker 1>said it didn't matter, but it was a very reliable source.
<v Speaker 1>Bruka asked Lynch if she was done. Lynch said she
<v Speaker 1>wasn't done and boasted about being a New York Times bestseller.
<v Speaker 1>And Rucas said not everything is about Lynch, and she
<v Speaker 1>said she knows who Lynch is and what she's accomplished,
<v Speaker 1>but she didn't expect to find out that she's exactly
<v Speaker 1>what everyone says she is. Bruko said Lynch is a
<v Speaker 1>bit as a rude, big headed bitch blah blah blah. Okay.
<v Speaker 1>We then eventually get physical here because Lynch asked who
<v Speaker 1>she was and she said, I'm soul, Ruka, and if
<v Speaker 1>you ever interrupt me again, not only will I kick
<v Speaker 1>your ass, I'll snatch your soul. Yeah, I'm sure that
<v Speaker 1>wasn't written down. If there's ever a line that was
<v Speaker 1>typed out or produced by Chatchept or some ai system.
<v Speaker 1>That was one of them. I mean that just it's
<v Speaker 1>AI all over it. And there's a lot of criticism
<v Speaker 1>for apparently TKO utilizing AI and storylines. I've gotten mixed
<v Speaker 1>feelings about that. I'll tell you. I'll give you those
<v Speaker 1>after my thoughts on this bit of a disastrous segment here,
<v Speaker 1>and it's only disastrous because of the botch and the
<v Speaker 1>batch was bad. So Lynch threw a punch at Ruka,
<v Speaker 1>she moved hit Pierce. Lynch was apologetic, Pierce yelled that
<v Speaker 1>she's tired of Lynch. Pierce left the ring. Ruka stumbled
<v Speaker 1>when she hit the ropes for her finish, but she
<v Speaker 1>got the soul snatcher. Yeah. So the fans were into this,
<v Speaker 1>and this is the analy is by proreesting that it
<v Speaker 1>said it's a shame that Ruka slipped. The fans were
<v Speaker 1>hot for the segment, but they got very quiet even
<v Speaker 1>though she made a quick recovery. Ruka will be able
<v Speaker 1>to look back at this and laugh one day. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that's true. It's not gonna kill her career. This is
<v Speaker 1>the risk of live TV. This is what happens, you know.
<v Speaker 1>It just it looked like shit. There's just been a
<v Speaker 1>bevy of botches by the women. Though this is a
<v Speaker 1>pattern now over the last several months of just some
<v Speaker 1>really bad stuff, and yes, even stuff that Becky Lynch
<v Speaker 1>has been involved in. I'm not saying this one was
<v Speaker 1>Becky Lynch's fault. This is not. But do you remember
<v Speaker 1>the one that Becky Lynch was getting her head slammed
<v Speaker 1>on the table? It might have been by Brie Bella.
<v Speaker 1>This is a few months ago, and she was getting
<v Speaker 1>her head slammed on the announcer's table and it was horrific, horrid,
<v Speaker 1>Like even if you're a day one NXT trainee, you
<v Speaker 1>probably sell it better than Becky Lynch had. I don't
<v Speaker 1>know what was wrong with her that day. You can
<v Speaker 1>go look at it. It's all over YouTube. It's horrible.
<v Speaker 1>But that's just one of of of a few that
<v Speaker 1>Becky Lynch has been involved in. And I'm not sure
<v Speaker 1>what the issue is there, but this one wasn't Becky's fault. Admittedly,
<v Speaker 1>this was a slip happens. It just looked really bad
<v Speaker 1>and it just makes you roll your rise. And they
<v Speaker 1>did the best they could. I mean, she Becky Lynch
<v Speaker 1>just fell, she made she threw her body of the ground,
<v Speaker 1>you gotta try to sell it the best you can.
<v Speaker 1>Soul slipped, Yeah, whatever. Do I like her finish called
<v Speaker 1>the soul snatcher? I don't. It's it's got a cute
<v Speaker 1>name to it, but it's very suggestive. And I'm not
<v Speaker 1>I'm not saying, oh, I'm a prude. I just I
<v Speaker 1>don't want any of that in my wrestling. You know,
<v Speaker 1>in this case, I like my food separated. I don't
<v Speaker 1>want to mix all my food together. Kind of weird analogy,
<v Speaker 1>but I think it gets to the point across we
<v Speaker 1>all know what that is. And if you don't, don't
<v Speaker 1>google it. Kids. Okay, but now that I told you
<v Speaker 1>not too, you're gonna but it's it's it's highly suggestive
<v Speaker 1>you snatch your soul, and I don't want to hear. Oh, okay,
<v Speaker 1>well yeah that is yeah, it kind of is. That's
<v Speaker 1>you know, you don't hear it? See men, any any
<v Speaker 1>of the guys with a soul snatcher finish? That said?
<v Speaker 1>Soul Rouque is talented. She's very talented in the ring.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, she is a freak athlete, and I think
<v Speaker 1>she'll do very well up here on the main roster.
<v Speaker 1>This will be put behind her quickly and we'll all
<v Speaker 1>move on. But before I go on here to the
<v Speaker 1>third match of the night. The AI thing in pro
<v Speaker 1>wrestling my mixed feelings. I'm torn on it because AI
<v Speaker 1>is a tool. It's a tool that is you, that
<v Speaker 1>that is starting to be adopted by the general public
<v Speaker 1>as a tool that people use. Not just to rewrite
<v Speaker 1>sentences in a professional manner so you can make yourself
<v Speaker 1>look smarter to your boss, which I think many many
<v Speaker 1>people do, including myself. That's not the primary purpose anymore.
<v Speaker 1>The primary purpose is just almost as an everyday tool,
<v Speaker 1>is a problem solver, as a dietitian, as a doctor
<v Speaker 1>to diagnose any issues you have. It's a search engine
<v Speaker 1>with a personality that takes everything it finds and puts
<v Speaker 1>it into a quote, human like form. And I think
<v Speaker 1>the problem is that a lot of it is it's
<v Speaker 1>just not accurate with some of the stuff that spits out,
<v Speaker 1>even some current events. It's not up on it needs
<v Speaker 1>to I think really hone in on that. But the
<v Speaker 1>idea though, is that AI is a tool and they're
<v Speaker 1>not doing anything illegal. Now, if it is true that
<v Speaker 1>TKO and or WWE or both or whatever, it's kind
<v Speaker 1>of one and the same are using AI to create
<v Speaker 1>their storylines. Half of me feels like that's lazy, there's
<v Speaker 1>no more human touch anymore, that you're relying on a
<v Speaker 1>computer with no soul to come up with things because
<v Speaker 1>you don't want to, or you can't, or both. That
<v Speaker 1>you lack the ability as a human being to come
<v Speaker 1>up with storylines that people can get emotionally attached to,
<v Speaker 1>so you're going to rely on a soulless algorithm to
<v Speaker 1>do it for you. And that's kind of how I
<v Speaker 1>feel about half of about half my feelings are that
<v Speaker 1>excuse me? So the other half is thinking, well, does
<v Speaker 1>it really matter if the stories are really good? Are
<v Speaker 1>we really going to care where the where the actual
<v Speaker 1>story originated? So long as it's really well done and
<v Speaker 1>well told, you know what I mean? And how are
<v Speaker 1>you going to know which is which? You know? They're
<v Speaker 1>not gonna put this shit on the unreal show, which
<v Speaker 1>kind of defeats the purpose of unreal because it's all
<v Speaker 1>still not reality. They're only showing you what they want
<v Speaker 1>to show you, So they're giving you a show that's
<v Speaker 1>supposed to be unreal, but it's still within the realm
<v Speaker 1>of a TV show. So you don't know what really is.
<v Speaker 1>What you'd like to see is not part of the
<v Speaker 1>show because they're only giving you a piece of the
<v Speaker 1>what the curated reality is. They massage reality to give
<v Speaker 1>you a certain look and feel about what they want
<v Speaker 1>you to feel. But that's the other half of me
<v Speaker 1>is with AI. If the story is really good, are
<v Speaker 1>you gonna sit there afterwards after it's all done and go, wait,
<v Speaker 1>this was AIH fuck that? No, you're probably not. You're
<v Speaker 1>gonna go all right, that was good. I really enjoyed that. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that's the key is for me at the end of
<v Speaker 1>the day. Is it lazy and soulless to use AI
<v Speaker 1>as a crutch And they will probably use it more
<v Speaker 1>and more because it as you use it, you suddenly
<v Speaker 1>find yourself using it more so you don't have to think,
<v Speaker 1>which makes us all dumber inherently. So I understand that.
<v Speaker 1>But am I gonna ultimately care as long as the
<v Speaker 1>story's good? Probably not? Probably not. So let me know
<v Speaker 1>what you guys think about the AI starting to integrate
<v Speaker 1>itself into pro wrestling. It's probably been there for some time,
<v Speaker 1>but only recently has it come out publicly that there's
<v Speaker 1>been some evidence that TKO has brought in AI to
<v Speaker 1>create their storylines. Yeah, so there are again there's two
<v Speaker 1>schools of thought here. So we have Joe Hendry versus
<v Speaker 1>Austin Theory. Joe Henry beats Austin Theory by DQ in
<v Speaker 1>three minutes after Henry hits a fallaway slam, Henry kIPS up,
<v Speaker 1>hits his spin into a pose and then Logan Paul
<v Speaker 1>comes in and hits Henry from behind for the DQ.
<v Speaker 1>After the match, Theory held Henry's arms while Logan beat
<v Speaker 1>him down with punches, and they beat him down until
<v Speaker 1>the entrance music stopped him, which was the Street Profits.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's no way, no better way to stop
<v Speaker 1>somebody than to just play entrance music, is there? So
<v Speaker 1>the Street Profits come out and dominated the tag team champs,
<v Speaker 1>and Breaker comes out and cleared Monte's forward from the ring,
<v Speaker 1>hit a bunch of suplexes on Dawkins that looked crazy,
<v Speaker 1>and Breaker set up for a spear. But here comes
<v Speaker 1>seth Rawlins, who appears at ringside, beats some sense into
<v Speaker 1>Breaker and rolls him inside the ring. Rollins knocked Paul
<v Speaker 1>in Theory off the apron and then closeline Breaker and
<v Speaker 1>then Rollins set up for his finish, but he had
<v Speaker 1>he had to stop when Ford returned to the ring
<v Speaker 1>and dove over him onto logan and theory, which is
<v Speaker 1>just really a crazy move. I mean, that's just insane.
<v Speaker 1>Most I mean, ninety nine percent of us would be
<v Speaker 1>dead or paralyzed if we tried that. It's just a
<v Speaker 1>freak move. Breaker then speared Rollins again and stood over him,
<v Speaker 1>and Cole said the Rollins and Breaker match will be
<v Speaker 1>held during the first hour, which will be simulcast on
<v Speaker 1>ESPN two. So what they're doing, seemingly now for every
<v Speaker 1>pl is giving everyone a free trial and hopes that
<v Speaker 1>these free trials will entice you to give more of
<v Speaker 1>your money to TKO so that you go, wow, this
<v Speaker 1>is just a taste. Well, here's here's my checkbook. Does
<v Speaker 1>anybody you have a checkbook anymore? Here's my phone, here's
<v Speaker 1>my Apple pay. I think it's more accurate, right how much?
<v Speaker 1>That's what they think, and they're trying it. That's their strategy.
<v Speaker 1>Here's the free trial. It's like AOL back in the
<v Speaker 1>day for those I'm dating myself again. Remember when you
<v Speaker 1>get those CDs in the mail for AOL. It's like
<v Speaker 1>thirty three hours, whatever it was, I get fifty three hours.
<v Speaker 1>And then after those few hours or however much it was,
<v Speaker 1>it'd be like, oh, okay, now you gotta pay. Kind
<v Speaker 1>of weird analogy, but same premise. Boy, Thank god those
<v Speaker 1>days of the AOL. Remember you pick up the phone
<v Speaker 1>at your house and then someone it would kick that
<v Speaker 1>person offline. It's just incredible. Some of you kids who
<v Speaker 1>are listening like, don't have any recollection of that. That's
<v Speaker 1>not a part of your childhood. But for those that
<v Speaker 1>grew up during the dial up, the dial up era
<v Speaker 1>of the Internet, when it really started to grasp the culture,
<v Speaker 1>but it wasn't totally taken everything over yet, those were
<v Speaker 1>some special times they really were. We were the first,
<v Speaker 1>actually the millennial generation. We are the last generation ever
<v Speaker 1>in the history of humanity forever that will know what
<v Speaker 1>life was like without smartphones, before technology took over our
<v Speaker 1>every move all the time, where we're just constantly staring
<v Speaker 1>at this glowing box everywhere. Go anywhere your restaurant, people
<v Speaker 1>with their families heads and their phones. You go to
<v Speaker 1>your work, people are on their phones at their desk.
<v Speaker 1>You go to a store, people are using their phones
<v Speaker 1>to check their supermarket or their grocery list off anywhere everywhere,
<v Speaker 1>all the time. And we are the last generation to
<v Speaker 1>experience life without it, and I'm glad that I was.
<v Speaker 1>I'm not boasting about it, or you know, those that
<v Speaker 1>didn't experience it, I'm not saying you know that you
<v Speaker 1>missed out, but you kind of did. Because now everything
<v Speaker 1>is just the phone, and it's this like box that
<v Speaker 1>calls you even when it's not on. It's this constant
<v Speaker 1>dopamine drip that apparently we all need, and yet we
<v Speaker 1>all deny that we're not addicted, and we all know
<v Speaker 1>we are crazy. And I'm glad I grew up with
<v Speaker 1>the smartphone that was in its infancy, and really we
<v Speaker 1>all have the flip phones that just had the texting
<v Speaker 1>and every time you opened a text it cost you
<v Speaker 1>two cents every time you sent when it was like
<v Speaker 1>five cents. Anybody remember that that eventually these flip phones
<v Speaker 1>could take pictures, but you can only store so much
<v Speaker 1>before you had to get like an SD slot on
<v Speaker 1>some of these, like LG phones, remember the LG Chocolate
<v Speaker 1>I remember we had those. The razor was huge, the razor,
<v Speaker 1>oh my gosh, the original raiser guys, the original non smartphone.
<v Speaker 1>The video quality on these phones was just horrific when
<v Speaker 1>they first came out, but it was just mind blowing
<v Speaker 1>that you could do it. The Internet on these like
<v Speaker 1>when they first came out. The Internet capability on these
<v Speaker 1>flip phones. There were some, but it was like the
<v Speaker 1>baby crippled Internet.
<v Speaker 2>It was.
<v Speaker 1>It was horrible, horrible. I would say, kids these days
<v Speaker 1>don't know how good you have it, But I don't
<v Speaker 1>know if you really have it that good, because life
<v Speaker 1>without cell phones was just a different world. You go
<v Speaker 1>to again, WWE events, what are people doing even during
<v Speaker 1>the matches through on the phones, tweeting, scrolling, doom scrolling,
<v Speaker 1>They're not even there. You're not experiencing it anymore. You
<v Speaker 1>just always like, what's going on here? What's going on there?
<v Speaker 1>Texting like whatever? Like And again I'm not saying here
<v Speaker 1>like a holier than now, like I'm guilty of some
<v Speaker 1>of this too. I'm not just pretending I don't do that. Well, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>no I am. I'm self aware of it, and I
<v Speaker 1>think many are many people are too, but they just
<v Speaker 1>don't care. It's just we've all succumbed to this, this glowing,
<v Speaker 1>expensive box that costs US hundreds of dollars a month,
<v Speaker 1>most of us, most of us, some of us, I
<v Speaker 1>should say, haven't even paid it off. You get a
<v Speaker 1>new one every year that you can afford, but you
<v Speaker 1>just get one anyway, hundreds of dollars a month if
<v Speaker 1>you're on a family plan on a big carrier, plus
<v Speaker 1>all the stuff and shit you buy that it's on
<v Speaker 1>your phone that you don't need, that shows up at
<v Speaker 1>your door from Amazon two days later, and you go,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if I really need that. It's crazy.
<v Speaker 1>I'm getting into the culture stuff too much. But again,
<v Speaker 1>I'm guilty of this too. So some of you you're
<v Speaker 1>just talking. No, I know because I do this stuff sometimes. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>let's get back to Raw and we'll wrap the show up.
<v Speaker 1>So Breaker did spear Rollin's again Breaker looking very strong,
<v Speaker 1>and we then have let's see Oba Femi shown walking
<v Speaker 1>back stage. Yes, by the way, we did get some
<v Speaker 1>Bailey Lyra interrupting a promo of Page and Brie coming
<v Speaker 1>to Raw, and so there was a little bit of that,
<v Speaker 1>and okay, moving on. I just want to acknowledge that
<v Speaker 1>I know, but I'm not kidding it. Every segment here,
<v Speaker 1>Oba Femi comes out. Crowd was into him, he said
<v Speaker 1>the last time he had come. The Oba Femi Open
<v Speaker 1>Challenge would begin. Otis and a Karen to Zawi made
<v Speaker 1>their entrance with Maxine, and Otis stepped in and we
<v Speaker 1>get a match that's under two minutes with Oba Femi
<v Speaker 1>beating Otis after a fall from grace. A nice setup,
<v Speaker 1>by the way, clever setup. That's what you do with
<v Speaker 1>a guy the size of Otis. You got to have
<v Speaker 1>him set himself up sort of on the top rope,
<v Speaker 1>and that's when Oba Femi comes in and just picks
<v Speaker 1>the bones because the hard work's already done, right, but
<v Speaker 1>it's a safe way to do it. It's the right
<v Speaker 1>way to do it. Oba Femi gets the dominant victory
<v Speaker 1>and crowd is really into Obafemi. I mean, I haven't
<v Speaker 1>quite grasped yet why I'm not down on Obafemi. I'm
<v Speaker 1>not saying that this is just stupid, his characters horrible. No,
<v Speaker 1>But for me person, it's maybe some of you feel
<v Speaker 1>the same way. I just don't quite feel it yet.
<v Speaker 1>I don't feel that, oh my god, this is gonna
<v Speaker 1>be great. Holy crap, He's the next big thing, like
<v Speaker 1>I've been told that I've been told with certainty that
<v Speaker 1>he is. I've seen people react that way, but me myself,
<v Speaker 1>I have not felt that yet, So I'm not quite
<v Speaker 1>on that level. I'm on the optimistic level. I'm on
<v Speaker 1>the hey, things look good so far. He's a big guy.
<v Speaker 1>I'm just not quite fully where most of the fans
<v Speaker 1>that support him are. I just maybe it'll just suddenly
<v Speaker 1>come to me. Maybe it's because I haven't watched him
<v Speaker 1>in NXT. I only watched him when he really showed
<v Speaker 1>up to the main roster. Hence why Mario is gonna
<v Speaker 1>be covering NXT because I don't watch it on time.
<v Speaker 1>But maybe that's why. And again I'm not down on him.
<v Speaker 1>I'm just mildly excited while some people are just mega
<v Speaker 1>excited about him. So but nonetheless an impressive victory. What
<v Speaker 1>you want to do with Obafemi is keep this going,
<v Speaker 1>just keep going. Eventually he won't have one minute and
<v Speaker 1>fifty second matches. They will have to be from opponents
<v Speaker 1>that can give him a challenge. And eventually he's gonna
<v Speaker 1>have to find somebody that can actually give him a challenge.
<v Speaker 1>And maybe that's Gunther. Maybe that is eventually Seth Rollins
<v Speaker 1>maybe La Knight if he doesn't get fired. And many
<v Speaker 1>people are expecting La Knight to take a big pay
<v Speaker 1>cut or get fired. There's been lots of rumor swirling
<v Speaker 1>about that. But okay. So Rollins was backstage blew off
<v Speaker 1>a ref saying he'd be fine. He approached Montes Ford,
<v Speaker 1>Angelo and Joe Hendry, and Ford says said nobody trusts Rollins,
<v Speaker 1>who stood there fighting for the same thing. Rollins told
<v Speaker 1>Ford to stay out of his way, and he'd stay
<v Speaker 1>out of Ford's way. We had let's see EO. Sky
<v Speaker 1>and Osca in a pre taped interview that was well done.
<v Speaker 1>I have to say. It was intense. And Sky spoke
<v Speaker 1>about how she still has the ultimate respect for Osca,
<v Speaker 1>and Oscar said the Sky she taught was no longer
<v Speaker 1>in front of her, and she didn't know anyone so disrespectful,
<v Speaker 1>and she called Sky the biggest disappointment and she'd be
<v Speaker 1>done with her at backlash, and Sky said that she
<v Speaker 1>is ready for Osca as Oscar said she's gonna cut
<v Speaker 1>Sky out of her life, and then they both leaned forward.
<v Speaker 1>This is where to me, it went a little like
<v Speaker 1>cinematic little produced for me. They leaned in like they
<v Speaker 1>were either going to do one of two things. It
<v Speaker 1>was either they were gonna make out because they're just
<v Speaker 1>leaning in that like and it just kind of had
<v Speaker 1>that vibe. Or it was for just a mean face
<v Speaker 1>pose that they can then just transfer to w dot com.
<v Speaker 1>And it was a nice little kind of homepage photo
<v Speaker 1>that they could use to promote the match. And it
<v Speaker 1>was option three, which is Oscar used it to just
<v Speaker 1>spray her toxic chemicals in the face of Sky, I
<v Speaker 1>mean her food coloring. So fine, that was, yeah, fine,
<v Speaker 1>I have no issue with this. And actually, while I'm
<v Speaker 1>crapping on that part of it, this was an effective segment.
<v Speaker 1>And this is how you get two women who can't
<v Speaker 1>speak English very well or at least for long periods
<v Speaker 1>of time in front of an English speaking audience. This
<v Speaker 1>is how you get them to be an effective segment.
<v Speaker 1>So I had really no issues outside of that silly
<v Speaker 1>face to face for this, and this format seems to work.
<v Speaker 1>So I'm looking forward to the match more than I
<v Speaker 1>thought I would be. Should I go on a rant
<v Speaker 1>about English speaking wrestlers or wrestlers they can't English speak English?
<v Speaker 1>Should I I know some of you out there. Oh god,
<v Speaker 1>oh god, here comes the skip button. How about this,
<v Speaker 1>I'll spare you I won't do it this week because
<v Speaker 1>they did it the right way. They utilize the tools
<v Speaker 1>in front of them. They did. Okay, So we then
<v Speaker 1>have Al Grande Americano Bruto and Julio versus El Grande
<v Speaker 1>Bravo and Reo. This match went eight minutes with the
<v Speaker 1>original of Grande Bruto and Julio winning. And it happened
<v Speaker 1>after the top rope head butt and that was it
<v Speaker 1>by the original Grande Americano. I e Chad Gable. Okay.
<v Speaker 1>I promo about Backlash again included a John Cena appearance again,
<v Speaker 1>but we don't know exactly what that's going to be
<v Speaker 1>outside of promoting the club WWE a new revenue stream.
<v Speaker 1>And also, I'm sure you know I joke about this,
<v Speaker 1>but at some point this may happen where we have
<v Speaker 1>John Cena come out as this promo man for like
<v Speaker 1>a new tier of ESPN Limit Unlimited. I joked about
<v Speaker 1>this on X but I was kind of half serious.
<v Speaker 1>Where he says and for the low low price of
<v Speaker 1>three nine ninety nine a month, you too can get
<v Speaker 1>a limited ad free experience on ESPN unlimited for all
<v Speaker 1>wwepl's not including WrestleMania. You know, like we're joking about
<v Speaker 1>this stuff. But I don't put anything past TKL right
<v Speaker 1>now that will do anything and every anything anything, nothing's
<v Speaker 1>off limits, nothing is sacred. Everything is up for monetization
<v Speaker 1>at all costs. I don't put anything past them. So
<v Speaker 1>while we joke about things that they'll monetize, don't joke
<v Speaker 1>they'll find a way. Don't give them any ideas. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>finishing up here, Rains came out and he told the
<v Speaker 1>old Mahakra to acknowledge him and told Fatu that it
<v Speaker 1>wasn't just love, that it was the sound of respect.
<v Speaker 1>Rain said he was in WWE Welfa two. Fatu is grinding,
<v Speaker 1>and Rains said, Solo Sokoa brought Fatu in, and then
<v Speaker 1>he brought Solo in, which means he brought in Fatu.
<v Speaker 1>Rains insisted that he be shown respect, and there should
<v Speaker 1>be a code or an honor system amongst their family,
<v Speaker 1>and he should be a system of con there should
<v Speaker 1>be a system of conduct that they can hang their
<v Speaker 1>hats on. And Rains took issue with Fatu using the
<v Speaker 1>Tongan death grip. He said, it's meant for three am
<v Speaker 1>at a bar when you're surrounded in an eight to
<v Speaker 1>one situation, but you don't use it unfamily, including the
<v Speaker 1>tribal chief. Well, I have to say this, Roman, I
<v Speaker 1>get to premise. I understand the vibe of that statement,
<v Speaker 1>but it's just not logical. That's not a f And
<v Speaker 1>I'm not a martial artist. Okay, I'm not going to
<v Speaker 1>sit here and pretend I'm like some a double black
<v Speaker 1>belt or something. I'm not. But I'm fairly sure that
<v Speaker 1>I know enough about self defense that you don't want
<v Speaker 1>to use a tonguan death grip on an eight on
<v Speaker 1>one situation. That is, that's no, you'd maybe one on
<v Speaker 1>one because can we not just use our brains for
<v Speaker 1>a second. Okay, that may be effect. Let's pretend that
<v Speaker 1>that move is actually an effective self defense move. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>while you're focusing on that one person, what do you
<v Speaker 1>think the other seven are gonna do when you have
<v Speaker 1>your back turn to them? I mean at a bar
<v Speaker 1>when everyone's drunk. I mean, I can't imagine. I'm sure
<v Speaker 1>they'll all stand around and go, oh my goodness, oh
<v Speaker 1>my god, is that the tongue in death grip? Well,
<v Speaker 1>I don't want to be next, do you, Tommy, Jimmy,
<v Speaker 1>you guys, all right, let's get out of here, fucking stupid.
<v Speaker 1>Sorry Roman. I understand the premise that it's a it's
<v Speaker 1>a move that's almost kind of like unspoken unspokenly banned
<v Speaker 1>within your family or whatever you're trying to sell us,
<v Speaker 1>which I get and I'm on board with, but you
<v Speaker 1>can't use the different analogy terrible visual because it makes
<v Speaker 1>no sense. Okay, this is what I do. I tear
<v Speaker 1>shit up when it just stuff that's just blatantly doesn't
<v Speaker 1>make sense. Sorry Roman, Okay. So Fatu said he's desperate.
<v Speaker 1>He said it feels like him against the world, and
<v Speaker 1>he feels like his back is against the wall and
<v Speaker 1>he has no choice but to take the title and
<v Speaker 1>everything that comes with it. He said he would put
<v Speaker 1>the chokehold on the game and squeeze every dollar in
<v Speaker 1>cent the way the company had done with their family
<v Speaker 1>for decades. And Fatu said he's desperate enough to do
<v Speaker 1>anything for his household, even if that means running through
<v Speaker 1>his own blood rain side the contract. And he said
<v Speaker 1>Fatu is worried about his household while he's worried about
<v Speaker 1>all the family's households. He said the company wants to
<v Speaker 1>do business with him. Rain's recalled telling brock Lesner that
<v Speaker 1>it's all his and that it's his ring, and Rain's
<v Speaker 1>said that they are aware of the same they are
<v Speaker 1>of the same blood and are equals in the family.
<v Speaker 1>But Fatu is beneath him in the ring. And Fatu
<v Speaker 1>got up went after Rain for the with again the
<v Speaker 1>tongue in death grip, and Rains tossed him into a
<v Speaker 1>corner and then hit him with one of the office
<v Speaker 1>chairs and Rains picked it up, was about to use
<v Speaker 1>the belt as a weapon. Fat to cut him off
<v Speaker 1>with another tongue in death grip, fought him off. He
<v Speaker 1>went for a superman punch, but fat Tu cut him
<v Speaker 1>off again for a third time for the tongue in
<v Speaker 1>death grip, and he put Raymond Roman or at least
<v Speaker 1>tried to put him through a table. It didn't break,
<v Speaker 1>but we get the idea and then if a fat
<v Speaker 1>two chant did break out, So I mean this is okay,
<v Speaker 1>and even the analysis here, this final analysis by pro
<v Speaker 1>Wrestling that said the final second was fine. I don't
<v Speaker 1>know if it was enough to win over fans who
<v Speaker 1>were on the fence going in, but it was a
<v Speaker 1>solid final push. Unless they do more on SmackDown. Overall,
<v Speaker 1>it was a pretty good raw go home show. Yeah, okay,
<v Speaker 1>it's fair. You know, sometimes I definitely disagree with their
<v Speaker 1>analysis in this case, Yeah it was. It was a
<v Speaker 1>fine go home show. It wasn't. I don't think that
<v Speaker 1>there was really anything you could do to sell people
<v Speaker 1>there or on the fence about Fatu and Roman. Why
<v Speaker 1>because even if you had the best promo in the world,
<v Speaker 1>it may bring in a few more eyeballs, But ultimately,
<v Speaker 1>if you've watched wrestling for any amount of time, you
<v Speaker 1>know that Fatu has a just a flatline dead zero
<v Speaker 1>percent chance of winning the belt. He could win the match,
<v Speaker 1>remember that he gonna be careful if you're betting, because
<v Speaker 1>you can still lose a match and retain the championship.
<v Speaker 1>So you know, those of you that bet that kind
<v Speaker 1>of stuff out there, careful. But in terms of the
<v Speaker 1>championship changing hands more specifically, there's no chance zero that
<v Speaker 1>Fatu does right, So there's not anybody that's on the fence.
<v Speaker 1>It's just okay, like, let's just get through this to
<v Speaker 1>get to the next. Roman's next real opponent, and they're
<v Speaker 1>trying to make Fatu a star in the meantime, which
<v Speaker 1>this is not gonna be a make or break moment
<v Speaker 1>for Fatu. In fact, as I've said in my previous
<v Speaker 1>shows last week, this is not doing any favors for
<v Speaker 1>Fatu's baby face push because you're going against one of
<v Speaker 1>the most at least for the moment, one of the
<v Speaker 1>top baby faces in the company in Roman Reigns, So
<v Speaker 1>kind of counterproductive on that end. Yet he is getting
<v Speaker 1>the rub by being in the ring with Roman in
<v Speaker 1>the main event, getting a title opportunity, So I think
<v Speaker 1>they're relying on that, not so much the fact they
<v Speaker 1>worried about the fact that he's going to be booed
<v Speaker 1>or the crowd's going to be mixed, or whatever the
<v Speaker 1>case may be when it comes to supporting Fatu or
<v Speaker 1>supporting Roman Reigns during the match. Maybe that's just their
<v Speaker 1>concern is just now, let's just give them the rub,
<v Speaker 1>And I can respect that premise because you're trying to
<v Speaker 1>build a new star, which is what this business is
<v Speaker 1>all about. The business is about building stars because stars
<v Speaker 1>will forever and always be the lifeblood of the company.
<v Speaker 1>Talked about that last time in my show too, so
<v Speaker 1>I won't repeat it, but sometimes the bears repeating because
<v Speaker 1>without wrestlers fans a I'm interested. Without fans, you don't
<v Speaker 1>have ratings and metrics to support all the money you're
<v Speaker 1>charging your sponsors and ad blocks. See see how things
<v Speaker 1>go round and round. All right, I'll stop there. Thank
<v Speaker 1>you everybody for it listening. If you're new, thank you.
<v Speaker 1>Consider going ad free or giving us at least a
<v Speaker 1>five star rating. Where every podcast's ratings are available. I
<v Speaker 1>know they're available on Spotify or on Apple, but again,
<v Speaker 1>join us over at Spotify or or rather Patreon if
<v Speaker 1>you want to go ad free, Patreon dot com slash
<v Speaker 1>wwe podcast to get everything we you just heard ad
<v Speaker 1>free and much much more. Again tomorrow we will be
<v Speaker 1>putting out more audio. The main event review with Daniel
<v Speaker 1>does a great job every week, and a debut of
<v Speaker 1>the NXT review from Mario, so check that out. You're
<v Speaker 1>not gonna want to miss it. Hopefully it's up by
<v Speaker 1>the time you listen to this. If not, it'll be
<v Speaker 1>later in the day on Wednesday. All right, everybody, thanks
<v Speaker 1>so much. Also, videos are coming for those on Patreon,
<v Speaker 1>another great way to support the show and also get
<v Speaker 1>some mixed go to video. All right, thanks everybody, we'll
<v Speaker 1>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.