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Wrestlemania Week In Review
135 Plays12 days ago
We discuss everything that's happened in the last 8 days in wrestling, including our detailed Wrestlemania 41 review, plus listener mail!
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Transcript
Introduction and Excitement for WrestleMania
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Chick-fil-A show.
00:00:22
Speaker
What is up, Foley fam? We are back with one of our biggest episodes of the year. We waited until the entire week of WrestleMania events were in the rear view, and it is time to give our thoughts. Before we get into everything, let's start by introducing the star of the show, the reason we're all here, Chick Foley herself.
00:00:39
Speaker
Sheena, how you doing? I'm doing good. I feel like I've just run a wrestling marathon, though. I feel like you know I'm at the end of a long a long race, an enjoyable race, a fun race, but just like, whew.
00:00:50
Speaker
You know, it's like when the holiday season's over, you know, the holiday season now starts in like September. And so it's like when it's finally over, you're like, oh man, we survived. Yeah. There has been a ton of wrestling the last 10 days. Just think I also caught up and watched AEW and Ring of Honor as well. In addition to all the WWE content. Yeah. don't know how you do it.
00:01:06
Speaker
She's got it. It's for the love of the game, man. I want to remind you guys, this show is brought to you by ringside collectibles.
Sponsorship and Personal Updates
00:01:12
Speaker
Use code chick Foley to save 10% on all your purchases there and go to www.chickfoley.com to find all things chick. Most importantly, you can sign up for our Facebook, if our patron exclusive Facebook group, best wrestling group on the internet, two bucks a month, it will be money well spent. And it's a great way to kick off your brand new wrestling year. You know, cause I was kind of like, that's the season finale. yeah we Right. i agree. And then we start starting new before we get into all of the wrestling of the over the past, ah you know, week plus.
00:01:43
Speaker
ah Sheena, let us know what's new on the form. Well, I need to do a little, um you know, recap from last week ah when we did our WrestleMania preview. Sam Rosenthal came in with a question at the end. He said, what's on what's on Jordan's list for this weekend? you know For those of you who don't know, our buddy Jordan came and watched um you know the the big hit the fig god the big kid not the fig kid the Fig God came and watched WrestleMania with us. And we always have like a list of chores for him when he gets here. you know And so ah it's is just kind of a running joke. We don't actually have a list of chores. But he did help us do some things. So we rearranged some things in the backyard in the backyard farm and put Jordan to work this weekend.
00:02:23
Speaker
ah turt We've had more turtle sightings since the big storm. Oh, yeah. We saw Tully again. Tully showed back up. Seth brought us a new turtle named Shelly. I think it's a boy. So maybe we'll have some some turtle romance in the backyard now. What's the latest on the ah chicken egg hatching situation?
00:02:41
Speaker
She's still sitting. It's, you know, it's coming up. It usually takes 21, 20, 21 to 23 days, depending on, um, you know, the eggs and that sort of thing. Um, but you know, she's coming up on 21 days. So we'll see.
00:02:53
Speaker
I tried to candle the eggs, which means you kind of shine a light in them to see if you can see anything. Um, I couldn't really see, I couldn't really candle the eggs are a little bit darker shell. So we'll see after the, after, you know, about 25 days, I'll probably take the eggs and start doing and some examination. And how many days into it are we right now?
00:03:08
Speaker
She started on the 9th, so whatever. you know i have a calendar. but you That would put us about 17 days in. Yeah. Yeah. right. So, yeah, like Sheena said, Jordan was with us all last week. We loved having him out here for Mania Week.
00:03:20
Speaker
We invited him to come record with us today, but he was not getting up for a sunrise special. This is one of our patented early morning pods. So it just – with the kids at their age right now, man, it's actually more, slightly more difficult recording at night than it was when they were little, if that makes sense.
Critique and Suggestions for WrestleMania Layout
00:03:37
Speaker
Um, so yeah, these kind of like, you know, kind of rise and grind, uh, sessions work out best for us, man. And she was at her peak first thing in the morning. We'll see. Um, all right. Anything else we're getting into wrestling chain? No, let's go.
00:03:51
Speaker
So want to start off. there were It seemed like you know most the time we kind of do our overall like vibes, big picture stuff. There was so much wrestling. We kind of want to get into the specifics first and then um and then kind of give our overall thoughts at the end. But I will start by saying this year it seemed like there were some added – Criticism of just the overall layout of WrestleMania weekend since it's gone to two nights. It's a ton of stuff jammed in from Friday through Monday between Hall of Fame, SmackDown, Raw, both nights of Mania, and NXT's biggest show of the year, Stand and Deliver. um
00:04:23
Speaker
I say first things first, man. I think having the Hall of Fame after SmackDown is just a disaster. Yeah. Like, it's just, it's on so late for anybody to enjoy it. Everybody's sleeping. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it used to work out good on the – before Mania was two nights, they would do it on the Friday night heading into WrestleMania weekend. That made a lot of sense um because, you know, you didn't have SmackDown on, right? Oh, the SmackDown was on, like, Tuesday or Thursday, right? i think have i think you move the Hall of Fame to Thursday and just have it be, like, the unofficial kickoff of WrestleMania weekend. I know they like – that's a paid event now, right? Like, ah you know, 10, 12 years ago, that was something that was done.
00:05:01
Speaker
basically just for the wrestlers and their families. so It was more of like a private black tie type event as opposed to what it's become now. And i don't know. I'm sure they crushed the numbers on it. Maybe they're thinking that... um You know, you're not going get people into town an extra day early for for something like that. I just but to me, the Friday night thing is just these there was all kinds of pictures of the talent sleeping there.
00:05:22
Speaker
I can't imagine the fans were were too excited to sit through that after after sitting at SmackDown. I just think it's i literally TV taping is already a slog. da Yeah, like it's already like you're you're just it's a long if you're there in person at a TV taping. It's fun.
00:05:37
Speaker
It's like, you know, it is what it is, but it it is long because there's a lot of ad breaks. There's a lot of downtime. It's a lot. Yeah. I just, i don't know who it's benefiting doing it right after SmackDown. So that'd be my one big change. What do you, how do you like having Stand and Deliver be in like a Saturday afternoon show?
00:05:54
Speaker
I mean, I think it's cool. It was unfortunate for us because we didn't get to watch it live. We were out and about. What were doing? Soccer game. And then we had, yeah, you guys went to Memphis Wrestling. Yeah. So, know, you know We're able to catch up, obviously, but I feel like there's a lot of people like not getting live eyeballs on it if you're doing it on a Saturday afternoon, especially in the springtime, dude. Sports are kicking off. A lot of parents are at the ball fields. And, you know, but...
00:06:18
Speaker
I mean, i think people still enjoyed it. People still went back and watched it. and you know Yeah. I think it's kind of like the odd man out. don't really know where, where else you could put it. i don't think it would work moving it to Sunday. Cause I think, don't think you want a sandwich between night
Match Analysis and Critiques
00:06:31
Speaker
one and night two.
00:06:32
Speaker
And I think you definitely want to keep that Friday night smack down. Dude. I almost had a thought. it'd be a ballsy move. Get rid of that Friday night SmackDown right for Mania and put Stan and Deliver right there and even throw it on like USA. Just get max eyeballs on NXT for one night, you know? Yeah, don't see that happening, but mean, it's good idea. Yeah, I don't either. I feel like that Friday SmackDown has kind of become a thing. That's really like the pre-show. Yeah, that's like the pre-show for Mania nowadays.
00:06:56
Speaker
um right let's get into night one so opened up with jay beating gunther um you know it it would have been damn near a roman beating cody at wrestlemania 39 moment if jay lost this one you the huge build um that kind of ebbed and the yeet mania kind of ebbed and flowed what did you think once it finally got there sheen did did the the moment deliver It paid off for me, dude. I didn't like the fact that Gunther tapped. i thought that I just thought the ending was kind of just abrupt. you know he didn't even He didn't even really fight it, which, again, you could spin it a bunch of ways. like Maybe Jay was just overpowered him so much that he just couldn't they couldn't help but tap.
00:07:37
Speaker
um But, yeah, I think in wrestling, we're used to seeing people just like fight through submissions. We're in like real fighting. you know If you were you know getting choked out, you'd tap pretty quickly. But I think we're just conditioned to...
00:07:48
Speaker
people climbing and clawing and, you know, trying to get out of the the submission. So when he tapped kind of right away, I was like, oh, shit, it's over. Like, Jay won. um And i was I was so happy for him, dude. I thought the moment paid off. I'm glad they just went ahead and did it. And, you know, um I'm here for it.
00:08:05
Speaker
It's going to kind of end up being um a little bit of a reoccurring theme for me over the weekend. I thought the layout of the matches was, and i don't know, I hate to say lazy because obviously we don't know what all work goes into it behind the scenes, but it seemed like there wasn't a ton of thought or creativity put into the actual layout. I think but it was so obvious Jay was winning. There was maybe just the tiniest little seed of doubt that Gunther might pull it off and just keep the evil reign going. and I think we need a more near finishes, man. I thought Jay kind of went out there and kicked Gunther's ass in a lot of ways, man. I think we needed i think we needed three or four razor-close finishes. Show us some stuff that you know you always think the heel's going to hit. Have Ludwig Kaiser pop up for some interference, right? Maybe you get ah you know get a wicked belt shot in there, dude.
00:08:53
Speaker
A couple things that really make us think, like, damn, Jay's losing this again, to kind of build to that. that That big climax moment. To me, the finish felt a little bit flat. It was cool seeing Jay, you know, finally put get his leg back and get Gunther in the sleeper hold after Jay's been left. You know, Jay and Jimmy have been left laid out so many times in the build.
00:09:10
Speaker
But thought it was a predictable result, and they got there in like a super predictable way. Yeah, i mean there was nothing I mean, there was nothing out of the ordinary about how they i mean about the match, but I still enjoyed it. I thought it was great.
00:09:24
Speaker
Yeah, it was cool seeing Jay win. What's your overall prognosis for for Jay's reign? I don't see it being like a lengthy reign. you know Monday we saw Sami Zayn come out.
00:09:36
Speaker
And I was just stressed to the max thinking that like, you know, here we are. I mean, it would have been cool, but I was so stressed thinking like Sammy Zane's about to freaking Huluva kick, ah you know, Jay right out of his freaking sneakers, dude. And he didn't they just like, oh I was a real good feel good moment. Maybe we're starting to do like, you know, Jay and Jimmy and Sammy faction. Like i I would love to see that go on for the first part of a,
00:10:00
Speaker
2025 here in the new wrestling season. But, um yeah, I think he's going to drop it pretty quickly. It would have had have been a – you said it would have been ah the haloba kick. I think it have had to have been a nut shot. It seems like that's Oh, yeah, they love they love a good nut shot. Yeah, I saw Heyman do it night one. Cena do it night two.
00:10:17
Speaker
Stax did it to Tony D'Angelo on the big heel turn on stand and deliver. Yeah, you got to do a nut shot you're turning heel. You would think at this point in 2025, we've been watching wrestling long enough, like why are guys not wearing cups?
00:10:28
Speaker
You know what i mean? Like that that's the ultimate, it's like the Achilles heel, right? Like if you, if you would just wear a cup, you would be invincible. yeah he just gave me a flashback
Performance Highlights and Fashion Discussions
00:10:37
Speaker
you remember in 2018 when um aj and shinsuke had a whole feud built around um nut shots right like shinsuke oh yeah there was like a double nut shot there was a pay-per-view match that ended with a double nut shot and they both got counted out i kept waiting on that one for one time aj to have you remember when bret hart had had the steel steel plate when goldberg speared him i was waiting for aj to have like a steel cup that would be all pulling out and then Yeah, kicks him and like breaks his leg and AJ puts him in the submission. yeah I knew we were getting that at some point in that pay-per-view, but luckily they spared us.
00:11:08
Speaker
um Speaking of, you know, cornball wrestling storylines. The poor War Raiders, dude. They got away from being the the Viking Raiders finally after after five years under Triple h The Viking experience. Yeah, they've been kicking ass, putting on bangers on Raw. They're the tag team champions, rolling into Mania, get a Mania match against New Day, arguably greatest tag team and in WWF history.
00:11:31
Speaker
And we see them coming out with some stuff that they got in the clearance bin at Spirit Halloween for $20. for twenty bucks I was appalled. I mean, War Raiders, I don't even think it's arguable that they have some of the best entrance gear in WWE. Just dig out some of their old stuff.
00:11:49
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, they just, I mean, they legit look like Vikings. And, you know, if you've watched anything on, um you know, Eric and Ronald, like, I think um Eric, like, he like does, they do like the, what do you call it? Like, not the cosplay. It's like, um...
00:12:01
Speaker
reenactment type stuff with like Viking gear and stuff. think they live like the Viking lifestyle. Yeah, they do. But I think humans say yeah him and Sarah, like they go and like, you know, go to these things where like a bunch of men dress up like Vikings. Remember how we used to have like the battlefield, like they would do the reenactments and stuff.
00:12:16
Speaker
So like they have like legit, like, you know, authentic, you know, handcrafted, gear that they could wear and they made them come out in this plastic cartoon video game garbage that you know it's cool i you know you've we've seen the new day come out and like ninja turtle stuff and like there's a way to make it look cool this looks so cheesy and cheap and it was on the wrestlemania stage which made it look even worse i don't know and it was all part of a freaking marketing gimmick like which is just trash dude absolute trash
00:12:48
Speaker
tip indeed for me if you're gonna do these um if you're gonna do these marketing tie-ins just make it part of the build man mention it a couple weeks out like hey this match is gonna be brought to you by clash of can't clash of clans or whatever um don't just have it pop up as a surprise at the show i feel like it's actually not that that would be ideal right i would just prefer they keep the wrestlers out of the themselves that from being walking no i'm pissed at clash of clans now you know Yeah, but if you're going to do it, at least give us a little bit to expect and du go all out. i
00:13:20
Speaker
I want to say i think they were trying to make it look like it was characters from the game, like come to life. And it tried to match like the art style because it does get kind of like a flat cartoony art style.
00:13:31
Speaker
So i I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt that that's what they were going for with the kind of lo-fi gear that they had on. But it just, on the WrestleMania stage under those bright lights, it just, it was pure comedy.
00:13:42
Speaker
Yeah. Like I said, it it was it was totally fine, I think. But there's a way to do it. Like, you can you wear comic book gear. You can wear cartoon and or video game gear. But...
00:13:53
Speaker
It was just, it didn't match their persona. It didn't match what they've been doing. It just, it fell flat for me. But that being said, i mean, the match was fine. Speaking of something that didn't fall flat, nice segue there, Shane. I thought that Jade Cargo really stood out, dude. Obviously, it's been a little weird.
00:14:10
Speaker
um Her WWE run so far, right? We've really only, you know, she's been under contract now for damn near a year and a half and I feel like we've seen her on TV 10 times, right? i I know it's been more than that, but it's been few and far between. We had a super long hiatus from, you know, the type, not not that she didn't get her ass beat by Naomi when she got written off screen, but we've seen people come back the next week from stuff where worse than that, right? Yeah, Ray Mysterio literally got thrown off a building. Yeah, yeah, exactly. We've we seen the Giant get thrown off a building in Quebec and win the championship on the same night back in WCW's glory days.
00:14:41
Speaker
Yeah. But I thought she looked great, man. You know, it's it's always kind of a hold your breath moment anytime she's getting a one-on-one spot just because for as big a star she is, you know, this perception out there is still that she's super green, right? She's actually, she's been wrestling for going on you know, five years now. so I think people kind of, i you know, I love Jade. I'm a fan. I think people kind of been treating her with kid gloves with this like lowered expectations for her and ring.
00:15:06
Speaker
But I thought she delivered against Naomi. And then more importantly, dude, last night or anybody that didn't see it yet, she put on a banger with Tiffy, man. It was a two segment match on TV, which means you know they went to two commercial breaks. During the match, we had Brett had a soccer game last night. And so we were kind of catching up the first hour of SmackDown. So I watched interseason open in minutes and I fast forwarded assuming that her and Tiffy were going to go for like three or four minutes before we got the ending we eventually did with Naomi and I interfering.
00:15:31
Speaker
But she went out there and went 20 minutes with Tiffy, who's no ring general herself at this point. Right. She's still pretty, pretty fresh in the game. um And she looked like she belonged, man. So don't know. It looks like all all signs are pointing to a gigantic year this year for Jade Cargill.
00:15:45
Speaker
I hope so. I've been waiting for it. um And I mean, as as long as she does good on the mic, I feel like that will be that's going to be her downfall, dude. I feel like as she can overcome any like little, um you know, amateur thing she's got going on in the ring just because her presence is so just intense.
00:16:03
Speaker
But yeah, if she gets out there and starts botching on the mic, dude, like I'm just I don't know what what's going to happen. What do you think of Naomi resurrecting 1998 Owen Hart's fashion sense with the the caution tape gear? I think it's cool. I don't i don't mind the caution tape gear. i The proceed with caution. I feel like that's going to start becoming so annoying. da like went a One off is fine, but the way she said it to Nia last night, i was like, oh, God, they're going to try to make this happen, dude. She's going to be proceeding with caution all around. I want them to just lean into and have her go do a full Owen impersonation from 98. Her entrance music can start with her saying, enough is enough, and it's time for a change.
00:16:44
Speaker
before the music hits, like we, yeah you know, let's just go all the way with it. Cause you gotta to be able to see it. Right. Like that, that gear from Owen was so, it was ugly, but it was like just so iconic, you know, the the freaking caution tape all over the place. So yeah, it's kind of funny that that's not a well that I thought they were ever going to go back to for sure.
Impact of Key Matches on Careers
00:17:03
Speaker
um Let's go to the U.S. title match. Jacob Fatu went out. It was a little bit of a glorified squash over L.A. Knight. ah That BFT at the moonsault was pretty sweet. that was you know but I like that they're trying to make the BFT RKO style. like You can hit it out of nowhere.
00:17:18
Speaker
But the crowd was huge over for Jacob Fatu. I kind of felt bad for L.A. Knight. He's been such a beloved babyface the last two years. And to have the fans you know just... and you know, bloodthirsty yelling at you, just getting your ass torn apart by the Simone werewolf kind of sucks. But how much longer are we going to pretend that that Jacob Fatu is a, is a heel or or he do you think he's already a baby face?
00:17:41
Speaker
I mean, that based on the crowd reaction, he's definitely a baby face. I just, I can't see him being like, I mean, he's never going to be like a full blown, like white meat baby face. you He's just going like a tweener. That's kind of just like an angry heel, I suppose. I don't know. I don't know. Looking at that Mania crowd, and then last night at SmackDown, you know, he kind of bucked up on Solo, basically told Solo, get in line, told him, get in where you fit in.
00:18:03
Speaker
And then he kicked Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest ass, and dude, the crowd's just going nuts for him the whole time, man. I think he may be one of the f freaking five or six most beloved guys on the roster right now. Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
00:18:14
Speaker
So yeah, you know the Fatou Terrence coming sooner or later. i don't see him having a super long run with that U.S. championship just because he doesn't necessarily need it. I think we see Solo kind of bungle up that that that this title reign for him, and then we see the the Solo versus Fatou feud happen.
00:18:31
Speaker
Yeah, we definitely need to get that out of the way. mean, we need to go ahead and execute Solo versus Fatu. Because if we don't do it now, it's just going to kind of drag on. And then I think Solo is going kind of fall farther into the ether and they're going to of separate and it's not going to make sense later on down the road.
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, i was going to say, where do where do you think Solo goes? Because he's gone from being an integral part of the last two WrestleMania main events. He main evented SummerSlam in a one-on-one match with um with Cody. And then he opened up the Raw's debut on Netflix, which was...
00:19:01
Speaker
Obviously, you know it ended up falling a little bit flat for us, but in WWE's eyes, that seemed like it was you know the same level as WrestleMania. And now he's not even on the Mania card. like He doesn't even show up at ringside with with Jacob Fatu. Where does Solo go from here and now that the Bloodline story is kind of officially ah a closed book?
00:19:18
Speaker
You know, i don't know. I don't i don't know if WWE
Storyline Developments and Speculations
00:19:23
Speaker
anticipated Jacob Fatu coming in and just having this this magnetic energy that people were drawn to and just being such a force.
00:19:33
Speaker
um And that unfortunately he kind of overshadowed Solo, right? Like Solo, when Solo was with Roman, I mean, he just had this mysterious mystique. He was the enforcer.
00:19:43
Speaker
um And then, you know, he did his bloodline 2.0 thing, which, you know, he kind of had a, he had ebbs and flows there where he kind of like, he came into his own toward the end of it, but it was never like serious. You know what i mean? Like it was kind of like more of a comedy, situation for solo and then you have jacob fatu come in who's just a certified ass kicker and i think it just kind of like it took solo down a peg right because we used to think solo was like damn when solo gets in the ring business is picking up right and now it's like when jacob gets in the ring business is picking up so i don't know i mean i still think he's gonna have you know a successful 2025 but i don't think it's gonna be anything close to what he's experienced in the last couple of years
00:20:21
Speaker
Yeah, you you're right, dude. Back like 2022, 2023, Solo was awesome. He was a strong, silent type. And you would see the energy kind of pick up when he was about to physically get involved in matches. And yeah, we've seen Jacob Fatu has done that role better, right? He just seems more dangerous. He's got this like electric energy to him.
00:20:38
Speaker
He just unhinged. Solo was never unhinged. Solo was like, he was very methodical and very controlled. And like he had Roman, like when Roman pulled the trigger on Solo, he was going to go balls to the wall. But it's like, you never know when Jacob's going to freaking blow, dude. Like he's just crazy.
00:20:52
Speaker
Yeah. And then we saw Solo pivot to do the the comedy stuff, which he was great at. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not sure where where he ends up at. It's hard to come back from that. Yeah, he is a great wrestler. I just don't know if he's going to get back to that main event level. Because, I mean, dude, it wasn't out of the question that he beat Cody for that belt at SummerSlam, right? and saw it Not necessarily on talent, ability level, but just the way the storyline was going. It would have made sense for him to grab that belt and have a short run with it.
00:21:18
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, it's so definitely something to keep an eye on, dude. He's always going to have a spot in WWE, one, because he's part of the Anawaii family, and two, dude is super talented. I'm just really interested to see where he ends up kind of slotting in long term on the card.
00:21:32
Speaker
He's still super young also, writes Yeah. So he's still plenty of time for solo. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. All right. Let's – what do got next on here on the list? Okay. El Grande Americano gets a big win beating Ray Phoenix, man, on night one. When I saw Ray Phoenix get get subbed in for Rey Mysterio after he got hurt on Friday night, I thought this may be the end of el Grande Americano just because – um You know, typically when somebody gets subbed in like that, it's a brand new, fresh talent like Wrestling Booking 101 says that they should, you know, they're getting beat. But he beats Ray Phoenix relatively clean, right? Like clean-ish. Obviously, he had to use the the metal beam inside the mask.
00:22:14
Speaker
ah but But yeah, it beats him, gets out of there clean without getting unmasked, man. what Where do you see this Grande Americano storyline going the next few months, Shane? I don't know. We didn't even unmask him. So we're still, the mystery still remains, you know, about, uh, El Grande Americano.
00:22:29
Speaker
I'm not sure, you know, I'm not sure what's next. Yeah. The fact that they, uh, he got through mania unscathed, like maybe they actually got some big thoughts for the scene. We ended up seeing it stretch out until summer slam or show or so, or some, you know, at least into whatever the next big show is going be, maybe it's only money in the bank, but, um,
00:22:45
Speaker
What about Ray Phoenix, man? Do you think they did Ray Phoenix dirty, bringing him in a few weeks ago? i mean, i don't think anybody... Chad Gable at Mania? Well, I mean, you could think that, like, you know, as ah as a fan, we're like, damn, they did him dirty. But I don't think Ray Phoenix is getting pissed off coming in and having, like, you know, a Mania match upon his debut. There's people that have been there for years grinding in WWE and have never even sniffed the Mania stage, dude. So I feel like, ah you know, nobody nobody can be mad about getting a freaking Mania paycheck. Yeah.
00:23:13
Speaker
Yeah, to me, if the person that has the biggest gripe coming out of this is Dragon Lee, man. Dragon Lee's been at Rey Mysterio's side, caught in the LWO vortex for the last year. He's been the one that's actually been involved in this feud with with Chad Gable and the Creed's.
00:23:29
Speaker
um it like he It's just natural. you there's there um Besides Rey Fenix being the hot, shiny new toy, there was absolutely no reason that it wasn't Dragon Lee subbed into that match instead of Rey Fenix. I was a little surprised that they subbed him in.
00:23:42
Speaker
um And they just did that on their own accord, right? Ray wasn't hurt. Ray wasn't... No, Ray got hurt Friday night. He did get hurt. Yeah. Ray got legit injured on Friday night. It was supposed to Ray. I don't know. They're flipping and flopping and snipping and snapping, freaking putting people and out of these matches now, just like, you know, saying, oh, they're hurt. No, there was no Becky Hogan situation on this one. This was strictly Yeah.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah. Another thing, dude, I think you got to get Ray Phoenix and Dragon Lee on separate shows, man. They're too similar, dude. They look similar. They're both working, you know, Lucha, Reptile gimmicks with their looks. Like, dude, like we were watching Friday night and me and Jordan were getting mixed up in the the Andre the Giant Battle Royale. Like, which one was which? Like, get get those guys apart from each other right now because you don't want, I think them being so similar takes them both down a notch.
00:24:29
Speaker
Yeah, I agree 100%. All right. ah Tiffy and Charlotte. What were your thoughts on this one? that We finally got in ring. This was probably the most interesting build on on the road to WrestleMania. What would you think ah of Tiffy beating Charlotte?
00:24:42
Speaker
I loved it I was so I was you know, I we were doing the preview show and the weeks leading the preview show, i was like, you know, dude, I think Tiffy's going to win this. And you would kind of like. convinced me like, no, dude, there's no way they're bringing Charlotte back and having her, having her lose you. And so you got in my freaking head.
00:24:58
Speaker
I made my picks and I picked Charlotte when I knew Tiffy was going to take this thing home, dude. And I don't know if that was the plan all along, but I just had the, the, um, you know, the inkling that Tiffany Stratton was going to, you know, stay the champion, dude. So I don't know. It's not a great look for Charlotte, especially considering the build to this thing was kind of awkward. She came in, got beat. So maybe they'll just take her off for a little bit and totally just repackage her and try to bring her back once again.
00:25:28
Speaker
Charlotte's had a rough road, man. Mm-hmm. They've kind of set her up for failure going back to to everything from the the Rumble all the way through now. ah you know If you've been following the Dirty Sheets, you know she got tore up pretty bad at the the roast of WrestleMania, which it sounded like that may have just been a ah disaster of an event. i did well I didn't watch that. What was the deal with that? they It wasn't on TV. It was only a live event It wasn't, nobody watched it.
00:25:51
Speaker
It wasn't presented. I didn't even know this was, did you know this was happening? yeah know this was Yeah. I did not even know this was happening. Then I saw all this stuff coming out with people were saying about each other and I was like, gosh, dang, dude, like, what are we doing here?
00:26:03
Speaker
Yeah, it was. ah Yeah, i think it was just a bad idea all the way around. so But Charlotte sounds like she got the the worst out at the roast. And then last night, you know, as soon as Tiffy mentioned Charlotte's name, just booze raining from the crowd. So they got they got to do some rehab. Charlotte, she deserves better. I'm not the biggest Charlotte fan in the world, but she definitely is deserves better than what she's getting, both from the company and the fans right now, because, you know, one, she's earned it. And two, it's just it's getting ugly out there, dude. Like, i yeah you know, I would tell the WWE audience, be careful. We know or at least everything that we see on, you know, social media and the behind the scenes tidbits we get. It sounds like she is a pretty sensitive person, this kind of thing. Dude, y'all going to end up chasing her to AEW, man. and I guarantee you Tony Khan gets stance on her. He's going know what he's got with with Charlotte Flair. And you're going to see that, you know, she really is arguably the best women's wrestler in the history of the game.
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah. I don't dislike Charlotte at all. Let me be clear. i I respect Charlotte for everything that she's done. I think she's freaking awesome. I think she just she just... To me, with that break, I feel like the the women's division evolved so much while she was gone. and like you know it was already evolving while she was there.
00:27:11
Speaker
But you know during that break, it was like so many women were just like stepping up and just freaking... Being amazing. And it's just a different generation. She feels like she's from ah different time, you know, and it's crazy. is She's been in the, she's been on the main roster for a decade now. I know, but you you know, we don't think about, we don't think about like that. We're like, you know, we just, it's not like she's a legend as far as like, you know, WWE legends are concerned, right? She's still an active roster participant. Like there's been guys that have been wrestling for like, you know, 20 years, dot dadada dah but it's, she just feels like,
00:27:42
Speaker
Dated. Yeah. You know, while she was out, it was almost a, a complete turnover of the women's roster. There's a lot of really, really interesting, young, different looking, different, you know, wrestling style women coming up between the main roster and NXT.
00:27:58
Speaker
And, you know, the crowd never loved Charlotte the way they love Becky and Bailey, right? That's why that's why Becky and Bailey can still get out there. they they People still want to see them. People just like it when they come out. Dude, as great as she is, the crowd's never never fucked with Charlotte like they do with Becky and Bailey.
00:28:12
Speaker
And I think that's why you see, like, she's kind of getting the, ah to me, it's go-away heat. i don't think it's good heat. I think it's the fans just want her to go away. And like said, I would just caution dude, because if she does go away to AEW, you're going miss her, man. It's going to be just like when Roman, dude. Everybody was sick of Roman's run, dude.
00:28:29
Speaker
As soon as he was gone, people realized how much they were missing him on TV week in and week out. Like you said, I think, I don't think it was so much her. I think, well, it was just a combination of things. They brought her in at the rumble, just let her freaking, you know, win at the rumble, tried to bring her back as a baby face.
00:28:43
Speaker
There was all this. She just, she came back with a brand new face, which was kind of awkward for everybody. You know what i mean? So that got people talking and they got the trolls hating, which kind of just, you know, troll hate kind of just magnifies and becomes the truth.
00:28:55
Speaker
um i don't know i just i i hate it for her but i think they need to definitely do something to either change it up or get get her going in a different direction give her a different role i don't know like maybe she could be like a you know like a what's the word i'm looking for like a part-timer no not a part-timer like she needs to be somebody's like mentor like that she needs a mentor that she's like you know like when she had dana brooke exactly yeah exactly dan bring dana brooke back she's having a pretty good run in tna
00:29:27
Speaker
Let's go main event. all right. So I think overall night, looking back at it on paper as we've kind of got match by match, it's, it feels like it was a better show than it felt like watching at night one. Maybe it was all the downtime in between the matches and stuff. We're kind of just sucking out the energy.
00:29:40
Speaker
But overall, you know, I think the general consensus among wrestling fans was night one was looking a little, I think mid would probably be the best way to describe it. We hit a main event, man Kicked off with two incredible entrances with Seth and Roman. And even I'll give Punk's credit to you. Punk's entrance was cool with Living Color, playing Cult of Personality live to the ring. That that energy was just on point.
00:30:04
Speaker
Felt big time. who Who do you think had the best entrance out of the three? Seth, for sure. coming out Coming out in all black and then... Or wait, was it the opposite? Yeah, he came out in all black and then he switched to all white. um Super cool. like He just felt major, dude.
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah, I loved him. I loved him and Roman's interest. Seth was the best just for the WrestleMania production spectacle and stuff. like That was just a very, very striking entrance for him.
00:30:31
Speaker
um I thought Roman's was so cool too, showing the entire bloodline and all the screens coming down. like that was a that That was like a last match type entrance. Yeah, they didn't show The Rock on there. as so I was hearing people say on all the bloodline little panels, they never showed The Rock.
00:30:45
Speaker
Really? Mm-hmm. Are you sure they never showed The Rock on there? Yeah. I got to go back and double check, dude. I'm not calling. i I was listening to Sam Roberts and somebody wrote in. They were there and they were taking pictures and um they were like they they were just paying attention to the different things and they went by panel by panel and they never the rock never showed up on there, dude. Sam's our buddy.
00:31:07
Speaker
I'm definitely going back and checking that one. just cannot believe they would have left the rock off. Even if they just gave some Rocky Maia Villa stuff, man, from early rock. Maybe we didn't see the final loss. fact check and we'll get back to you guys. But yeah, that's word on the street. verify that one.
00:31:18
Speaker
is that he wasn't on there. Because Rock and Roman's cool. Rock, last time we saw Rock acknowledged Roman. I know, but maybe they didn't want the Maniacraft. Maybe they didn't want any inklings of the Rock at the Maniacraft. Yeah, they didn't. Make them forget about the Make forget about the Rock. Don't even put the Rock's face up there, dude. Nobody would say the word Rock if it comes up organically conversation.
00:31:37
Speaker
And real quick, like you know before we get into this match, you we were talking about you know Seth Rollins having like the WrestleMania-style matchup. entrance I feel like that was one thing that was hugely lacking this year was just grand entrances. Like we didn't see Tiffy had a really cool Barbie style entrance. that sounds core Yeah, that was very reminiscent, like, you know WrestleMania esque. Seth had a very WrestleMania entrance.
00:31:59
Speaker
But for the most part, man, we just saw just straight up like, you know, cool, like some cool ring gear and stuff, but nothing that was just like, holy crap, dude, this entrance was epic. And I like i feel like WrestleMania entrances have been a thing, in you know, over the years. Oh, yeah, definitely, dude. It's a huge part of it, man. The presentation and the pageantry is...
00:32:18
Speaker
yeah that's it's Yeah, that's one of the tippy-top biggest things in Maine. I'm right there with you, man. The Maine event had them, and yeah besides that, it was just tippy. Everybody else had... you know Basic entrances. Regular PLE.
00:32:29
Speaker
I don't think anybody's really elevated, dude. Jay had what like ah he had like a marching band come out to start him off, or how how did that... I forget what Jay had... That's the thing. I don't even remember what it was. Yeah, exactly. If you can't remember. He had some sort of little flourish. I remember if it was a drum line or what it was that came out before he got started. But yeah, you'd think Jay is because his part. And it was kicking off the show. Yeah, you would have had they would have done something more special for that. But but yeah, but I thought the main event interest has rocked.
00:32:55
Speaker
And thought this match was great. I thought it was WWE style, main event wrestling, the best way possible. Again, we were critical that it was a triple threat with basically zero stakes, but. think it worked out. Yeah, the, just this the star power alone was there.
00:33:08
Speaker
And then obviously, you know, great action all the way throughout that. I liked that they, you know, they, they tease a little mini shield reunion with Seth and Roman work together and Roman, you know, he wasn't falling for it. He just immediately just takes that out.
00:33:20
Speaker
Um, Cool spot. did you think of Roman's fresh gear? Before we get into the ending, did you think of Roman going with the black and white gear as opposed to the black and red? I love it, dude. I think he literally, he put a bow on the end of the bloodline. There was no red. It's just like, it's very, he's just black and white. He's just Roman Reigns. I don't think he had a speck of red on,
00:33:39
Speaker
I think that's symbolic for sure. I like the Air Jordan wrestling boots too, man. Hopefully, with Roman's deal with them, they can get clearance to put the Jumpman on the the inevitable Ultimate Edition or Elite that we get from from this mania. But yeah, thought all guys looked great. CM Punk's gear, for those who don't know, um that was the same gear that he wore when he cut his famous Pipe Bomb promo. So that's why he had the black and yellow trunks. Yeah. So yeah, great WWE style main event action. Saw a lot of big spots. Obviously, his finishers galore.
00:34:08
Speaker
um And then we get to the big swerve at the end, dude. You think Paul Heyman's turning on CM Punk? Nope. He's turning on Punk and Roman with some wicked low blows. Seth hits Roman in a chair with it in the back with a chair for the 55th time.
00:34:22
Speaker
And yeah, Seth Rollins stands tall. If we're talking about Achilles heels, dude... Seth Rollins and Roman ah Seth Rollins back and Roman Reigns like that, like, you know, there's never been a more deadly combo for Roman Reigns. I mean, you know what I mean Like he cannot resist Seth Rollins is back, dude. You know, set Seth is just Roman's kryptonite days. Never beat him on pay-per-view.
00:34:43
Speaker
This is out of the last 11 WrestleManias. Think about that. 11. We're talking about the last 11 WrestleManias. Three of them have ended with Seth Rollins screwing over Roman Reigns. He had 31 with the cash in.
00:34:54
Speaker
WrestleMania 40, where he provided the distraction for, for Cody to beat Roman to the belt 41. And then this year it is. So yeah, he just did. Seth is always getting one up on Roman. I hope they keep it that way until these guys end up having, you know, their last match. you know, maybe Roman can finally get his lick back on the, the last time it happens.
00:35:12
Speaker
Um, and did ah It was great storytelling. um I thought Punk played his part well as much as we wanted to see Seth and Roman. I think there's a decent chance we end up getting to Seth and Roman for a main event next year, man. If Roman and the Rock, if that ship has sailed, if it ever was a ship to even begin with, I think there's a chance we stretch this out. Because, dude, WWE's got to know how much the fans are wanting that big one-on-one showdown with these guys at Mania, right? Like there's no way they're not aware of what a money match that is. And I feel like that is something you, you save for Mania.
00:35:42
Speaker
Yeah. And imagine, imagine the video packages they could put together for Seth and Roman, dude, it would be epic. Yeah, you put that you could put out a whole freaking documentary that week, dude. I'm sure they would, dude. Yeah, there would be no way you could not do that. Yeah, these two guys, they're they're they have been the absolute foundation of WWE over the last decade, man. like in just different all All the different stuff they're doing. like They have been the two constants.
00:36:03
Speaker
the two biggest stars, you know, the, we're going to talk about later on. They've been the Cena and Norton of the last decade, man, the, the macho man and Hulk Hogan, like that's the, the Brett and Sean, it's them and their, their rivalry and all their success that's driven it. So it was great seeing it come to a head on a night one. What, what did you think of the, of Seth and Paul Heyman being a team now? I mean, think it's kind of cool. At first I was like, what, how is this going to work? How is this dynamic going to work? Cause like, you know,
00:36:30
Speaker
Obviously CM Punk and ah Heyman were like, you know, best friends. Roman was like his boss, right? Like he was like, you know, I don't feel like Seth Rollins, it's not going to be that same dynamic, right? Or Seth's not going to be like, you know, he's going to be going, my tribal chief, oh, you know, um or my visionary, my my Seth Rollins. Yeah, it feels more like traditional heel manager. Yeah, where he's just going to, exactly. um I'm excited to see if they add more people to this faction. Obviously we saw Braun Breaker join join the fold on Monday night, but...
00:36:58
Speaker
i would I would like to see them just build this into something really cool. mean, we got to heal Becky, which I think. Yeah, i was going say, we'll go and I had it kind of further down on the format list, but it's it's here now. We'll go talk about it. No, it's fine. No, it's totally good. I think i think Becky joining up would would work, man. You know obviously we know how disastrous that 2019 babyface run with the man's man.
00:37:18
Speaker
Yeah. I think that kind of deep six, Seth Rollins' whole big run after beating Brock for the belt because it was just cringey at best. I know. For two people who are like i think you are legitimately like in love and have a great, healthy, awesome relationship. And that the fans love. They both a 100% approval rate. It made Seth look like such a chump. And they had zero confidence.
00:37:41
Speaker
chemistry on screen because they were acting out like uh was like a rom-com written by vince mcmahon you know what mean and like becky was the bigger star at the time so i think it kind of just i don't know if emasculated it's probably a little bit strong but it just kind of it really did clip the balls on seth's run because he was kind of this never say die baby face and then all of a sudden he's got his wife kind of doing some of the talking for him and beating him up i mean like they had a whole merch line the man's man you know i did it uh Yeah, man. they It was just... I still say the missed opportunity on that. So you you remember going back, you know, some recent nostalgia. So Extreme Rules 2019, main event was Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans is ga going against Seth and Becky with both Seth and Becky's boats on the line. i remember this.
00:38:27
Speaker
I remember Baron Corbin deep sixed Becky and then Seth beats the shit out of him. But then Brock cashes in on Seth after, right? brock So that's when Brock had the money to bang. I think they missed an opportunity. I think we needed Brock to F5 Becky, dude.
00:38:39
Speaker
I think that would have got Brock. all Because Brock was still getting like, that he was a heel, but he was Brock. So people were still cheering him, dude. I think we need to see Brock either F5 or German suplex Becky, dude. Yeah. just Make the heat on him go nuclear. And then I think that would have took Seth up a level instead of having Baron Corbin be the one to attack her. Yeah, I always thought that was a little misstep. But yeah, going back to modern times, yeah, I think they do need to add more people, man. So I think Becky would be great because to me, I'm thinking modern day dangerous alliance, man. those of you don't go back into your early 90s WCW stuff.
00:39:13
Speaker
um It was short-lived, but a really, really cool faction, man, with Rick Rude, Arne Anderson, a young Steve Austin, Bobby Eden, and then they had Medusa in there, too. So they had a mixed-gender stable.
00:39:27
Speaker
um So I think a heel Becky works and you run back Seth and Becky is just like, you know, despicable heels. Cause then I think you can kind of lean into the cringe at that point. Oh yeah. And I think, yeah, I think they can both play that really well too. I think having just being heels and just being annoying and like, yeah, I'm so here for that. I hope they do it. And I want to see them cross brands. I've kind of been fantasy booking in my head.
00:39:48
Speaker
Street Profits, man. I think Street Profits would be awesome. I was going to say they need a tag team for sure. I think Seth, Braun, Becky, and the Street Profits, that's a badass statement. Get little bit of diversity mixed in there too. You know what mean? um I just think that'd be really cool. I was fantasy booking it so hard that last night during that absolutely incredible TLC match on SmackDown, there was a couple times close the end of the match that DIY and and or Motor City Machine Guns had a clear path to the belt.
00:40:14
Speaker
I could already hear it in my head, the the burn it down, ah cranking through the speakers, man. And Braun and Seth coming out to Wreck Shop to make it official. um Yeah. And I think it would elevate the heel street profits in a way that they they're not going to be able to do themselves.
00:40:27
Speaker
Yeah. Cause like, if you're just, if you're just stuck in the tag division, there's a ceiling there. Right. But if you're in a, if you're the tag best tag team in the freaking awesome, awesome faction, then, Yeah, it's a totally different level of success. Yeah, I think it sets them up. on I think it does a couple things, man. I think, yeah, not to go way far down that the fantasy book and rabbit hole, but I think, like Sheena said, it elevates street profits.
00:40:48
Speaker
I think you really set up Montez Ford for a breakout, and I think it creates some intrigue. My problem with it just being Heyman, Braun Breaker, and Seth is that if we're doing unless they're doing some kind of crazy swerve, traditional wrestling booking, and I'm already just counting down. It's not an if, it's a when.
00:41:04
Speaker
Braun Breaker kind of wakes up, sees the light, beats the shit out of Seth. And i to me, what they the way it's set up right now from last Monday, I think this is all designed as a vehicle to make Braun Breaker the next main event guy, right?
00:41:16
Speaker
Seth's already main man, dude. Like, it'll be cool. There'll be some cool Seth and Paul Heyman stuff. But to me, the way that if it's just those three, this is strictly something to elevate Braun Breaker to the next level.
00:41:27
Speaker
Whereas if you get the, if you add them in, now you got Montez Ford, who's also potential. Well, I was going to say, when you mentioned that about Montez breaking out, I was just thinking about him and Seth Rollins, like having a freaking feud and how epic it would be. Yeah. I think if you have him and Breaker in the group, then you kind of, now it gives you a chance to see like, okay, which one of these guys is going to turn first because you know one of them is going um But yeah, cool cool group, man. I'm excited to see where it goes from here. it was a nice way to close out Raw. see Leaving Roman and Punk land, that's that's pretty big, man. If we end up getting Roman and Punk teaming up again, I think that could be interesting, too, going up against Seth and Braun.
00:42:02
Speaker
um Overall night one, the if you ask right after night one, I thought it sucked. I've softened on it as the weeks come by. I think it's still definitely kind of middle-of-the-pack mania. elevated by a really, really great main event. I think that was probably a... I got to go out and and kind of chart it, but in my mind, I think that was like a top 10-ish main event all time.
00:42:23
Speaker
Yeah, i am I think it was a perfectly fine PLE. I feel like if it would have been Backlash or even like a Money in the Bank pay-per-view or something like that. Great balls fire. Great balls of fire. It would have been... would have been like, dang, that was awesome, dude. But the fact that it was Mania, it it definitely raised the stakes.
00:42:40
Speaker
And I don't think it delivered to a mania level expectation that we've had, especially in the Triple H era, right? Like we've had of... 30 of 40 were both really big. Yeah, we've had a couple of bangers in recent history. And so I feel like this one just just fell a little flat. And I think a big part of that was like there was so much downtime between the matches. Like there was like a match and then there was like commercial, commercial, commercial, like video package, video package. And it's just like, dude, like...
00:43:05
Speaker
They just need to tone down little bit. I like a little bit of downtime between the matches, but they take it they take it to the extreme. Right, yeah. there's There's definitely a fine line to be had between like an AEW pay-per-view where it's just like, oops, all bangers. And then, you know, WWE where you're just getting inundated with just like like marketing for shit that you don't even want to buy. You know what i mean? Yeah. Anyway, i thought it I thought it was perfectly fine. i Like you, I've softened on it, but I feel like, um you know, we're not going to look back. like There's nothing that I'm like, oh, yeah, I can't wait to go back and watch this besides maybe the main event.
00:43:36
Speaker
Yeah, i my thoughts exactly. You know, a kind of mid-ish card with a... with a, you know, the main event that did everything it could to try to elevate it, but probably was, wasn't enough over on the grand scheme of things. As far as, far as WrestleMania's go, um, let's go to night two. We'll open it up right away. Was EO winning? Was that the right call? She's clearly not as talented a wrestler. She is. She's clearly not at the same star level as Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley.
00:44:00
Speaker
Uh, what do you think of her coming away with this, with the win? I think they must have different, like they must have some pretty awesome plans for Bianca and Rhea to let Io just go ahead like and retain the title. Because I just feel like, um like you said, Io is amazing. Just like on paper, like if you're just like work rate, f freaking incredible. But she doesn't have the aura that ah Bianca and Rhea have. So I feel like there there must be something in the chamber for those two women that's just better than being the champion, you know?
00:44:31
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, we saw Rhea come out and kind of help her out on Monday and then pick up the belt. So I don't know, dude. looks I wouldn't be shocked if we see Rhea take this thing at Backlash. So it's like, I don't know.
00:44:42
Speaker
I'm hoping they got something better planned for Io. I don't got super high hopes coming off what we saw on Raw, though. a felt like they kind of wanted give her a moment at Mania and now let's get the belt back to Rhea, which... To me, Rhea's above the women's titles at this point. She's such a huge star, dude. I still think they kind of... ah but We'll talk about him a little later on. I still think they kind of missed a beat, not not building a Rhea and Dom one-on-one at Mania. Yeah, I know. That feels like a Mania match. Yeah, there's no going back. But I think you know there's no way to not make that a comedy match. you know what I mean? Kind of. And I feel like Rhea just kind of elevated herself beyond that. like There's no way you could...
00:45:16
Speaker
be like oh yeah i'd rather see ria and dom than ria and freaking bianca yeah i think in the comedy match but dude sometimes those the kind of matches that you end up remembering the most from manias for sure about like ronda rousey and kurt angle against triple h and steph oh yeah probably the most memorable thing from 34 man um think about johnny knoxville versus sammy zane from wrestlemania 38 like sometimes those comedy matches is stuff that really stands out and people and people remember from mania um right, so Drew McIntyre, he had another video game-inspired entrance. This from the latest game in the Doom series.
00:45:48
Speaker
The gear looked much nicer than War Raiders, but I still like this one fell flat. He nailed at this altar-type thing. I thought they were doing like a little sword and stone gimmick or something. Yeah, so when they came out, this said, what are they doing in here, the sword and the stone? no I don't know why Drew was acting so just you know in reverence of this thing. like du get Make up some shit. Tell us tell us that you know Drew McIntyre grew up playing Doom, and it was his favorite game. like It was just...
00:46:10
Speaker
It made no sense. And then you have him follow up followed up by Damian Priest, who had one you know probably the best entrance of Night 2 with the guitarist from Slayer coming out and just playing a bitchin' version of Drew's entrance theme. Yeah. I thought the street fight was pretty good, man. it always In the AEW era, it always suffers, dude, when w deb ty tries to do matches like this because of the lack of blood, right? If this was AEW, both these guys would have been dropping buckets of blood.
00:46:34
Speaker
And, you know, to me, blood, does you don't always got to have it. But for a street fight, let's bring in the violence. I got to see it because these guys had some badass moves, right? Like, and again, it's moves in AW. Guys are going to be freaking looking like a stuck pig.
00:46:47
Speaker
um I thought they did the best they could under the limitations WWE puts them under. of But, yeah, you know, the the one thing i'll remember on this was just Drew's corny entrance.
00:46:57
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I, you know, and it's a shame because both of these guys, both of these guys can go and it was, you know, it was awesome. But yeah, I think it was just kind of, it fell a little flat, not being a little more intense. We had the Fatal 4-Way where the big moment was just the Vegas crowd being there for Dom, dude. And a match with Braun Breaker and Penta, it seemed like everybody wanted to see Dirty Dom get the win. love to see You love to see it, dude.
00:47:21
Speaker
Crowd goes nuts for his victory. and then they send him back out. He's on his way out. And I'm assuming Triple relayed it through the camera guy for Dom to go basically take a victory lap, run back in the ring and celebrate and He was already halfway up the ramp, man. Yeah, it was one of the biggest pops of the weekend, man, with with him winning that belt. What does Dom go for? Was this just the Vegas crowd or the Mania crowd being the Mania crowd, or this guy going to be a babyface? No, people love people love Dom. I don't know if he's going to be a babyface. He's not a babyface, dude. He's a heel. he's you know but Even when he was doing like autograph signings and stuff, youre I was watching videos of him, and he was just –
00:47:52
Speaker
you know, straight up like heel Dom. But I think people like have just loved seeing him evolve and just love seeing what he's done over the past few years and how far he's come. He's put in the work, man. he's He deserves it, dude. Like, and dude, he's one of the best parts of the Judgment Day, dude. he's And he's just like, he's Dominic Mysterio and he's got, he had Rhea, he had Liv. Like, how do you not just envy a guy like that and look like want to be a guy like that? You know?
00:48:18
Speaker
i mean, dude, he's beloved. man dirt yeah is beloved. Yeah, it was a great moment. I'm interested to see. feels like we're we're about to see another evolution of the Judgment Day, whether it's Finn. I can see everybody turn on Dom if they do want to just go babyface Dom. or you know It feels like one of either him or Finn got to go here here shortly. They've been teasing attention for a while, but...
00:48:39
Speaker
The Judgment Day, you know, they've always slow played that storyline since the start. So, but yeah, good for Dom, man. He deserved it. That was ah definitely one of the most memorable things about this mania was just to the crowd. Yeah, awesome reindeer, too. He had, ah you know, his white with the like skeleton looking. Oh, yeah, yeah. don't know if it was supposed to be Leparca tribute gear. Definitely. That's definitely what put me in mind. that Yeah, yeah he we should definitely be seeing an elite or an ultimate edition of that over the next year.
00:49:03
Speaker
um Joe Hendry comes out as Randy Orton's mystery phone. I thought this was a great choice, man. I thought it was an inspired choice. I was not thinking Joe Hendry. I was thinking probably Rusev or somebody like Carmelo Hayes, somebody in that that category.
00:49:17
Speaker
Karrion Karras. Yeah, yeah. We get teenage, we get teenage hamp. Joe Hendry gets squashed. I don't think this was a bad look, though, man. We talked about it on the turnbuckle debate this week. To me, like, yeah, maybe if you're TNA, you want to see your champ get a little bit of more offense. But, dude, Joe Hendry's like a lovable underdog. like kind of like i was He's not a straight-up combi act, but it's not like it was Moose or Dolph Ziggler going out there and getting wrecked, man. I thought overall this was a good move for TNA. And once again, you have...
00:49:44
Speaker
you know, representation on the biggest stage in wrestling. Right. So I just feel like there's no way to be mad at that. The fact that they brought a TNA star up and put them on wrestling or wrestling, put them on WrestleMania is, ah you know, I think is, is huge. So there's, you know, they should be happy with that.
00:50:03
Speaker
Let's go to the main event, man. John Cena versus Cody. This match somehow went 25 minutes. like ah i was shocked when I saw the timestamps on that because it did not feel like 25 minutes. It went 2140. I thought I saw 25 minutes at one point. Wikipedia says 2140. I didn't time it out. I could have swore I saw 2503. Either way. It probably was. If you take away Travis Scott's entrance, it probably... Travis Scott did a full-blown Undertaker entrance in the middle of the match.
00:50:29
Speaker
And it felt like maybe about six, or seven minutes of action. Cody basically got his ass whooped, dude. He really got dominated the entire time by an old, slow John Cena. I got Cody's entrance. Like he had a couple guys on dirt bikes riding around. Then he just comes out after the epic entrances we've seen from him the last two years.
00:50:46
Speaker
It made it. It fell flat. Like, dude, this this thing needed it needed something, man. I want just put it all on the rock, say we needed the rock. But to me, this match felt super flat. The action in the ring, the entrances. John Cena can't wrestle, dude. Travis Scott's interference. The and then the ending, dude, like this. This was give it an F. Honestly, I can usually find something to like to give a match a D minus. This was a big capital F to me. The people doing the mental gymnastics saying like, oh, John Cena said he was going ruin wrestling. That's what he's doing. I'm like, no, motherfucker. I hate those. It's supposed to be. We saw the Young Bucks do something similar. We saw Jericho do something similar at AEW last year. Dude, that shit killed the fans. It's the finger poke of doom, dude. Yes, it's the finger poke of doom. Nobody wants to see that.
00:51:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's that it's supposed to be bad stuff is horrible. Dude, I still think when the Young books started doing that shit, I think that's a big reason why we saw AEW's fucking ratings tank, man. like We haven't seen that. you know They've leveled off the in the last like five, six months since they stopped doing that shit, dude. But I get trying to be meta and like trying to go for some sort of like highbrow concept, but dude, it just doesn't work on wrestling, man. we want We want to be entertained. There's a way to be a heel and still be entertaining. No. And you know, I mean, John Cena, you know, he's got like the, what is the five moves of doom or whatever. It's just like, dude, that, which is totally fine. We, we accept that out of Cena, right?
00:52:09
Speaker
His STF still looks like trash after all these years, dude. And it's just the, the Travis Scott thing. It was, I think that really like took, things from bad to worse because I don't think he even knew what he was supposed to do. I don't know if Travis Scott is just like, you know, i don't know if he was high or what was going on, but he came out there, stood at the top of the entranceway and then like, you know, meandered his way down to the ring in the middle of a match where he was supposed to be like interfering. Right. So then Cody had to just lay there like a bitch for like 10 minutes while Travis Scott is like, you know, skipping down to the ring and John Cena's just smiling at him, waiting for him to get there like some creep, dude. I don't, I, the whole thing was a miss for me. And I, I was so pissed. And, and you know what even pissed me off even more? That freaking Vegas crowd booing Cody Rhodes. Like F you guys, like absolutely not. you were there at Mania, you know,
00:53:02
Speaker
Tip the cap to you, spending $8,000 to be in the building. um I thought the Vegas crowd sucked for SmackDown and Mania. They recovered a little bit by Raw, dude. But yeah, I thought SmackDown and Mania, that Vegas crowd sucked. Even John Cena pointed out, he said, you guys are booing Cody after last year when you guys cheered. like I thought that was probably the best heel thing John Cena said where he chastised the crowd for booing Cody. He yeah pointed out how stupid they were. Yeah, I thought we were i just thought we were past that, dude. I thought we were like in an era where we were all in agreement that you know we we cheer the heels or we cheer the faces and we boo the heels.
00:53:35
Speaker
And they it was it was repug. I cannot believe they were like booing Cody like that. It made me it made me want Cody just like whoop John Cena's ass even more, dude. I think it's a tip of the cap, man, to Cena or anything else, dude. In the final analysis on that situation, i kind of...
00:53:51
Speaker
I give more credit to Cena than blame on the Vegas crowd. did I think, you know, we were out. we We really weren't watching wrestling when John Cena had his rise, right? From 04 to 14, I was kind of out on the product.
00:54:02
Speaker
And there's a lot of people that are adults now that did grow up with it during that time. And they just love John Cena, dude. They're never going to boost Cena. It's akin to WrestleMania 18 when Hulk Hogan was the heel, but the crowd was cheering him against The Rock, dude. I think at the end of the day, I think this being Cena's last run has just canceled out any kind of ill will he may have on his heel run because they still popped for him in Dallas last night, too. you Obviously, they cheered Randy once Randy showed up, um but they popped for Cena.
00:54:29
Speaker
And I think yeah I really think we're going to look back at this, like whether it's the end of this year or maybe we got give some time to digest and be like, dude, this was the wrong time to do the scene of heel turn. We were kind of been saying that from the start. you Like if they were going to do it, they should have done it a while back. I do think it was something unexpected for this last run to really kick it off with him turning heel.
00:54:47
Speaker
But. I just think you're always going to have this mix of people that are so happy and so excited to see John Cena coming to their town for the last time, right? Because, yeah, like Friday last night, it was the last time he's going to be in Dallas-Fort Worth, you know? So I think that's generally going to outweigh whatever storyline happens to be happening at the moment. People are just to show him love when he shows up, man. So I really think they're we're going to end up looking back at this as a pretty major misstep with the Triple H era, man, that we went ahead with the John Cena heel turn. And...
00:55:16
Speaker
the Well, I think just the thing that made me even more mad is that, you know, the the match was kind of bad. And like you said, I i understand it from that perspective. Like, this is the last time you're going to see John Cena. But, you know, The Rock came in. like Where was The Rock? Like everybody's like, and then he came on Pat McAfee's show and said, you know, um it was never the plan. There was there was no long term plan. Like, stop gaslighting people. Like, you know what you're doing. Like, this is ridiculous, dude. Like, again, it's more mental gymnastics.
00:55:45
Speaker
And I feel like The Rock's involvement, like, why have him involved at all? You know what i mean? And like there was this whole like, oh, we just did it to boost ticket sales. I think i don't think that that's true, but I think it's shitty. I think that's a shitty like angle to even pretend to take right that you did it to boost ticket sales, like just have good product and people will buy tickets.
00:56:04
Speaker
You know? So I saw something. i I don't, I can't remember if it was actual, like, you know, a rumor going around or if it was just speculation, but it actually makes a lot of sense, dude, that, you know, Rock decided he wanted get involved in Elimination Chamber or whatever. WWE decided, hey, we need to get Rock at Elimination Chamber.
00:56:21
Speaker
And I think they accelerated the Cena heel turn. Think if they save Cena turning heel for Mania, right? Like if we don't, if he's still baby face and we see him cheat to beat Cody at Mania. Now that would have felt like a Mania moment. Yeah. You know what i mean?
00:56:34
Speaker
But the way it laid out now, i go back Elimination Chamber, in kayfabe, Cena turned heel to be able to get the services of Travis Scott to help him out at Mania. Yeah. Oh, God. That's the only reason he turned because he'd already won Elimination Chamber. He already had the main event match.
00:56:49
Speaker
The Rock hasn't shown up since then. Like literally the only thing that came out of him, ah you know, aligning with The Rock that night was that Travis Scott helped him out at Mania. And dude, the big, I kind of like Travis Scott being there. Dude's an absolute megastar in the rap world, regardless of whether you like his music or not. He's,
00:57:05
Speaker
one of the the three or four biggest stars in hip hop right now. um It's a big deal having him there. I think the fact that he was the only interference dude, I think when he first came out, people were thinking, all right, we're about to hit the ah bloodline rules part of the match. and We're going to see, you know, three or four different people come out here.
00:57:21
Speaker
I think once you realize like you know the ending happens, which was expecting Cody kick out, right? It was a belt shot. It wasn't particular it wasn't a particularly vicious belt shot. And then they had to drag the ref from outside. So it was a super delayed count, right? And last year at Rania, we saw Cody kick out of 26 spears. He kicked out of a spear spike combo from Roman and Solo.
Criticism of WrestleMania 41
00:57:40
Speaker
So theyre like there's no way he's taking a three count on this. After he already after he already took a freaking five-minute break yeah during Travis Scott's entrance. yeah i mean he got He had time to but recover. Yeah. Somehow, Cody's XP was still on zero, and he gets the three count. And I think everybody was just like, that was it you know
00:57:55
Speaker
That's exactly what i said. I was like, that was it. Travis Scott would have been fine if he was the first of, you know like I said, three or four people to run out. you know I don't even need three or four people to run out. I just need it to make sense. I just needed either The Rock to be there or Travis Scott not to be there.
00:58:09
Speaker
You know what I mean? like they They did the worst possible combination. right like they don't have to have It doesn't have to be a bloodline rule situation where it's like freaking everybody from the back is running out. yeah You needed The Rock though, man. but yeah Either The Rock needed to be there or Travis Scott needed to just stay home because the way that they did it made absolutely no sense and it just pissed me off.
00:58:30
Speaker
Overall thoughts on Mania 41. To me, I saw people on our Facebook are saying it was the three worst Manias ever. That just tells me you guys have not watched every WrestleMania. there There's been a couple worse WrestleMania in the last 10 or 12 years than this one.
00:58:42
Speaker
I do think, again, i haven't sat down and kind of charted out where I played at. I would say that this is slightly below middle of the pack for overall Mania rankings. It's not close to the bottom. There are some truly, truly dreadful WrestleManias that are absolute torture watch to sit through.
00:59:00
Speaker
So I put this one as kind of slightly below average. Yeah, I agree with that. Again, i think it was a perfectly fine show. All the matches were the matches delivered. They were fine. i just didn't feel like it just didn't have a WrestleMania feel. That's the only problem I have with it. Other than that, I mean, you know, there was no like other than Cena, there was no like big missteps. Right. Like it wasn't like it was like, oh, my gosh, you know, what are they doing here?
00:59:24
Speaker
All right, speed round items before we get into the listener mail because the kids are about to be getting up and we gotta go we got some animals take care of. ah We saw Aleister Black make his big return last night and take out The Miz. Who has a bigger 2025, Sheen, Rusev or Aleister Black?
00:59:38
Speaker
Aleister. And I want to give a match recommendation. Last night, Motor City Machine Guns, DIY, Street Profits, they went out and had an AEW-style match, TLC for the tag belts to end SmackDown, to end WrestleMania week.
00:59:51
Speaker
I'm telling you guys right now, I watched all of it. It was the best match. WWE has put in a ring in the last 10 days, man. It's... I don't know if they told these guys to go out there and and work like they had a chip on their shoulder. If these guys legit had a chip on the shoulder, they were left off mania.
01:00:04
Speaker
This match should have a WrestleMania. ah It's sacrilege. It was less than 12 hours ago. i know to me, it hangs right up there with the Hardys, Dudleys and Edge and Christian, anything they ever put out there. Like these guys were doing moves I'd never seen before, which I didn't think was possible in a, in a TLC match.
01:00:20
Speaker
um Just killer, killer stuff. So if you're a wrestling fan at all, go back and watch the main event from SmackDown. Friday, April 25th, the triple threat TLC match for the belts. Shane, we got listener mail?
01:00:31
Speaker
Yep.
01:00:48
Speaker
all right. Tony Barker hit us with thoughts on the triple A acquisition and what impact will it have for w WWE and wrestling in general?
WWE's Strategic Moves and Their Impact
01:00:56
Speaker
Gotta see how it shakes out, man. the it's um So, obviously, AAA, they've kind of fallen slightly below CMLL as the the premier wrestling organization in Mexico over the last last couple of decades, but they're still a very big deal, right? This would be the equivalent of, you know, I'd say it'd be the equivalent of another, ah by but basically about Mexico's version of AEW, right?
01:01:16
Speaker
And I just I'm interested to see if they just run it as a separate kind of a separate wrestling company under the TKO Endeavor umbrella or if it's going to legit be like a WWE brand. Right. So I don't know. if Time will tell. ah To me, it's a little unclear what they're doing with it.
01:01:32
Speaker
I know that at one point when NXT was really NXT back in like 2017, 2018, there was a vision that you were going to have like an NXT match. UK, which we saw come to pass, and then we've already seen that kind of rise and fall.
01:01:45
Speaker
And there was also going to be like an NXT Japan, NXT Mexico. So time will tell. i think it's intriguing. and It's a little bit troubling, the kind of monopoly we're seeing, you know, WWE's between this, WWE ID contracts. they're They're trying to really just sink in, claw in every single corner of, you know, the wrestling market.
01:02:03
Speaker
But, you know that's what they do. It's a business at the end of the day. So I'm kind of putting this one in the wait and see approach. All right. Tony also says, who was the MVP of WrestleMania weekend? I'm going to go with Seth Rollins was the MVP of WrestleMania weekend.
01:02:16
Speaker
MVP of WrestleMania weekend.
01:02:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's got to be Seth between the main event of night one and, uh, and raw. I want to go with a more, uh, you know, more creative answer than the guy who stood tall on the nights. But yeah, Seth, Seth, the Mandy two years straight. He's the mania MVP.
01:02:33
Speaker
Um, Eric Yazzie, who would you like to see Jay defend the World Heavyweight Championship against first? I think Gunther may be away for a while. We saw Gunther's not going to be away. I think he's suspended indefinitely, so he will be away. Yeah, you're right. He got the Brock Lesnar 2015 treatment.
01:02:49
Speaker
I'll go Logan Paul, man. Logan Paul had a clean-ish win over AJ at Mania. I think we see Jay and Logan Paul. You know they put on a good match. yeah I always love it when there's a universally hated heel going up against a beloved babyface like that. Yeah, I like that.
01:03:04
Speaker
ah Zach Herzler, thoughts on SummerSlam being two nights?
01:03:09
Speaker
I like more wrestling, dude. I'm fine with it More wrestling, it's going to give us chance to put more stuff on the card. um i'm I'm for it. I know there will be, I'm sure there's going to be years where we're like, man, this really did not need to be two nights, but I'm never going to complain about getting more wrestling.
01:03:23
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Do you think that having two nights, do you think that having two nights waters down? Like, you know, because there's like, you know, the one night mania, sometimes there's just like, oh my God, this was like, you know, eight matches that were just absolutely freaking insane. Do you think that having two nights, like they kind of have to put a bunch of stuff in there that may not be Mania or SummerSlam or Mania worthy and it waters it down? No, I don't think there was any... I mean, there were really good people left off the card at Mania this year. I mean, look at Bayley. Bayley kind got screwed over by Becky coming back. Well, she got screwed, yeah.
01:03:53
Speaker
I... No, I think there was it. It could get like that way in the future. But since they've gone to two nights, the roster has been loaded and pretty much everybody is over and it's worked. I don't I haven't felt like any of the two nights they've really been reaching for stuff or stuff that wasn't mania worthy was on the card. I still feel like there's good stuff that's getting left off of mania. Yeah, I feel like I feel the same.
01:04:14
Speaker
Zach Hertzler, any match result that actually surprised you? I was surprised by Tiffy winning, man. I thought Charlotte was a lot to win that thing. Between between the way the build had gone and just you know how much juice we we all believe Charlotte had backstage, I was pretty so i would say Tiffy winning as clean as she did was probably my ah was probably my number one biggest surprise result. Yeah, you had me, um you know, like I said, I had Tiffy in my sights, but then, yeah, you you talked me out of it. So when it when it happened, I was like, oh, damn. So, yeah, definitely surprising.
01:04:45
Speaker
Johnny JB, who do you want to see get made into a figure from this WrestleMania weekend?
01:04:52
Speaker
most figure worthy I mean I want to see Seth I want to see Ultimate Edition of Seth with both entrance gears I think that'd be awesome that'd be cool I would like to see a um like a but a Barbie package like you know since we have Mattel like we could have Tiffy they could totally do that yeah we a Tiffy with like a full blown like Barbie pink packaging like a ringside exclusive yeah a ringside exclusive would be perfect for or a Mattel Creations exclusive yeah that's a great idea um Let's see. I got a bonus question from our our friend and our longtime listener in Germany, Daniel Rao wrote in a question for the show. Who's the Marty Jannetty of the following team? He's got Bushwhackers, Headbangers and Hardy Boys.
01:05:28
Speaker
ah Bushwhackers and Headbangers. don't think there is a Jannetty to me. Luke, Butch, Mosh, Thrash. They're all four pretty much interchangeable. ah Hardy Boys, though, that's an interesting one, right? Jeff is obviously the one that has captured the hearts and minds of fans over the years.
01:05:42
Speaker
But, dude, you look at actual in-ring success, man, it's a lot closer than you'd think, dude. Matt Hardy's had a ton of success, and he's just been more consistent, right? We all know the demons. Yeah. Jeff Hardy's had outside the ring. So I'm go go Matt Hardy, dude, because Matt's been the one who's kind of had more of a mind for the business, dude. I feel like if it wasn't for Matt Hardy, Jeff would have went the rails. Yeah, and and the Hardy boys just would have, you know, become obsolete to use the yeah use the Hardy boys terms, dude. So o I'm actually gonna go to swerve and give the hot take and say that Jeff Hardy was actually the Marty Jannetty of the Hardy boys.
01:06:12
Speaker
Yeah, i think that's like I think that's a good call. i ah My knee jerk would have been like, yeah, it's Matt is the Gennetti. But when you put it like that, yeah, you're right, dude. like he was that He was the foundation of the Hardy Boys for sure. He he is. he's He's just so steady, family guy. you know or Jeff's just a supernova of charisma and star power, but it's just such a a mess outside of the room. Both are super, super nice. from what i ah Obviously, we met Matt Hardy, but um I've never heard anybody say they met Jeff Hardy. That's what people love Jeff, dude. Yeah, he was like super awesome. and you know i mean He has demons, but overall, I've always heard him just being like an absolute like you know gem of a person. now I think the DUIs really tested people before he racked up a couple of DUIs. I think he had like maybe three in a four or five year span.
01:06:55
Speaker
I think the the demons, you know, quote unquote, actually yeah actually made him more beloved to the fans, right? It gave him like a relatability and like an underdog thing. And like, dude, he's definitely a two or three steps slower now, but I feel like there's still money and one more main event run for Jeff Hardy.
01:07:13
Speaker
in WWE. I thought they were setting him up to feud with Roman right before he got in trouble and bailed in 2021. I still remember that SmackDown in Norfolk we went to. he was right It was him, Roman, and Sasha Banks were the three people that really stood out as being the most over with that Virginia crowd. I have never... I mean, we went to... At WrestleMania when the Hardy Boys returned, I've never heard a louder pop than that in my entire life, dude. The the arena was shaking, dude. Or the stadium was shaking, so... beloved Jeff Hardy yeah it was it was awesome um how do you feel about all the extra activities WWE is doing nowadays we kind of touched on that ex said oh oh no no this is different though how do you feel about the extra activities WWE is doing nowadays the press conferences the McAfee show caused a lot of headlines is it too much that's from Sam Rosenthal
01:07:54
Speaker
Again, I love, I live for this stuff,
WWE Media Expansion and Future Storylines
01:07:57
Speaker
dude. So it's, it's never to be too much content for me to keep it coming. I think it's, I think it's more like, I don't know if this is exactly how I met the question. Like, as it's kind of being more like work shooted, right? Like all all of the stuff, like, you know, it's lot to keep up with reality and, um, you know,
01:08:12
Speaker
and freaking wrestling all kind of combining and you know making this big amalgamation of like is it real is it not you know it is a lot and there is something to be i think it's the reason why aw was so good that first year and a half because you had one little tidy two-hour program to watch on wednesday nights and everything was crammed on there it's a reason why early nxt was so good it's a lot to keep up with which can make it somewhat exhausting as a fan but um know me personally i'm good with it I kind of like it. You know, when they first started like pulling back the curtain hardcore and like, you know, showing all the behind the scenes stuff, like obviously the content was great, but you're just kind of like, damn, like, you know, kayfabe is, you know, 100% dead. But now I think they've done it in a way like, you know, worth, yeah, it's new kayfabe, right? Like it's like reality TV, right? It's super produced, but it's like in a way that makes it feel like it's real life. And I think they've had to make that adjustment. There's no way that they can just keep like, oh, you have to look, Live your gimmick and like work your gimmick. They need social media. They need these guys to be on their platforms, being themselves, um instead of like you know trying to like just work a gimmick all the time. so The Rock nailed it when he snapped back at ah Dave LaGreca from Busted Open Radio ah this week. He was highly critical of The Rock and his role, or lack thereof, in the the Mania build.
01:09:24
Speaker
And he wrote on Instagram, he said, this entire business is a work, always has been, always will be, which, you know me, dude, that's that's right out of freaking my book, man. I always tell you, dude, everything you see in wrestling until it's stone cold, proved in a court of law that it's it's not a work, I think everything's will work, man.
01:09:40
Speaker
um Sam Rosenthal, biggest letdown of the figure reveals this week? Uh, just the lack of first time legends, man. Like, you know, it's, we've talked about it before on here. It's kind of just a problem that's going to exist with, with Mattel being this deep into the game, right? Like every time, you know, the, the pool of people that they haven't made and that are on somewhat decent terms with WWE gets smaller and smaller.
01:10:02
Speaker
um every year that goes by as they do start checking names off the list. But that's where that's the biggest moneymaker for me, man. It's first time in the line legends. And, you know, I think Mr. Fuji may have been the only one we even saw revealed it at Mania this year. So that's my big letdown. um there Sam Rosenthal also says there's been a lot of talk this weekend about season finales and upcoming season. Do you think there's a change in booking strategies due to Netflix?
01:10:27
Speaker
um I don't think so. I mean, Netflix Raw has been a little bit different, but i ah to me, I don't think there's been... I haven't seen much of a change in booking. It's just... You don't think you're going to see like all the the Netflix stars like ah do run-ins and like you know chair shots and stuff? Yeah, like the cast of Black Mirror is going to start a storyline with the Wyatt Six. Like, nah.
01:10:47
Speaker
I don't think that's going to happen, man. sure It's been about the same since Triple H took over July 2022. They're definitely a slower style of booking, right? lets Less swerves. I think you're going to see stuff that gets telegraphed a little bit. And, you know, you're going to get it's more like the bread comb breadcrumbs approach leading up to a big moment as opposed to just swerves out of nowhere for swerves sake.
01:11:06
Speaker
Zach Hertzler wants to know, with the Triple A acquisition, is there anyone you're looking forward to in figure form? Vikingo is cool, right? He's like, think like a Lucha Libre version of the the the Viking Express or the Viking Raiders, whatever we ended up calling those guys.
01:11:20
Speaker
oh And he's a really talented wrestler, so he'd be cool. But other than that, yeah, I'm not, I'm not, have not been keeping my finger on the pulse of AAA over the ah the last couple of years. He's about the only one I know. who Who's your favorite AAA wrestler, Shane?
01:11:34
Speaker
ah Couldn't tell Foo-foo-shma-shma Timmy Barra Why does WWE still not recognize Ric Flair's 21 title reigns Even with Vince gone Because he's an overrated old prick That's why Yeah, they they're trying to erase him from the ah and the history books, clearly. Yeah. um I'm not the biggest Cena fan, but I would definitely take Cena being the record holder of most title reigns over Ric Flair.
01:12:01
Speaker
I think, I mean, obviously we're going to have Cena come back around and in his in his reign as a babyface. So I think, you know, having him to look back on as like the the ultimate champion is definitely better look than Flair. You know, no shade to Flair, dude. I mean.
01:12:14
Speaker
The last real champion. The last real champion, yeah. um David Brooks, where does Cody go from here?
01:12:22
Speaker
I, if I'm booking it, he has a full on psychotic break and he goes back to stardust for like six months, dude. And then somebody, here's dude. If I could book the next year, Cody Rose.
01:12:34
Speaker
If I could book next year, he has a full on. So he, I think you give him a rematch to Cena. Maybe so we don't, yeah, everybody buckle up. I'm taking y'all on a ride. all right. This is all coming to me as, as this question came up.
01:12:45
Speaker
Backlash, Cena cheats somehow, beats Randy Orton. We don't see Cody between now and Backlash. Cena wins, and as he's standing tall, we see Cody come in, beat Cena, right? Um... Gets his rematch at the next show, whether that's Money in the Bank whatever it is.
01:12:58
Speaker
We see Cena beat Cody clean, right? No cheating. He just beats Cody clean. And this leads to a full-on psychotic break, dude. he goes back to Stardust, man, for like six months right or so. And then at some point, we see Dustin Rhodes come over for AEW. And Dustin be the one to talk sense to brother. knew were going bring Dustin into this. Getting back is Cody.
01:13:16
Speaker
Cody wins the Rumble again and and goes and gets the belt back at Next Mania, man. So I want i want to i want to see Stardust come back, though. That is, that is something. Cody's never been more interesting than when he was Stardust, dude. I still stand by that.
01:13:29
Speaker
ah That is, did you ever do that as a debate question? I feel like that needs to be ah a debate question for the Tavern. like There's no debate. For it to be a debate, it's got to be a compelling argument. And that's just a shoo-in, dude. Stardust was was awesome.
01:13:42
Speaker
um David also says, thoughts on The Rock since Mania last year. I like it, dude. I'm still with The Rock. Obviously, we we don't know what happened backstage. if it I think the truth is probably somewhere. but i think I lean more to The Rock has just kind of...
01:13:58
Speaker
as the you know he gets a hankering on a Wednesday morning, like, dude, I need to go do something with WWE and kind of you know keep a keep that coal hot in the fire. And it's just kind of airdropped into these storylines because it really makes no sense, dude. If you look at The Rock's appearances from from the moat from Raw after Mania until Elimination Chamber, none of them are congruent with each other.
01:14:18
Speaker
a lot of them are non completely nonsensical with minimal context. Everything else happened on the show. So I'm kind of in the camp that The Rock is kind of just airdropping in from time to time and wrecking. creative plans because Triple H, whether you like his booking or not, it's definitely been kind of cohesive.
01:14:33
Speaker
um so But I still like it, dude. There's still nobody ah no nobody like The Rock, dude. He's even... you know he he's even a bigger star than Roman, dude. Like the energy, the vibe just changes the moment he walks in, especially with the final boss character. Because the good thing about, the thing about being a totally nonsensical character like that, you have no idea where it's going.
01:14:52
Speaker
So in my mind, he's a, I don't look at him as, as the, you know, the heel version of the rock that we all knew and loved. To me, he is, um I go, I go into it knowing that he's like a bipolar character.
01:15:02
Speaker
megalomaniac psychopath, right? It like, that's, that's the character of the rock nowadays. And it helps it to make, make sense out of the nonsense that we get from him. Yeah. Yeah. I guess you can, uh, manage it that way.
01:15:16
Speaker
mean, what's your, what's your answer? What's thoughts on the last year of the rock? i loved the I loved everything up until this. this But like if you're playing it like that, like he's just like this nonsensical.
01:15:26
Speaker
He left us hanging at Mania. He left us hanging. We needed the Rock. you know I've loved all the Rock field. you know Again, they they made freaking you know lemonade out of lemons last year. or it was it last year Yeah. Last year was where they they teased Rock and Rome and then we ended up getting- Yeah. Right. Yeah, exactly. they pivoted. So I think it's, you know, I've been very pleased with the Rock's intervention until now. And I really kind of soured on him at the at the Netflix premiere when it was just like, again, like a billionaire circle jerk. Like I just, did I didn't love that look. And then it was like, um then the selling the soul. So I've kind of been like souring on him slowly. And then he then he stands us up at Mania. I'm kind of pissed. So- He needs to figure out what what he's doing and um you know straighten things out a little bit. The Rock went down to SmackDown, looking for a soul to steal. Exactly. ah Last question. David Brooks, EO Ultimate Edition, when?
01:16:18
Speaker
I still think they've nailed her elite so much that she kind of doesn't really need it, dude. I mean, I wouldn't be mad at it. She always has super cool gear and stuff, but they've done such a good job on our elite side. I'm not counting down the days, dude, but I know David Brooks is a huge EO fan. So i will I'm still praying to the figure gods that you get because I know how much it'll make you happy, man.
01:16:36
Speaker
Yeah, same. all right, that's it for this episode. Again, we got to run long, so we'll do an abbreviated wrap-up. ah Use code CHICKFOLE at Ringside Collectibles. Visit www.chickfoley for all things Chick. Sheena, hit us with some closing thoughts and we'll get out of here.
01:16:52
Speaker
I'm going to hit you with some closing thoughts from my son, the Brett man. This has been his theme song for the ah for the entire weekend. He's been singing it to everybody he knows. John Cena sucks. John Cena sucks. John Cena sucks.
01:17:06
Speaker
Bye.