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Episode 81: Ryback Has More Listeners Than Us
60 Plays6 years ago
Come hangout as Garrett and Derrick chat about Brock Lesnar's potential career as a comedy wrestler, Garrett's new pro wrestling inspired drink of choice, why Hobbs and Shaw will be the greatest movie ever made, the G1 Climax, a hot opener to Smackdown and more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Ryback Discussion
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined, a pro wrestling hangout. I'm your host, Garrett Callender, and with me, as always, a man who truly believes he's a better podcaster than Ryback, Derek Halpin.
00:00:19
Speaker
I know that I was not a huge fan of Ryback as a wrestler. Maybe he's a better podcaster. Although, hard to imagine him being a better podcaster than us, right? Come on. Come on. Come on. There's no way Ryback has the chemistry with anyone that you and I have with you. God, what if it turned out you and Ryback had amazing chemistry and he took you?
00:00:40
Speaker
Me and Ryback have an amazing chemistry? Yeah, it just turns out you guys flow really well. Well, do I join his show or do we kick you out and he joins this show? It's kind of a merger of the two, but either way, I'm not here anymore.
Motivational Impact and Joey Janela
00:00:55
Speaker
What's the name of his podcast? I bet it's like the big guy speaks. There's no way it's not just called like, I'm looking it up right now as we speak.
00:01:07
Speaker
What do you think? Combine the name of the podcast and be like the big guy hang out. Can he even be Ryback anymore? I'm sure WWE has the rights to that, right? Conversation with the big guy. Yep, we nailed it. Presented by Feed Me More Nutrition. That's outrageous. We don't have any nutritional supplements. I mean...
00:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, we probably have about the same nutritional value as corn. Although to be fair, our podcast logo is a fucking sofa, so I mean, how much exercise and nutrition we could promote on this podcast is probably pretty limited.
00:01:46
Speaker
Hey, somebody listens to this podcast while they're working out at the gym, and we're here for you. Hey, you can do that. You're doing it good. Keep lifting. Run faster, jump higher. Derek? You're saying we're enough motivation for somebody working out? That's enough for us to get that kind of endorsement?
00:02:05
Speaker
I want you to be sexier than I can ever be. You can do this. It's not hard. Use your mind. We're here for you. If you need some words of encouragement, here they are right now. If people have listened to past episodes, they know this would not be the first time you have given a motivational speech to somebody.
00:02:26
Speaker
Yeah, we gave Joey Janela the best dick sucking of his life. And look where he is now. That is quite the claim. I wonder how Joey would feel about you saying that. All I'm saying is he was very sad at that breakfast. We gave him a pep talk on this show. Next show, he wrestled in the main event with Jon Moxley and it was awesome. It was unsanctioned, Garrett. It wasn't the main event.
00:02:50
Speaker
I don't know what show you were watching. I'm just being an asshole now. The fucking match went on last. That's all that matters. Hit our goddamn music.
Social Media and Audience Engagement
00:03:39
Speaker
Should we plug our shit at the top of the episode? Because I feel like lately we've been forgetting, and it's been winding up getting thrown out at the end. Yeah, we just kind of toss it in there at the end, like if you'd like to do this. Yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
00:03:51
Speaker
Well, if you haven't heard by now, social media is a pretty hot thing these days, and we're on it. Multiple platforms, as a matter of fact. At Wrestle Hangout on Facebook, at Wrestle Hangout on Twitter, and at Predetermined Podcast on Instagram. We're also up on the email game, so if you wanna send us an email, recommend something to us, say something kind. We are predeterminedpodcastatgmail.com.
00:04:17
Speaker
Also, do us a favor, hop on over to iTunes, give us five stars, leave us a sweet review. If you leave us a sweet review, you know the drill. You can suggest something for us to check out as long as it's even slightly related to professional wrestling, and we'll talk about it on the show. That's our shtick, that's what we do, and we're pretty damn good at it at this point, wouldn't you say? I would say better than Ryback.
Spotlighting Wrestlers
00:04:41
Speaker
So I'm really calling Ryback out at the top of this, really, really calling out a beefy man who I have no business saying anything unkind to. I feel like in the year plus that I've done this podcast with you, I feel like you have a talent for picking a wrestler at a given time when they are not relevant or in the news cycle at all and trying to give them a spotlight on this show.
00:05:09
Speaker
Like what happened with Ryback recently that made him come to mind this week? Nothing, but it does make me think that basically what I heard you say is you have a magic power to make people stars again or at all. That is not what I said. I just said you bring them up.
00:05:27
Speaker
I'm a really good listener and I'm pretty sure that's what you just said. And what I heard was we talked about Otis and Jizz so much that they're the most over guys in all of SmackDown. I'm pretty sure they have an unsanctioned match at SummerSlam. Is that true? I said I'm pretty sure.
00:05:52
Speaker
Does that mean they go to the ring after the show? They'll be there. They'll be there. They have a match on it, right? They've been headlining every pay-per-view. In my heart. Heavy Machinery is doing quite well for themselves these days, and I don't think it's unfair for us to feel like we had a hand in that.
00:06:12
Speaker
Okay, so do you know more than the regular listeners of this podcast, our friends? Have you got the Otis and Jizz thing over with some of your friends? Like, is that something that's caught on with other people?
00:06:26
Speaker
Yeah, they are truly that in my mind. And I don't know. What's Ryback going to get out of all of this? What do we have to give Ryback? Is he at Starcast? What? I don't know. I just saw that Effie is going to be at Starcast. Are we?
Starrcast Plans
00:06:44
Speaker
There's a chance from what I hear. This is insane, Derek. Why don't we know if we're on it? Well, it's about a month away. Actually, technically less. And why don't you tell the story about it? Because I don't feel like this is shit talking. I don't feel like we're giving away any insider info on this. What's the story these days? I don't know. We're in a holding pattern.
00:07:07
Speaker
That is not, come on, you know more than that. All I know is that I emailed them like, are we on it? And they said you're on the list. But Jericho said that to you before and he took you off the list eventually, so. But that was a good thing, right? Yeah, but I don't know, we're on, I don't know, it's a month away, are we part of Starcast? It's hard to say. They implied that we are, but then have done nothing since then other than imply that we are to confirm that we are.
00:07:35
Speaker
And that's confusing. So there's a chance we will be a vendor at Starrcast, but there's also a chance that we're not going to be at all. We may just be in the area for a few wrestling shows. Garrett, I do want to go on record and say that we are going to be, if we are in fact a part of Starrcast, we are going to be busy as hell for a few days.
00:07:57
Speaker
And dare I say, you may have overbooked the boys of predetermined for a little bit more than we can handle. We can do anything we put our minds to. Do you need the talk I gave treadmill people at the beginning? I heard the talk you gave treadmill people at the beginning and I don't think that'll work on me.
00:08:15
Speaker
Can I try? Sure. Explain to me how we're going to make this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday thing work if we are a part of Starcast and are also attending how many different shows at this point? Four, five? Right now, four. I am actually attending a fifth on Sunday on my way back to Nashville because, you know, you pass wrestling as you're driving through the country. You just as well stop and see it.
00:08:46
Speaker
But no, actually, for real, if anybody is coming from Starcast, or from Chicago, I guess, and driving back south and you end up going through Indianapolis, you should stop and see Bizarro Lucha in Indianapolis. Don't we have a friend of the podcast? He will be there. He will be there. You'll get to see Garrett, our buddy Garrett. That's the show that he is a part of the authority at. Come on.
00:09:14
Speaker
They know Garrett is doing something else. Let's talk about it Garrett. I don't know. I don't know if it's been announced.
00:09:20
Speaker
What has? Wait, what are you talking about? Garrett chopped you. Oh yeah, Garrett chopped the shit out of me. That's what they might remember him from. Oh, they remember that. He's wonderful. His wife drove me to the Nazi show. The Nazi show? Well, we say Nazi. If you didn't listen last week, we didn't go to a Nazi show. I was going to say, that makes you sound pretty bad if you're getting driven to a Nazi show.
00:09:47
Speaker
Well, that's what I
Ryback Controversies
00:09:48
Speaker
was told I was going to. He thought he was going to it. No, no, no, no. It's different. I thought I thought I was going to. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. How does Ryback get out of this last week's events? Yeah. How does how does Ryback talk his way out of a Nazi out of a white supremacist rally?
00:10:07
Speaker
That's not what I was at. So anyways, we are attending a couple of AAW shows, GCW.
Event Logistics and Wrestling Shows
00:10:15
Speaker
Which the lucha bros have been announced to participate in both shows. At GCW and AAW? No, at both AAW shows, both nights.
00:10:26
Speaker
Here's what I'm banking on, Derek. Yeah, and this is kinda what I'm banking on. How are we gonna be able to do Starcast and make it to these shows? The answer is, I only assume at night they're having Dean Ambrose and CM Punk talk at some point.
00:10:42
Speaker
and no one is coming to look at us during that time. So that's when me and you run away to go watch Pro Wrestling together. Yeah, and it's like right next door, right? We're just going a couple blocks over to watch these shows. No, we're returning to the city from Schomburg and then coming back.
00:11:03
Speaker
I think we're going to be fine. I just wanted to let you know that maybe you didn't think this one all the way through. Hey, it is the exact same distance as the Pontchartrain Center was from Louisiana. I just want to. No, no, hold up. Distance is nothing. If it's if it is a weekend night, maybe traffic's good. Maybe it's bad. I don't know. Chicago, you're rolling the dice. I will say this.
00:11:27
Speaker
Something got brought up recently and it reminded me that when you went to Vegas for double or nothing You spent the entire first day there Pampering yourself in a hotel room. Mm-hmm
00:11:42
Speaker
When you get here, you've decided to have us hit the ground running and start doing some work as soon as we arrive. And when we're not working, running back into the city for wrestling shows and then running back out. And then staying up late at night to record more content for later.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. This is going to be a very exhausting weekend. You know how I was just a clean boy eating room service? That isn't this trip. I'll be lucky if I have a shower. What did you get? Lucky Charms cheesecake or whatever the fuck it was. What?
White Claw and Drinking Stories
00:12:19
Speaker
You got some kind of sweet. Oh, what was it? French toast? It was it was cereal crusted French toast, my friend. I'm not a psychopath.
00:12:31
Speaker
You're a little psychopath can I make a confession to you right now? Do you think it's easy for me to jump on a pro wrestling bandwagon? Or do you think it's hard to sway me like do you think I'm easily pulled into a pro wrestling trend? I Think you do a little bit of both I think sometimes you lead the way on a trend and then I think other times I
00:12:57
Speaker
Like, you have no problem hopping on something that's getting exciting. Well, can I tell you the bandwagon I just hopped on? Oh, great. Now, what is it? Did you hear that? I heard that was a beer. You think it was a beer? Was it a beer or was it an energy drink? What wacky shit are you cracking open over there? Are you drinking yerba mate or whatever it is? I just opened up a raspberry white claw, Derek.
00:13:27
Speaker
Wow, hopping on the White Claw bandwagon with a lot of other people, so... I don't even like, uh, sparkle water, so I thought I would hate the White Claw, but... God damn it, if I'm not drinking 100-calorie water and loving every second of it. 100-calorie alcoholic water? Yeah.
00:13:45
Speaker
Is this your first one? No, I was going to save the first one for the show, but I had like 14 people over this weekend and they're like, we'd kind of like to see what it looks like for you to drink the white claw. And I said, I'm saving it for the show. And then one other person said it. And, you know, it's not hard for me. Yeah, I can't. I cave if I have to wait to do something. It's not.
00:14:05
Speaker
It's not gonna work, but this fucking white club had a handful of them, and I'm loving them. I see what the big deal is. So this is tied to the pro wrestling community right now? Is that a fact? Yeah, even at the wrestling show that I went to in Tolohoma, the Nazi show, as they say.
00:14:26
Speaker
They even that night renamed the Gypsy Joe Arena the White Claw Arena because Joey Janela was on commentary.
00:14:44
Speaker
I'm guessing because it's what is this like a gym man's for loco? Because it's water, but it gets you drunk. That to be so easy. I haven't had one yet. I'm not going to talk shit because I've been planning on having a few of those with you all out weekend. Haven't had one. Like I said, I was kind of hoping you had neither, but hey, just you just couldn't hold on. Could you?
00:15:12
Speaker
Here's the thing, I could have waited or I could have enjoyed a month and a half of White Claws before I see you. And life is short, my friend. Yeah, we might die that weekend based on how much you fucking booked us for. And you know what? We'll stay hydrated the whole weekend thanks to these White Claws. I think alcohol dehydrates you. I'm pretty sure, best case scenario, you break even. Yeah, if anything, but I don't drink normally, so breaking even's okay.
00:15:43
Speaker
Would you consider yourself a regular consumer of alcohol? Not really. I would actually go closer to the side that I really don't drink. So what is it about white? Do you like the trendiness of it, Garrett? I like the light, the lightness. It's a very light drink. It doesn't sit heavy on me. I like the raspberry flavoring that's in it right now that's adding two grams of sugar. That doesn't seem like a whole lot.
00:16:10
Speaker
Does it taste like an alcoholic LaCroix? Yes, it is 100% if LaCroix had malt liquor in it. Man, malt liquor gives me a headache. Yeah, it gives me orange diarrhea. Wow, that is a lot of information for our listeners.
00:16:28
Speaker
Please don't edit that out. I don't want you to feel any embarrassment about that later and have our listeners miss out on the phrase orange diarrhea. Hey, you know, every listener here at one point found themselves six bottles deep into some Smirnoff ice.
00:16:46
Speaker
What? Every listener? Every single listener, every single person listening right now is familiar with the experience of the hangover of the Smirnoff ice. I want to hear from our listeners to get this confirmed that everyone went through the postification of having what do they call them? I called them raspberry delicious. You were obsessed with the Smirnoff raspberry drinks for a while when you first started drinking and it was kind of adorable.
00:17:15
Speaker
Hey, I stood by, why would I drink the drink that tastes bad when there's a soda that gets the same thing done? I also heard you swear you had tried Bud Light and Miller Lite and other beers at that time and you swore that Pabst Blue Ribbon was the one that tasted the best.
00:17:34
Speaker
at the time it did. Do you stand by that to this day? No, I like a good IPA here and here and there, but you're an IPA guy. I'm one of them. I'm one of them. And you know who got me turned on to that, Derek? Same person that turned you onto a white claw. No, that not Joey Janela, not Ali Cat. It was goddamn stone cold Steve Austin, Derek.
00:17:55
Speaker
You started drinking Steve Austin's IPA that he's got. What's it called? Broken Skull Ranch El Segundo. Broken Skull IPA from the El Segundo Brewing Company. Yeah. In lovely Southern California. I see I haven't seen any of those in person. Can you get those here in the Midwest?
00:18:15
Speaker
The only way to get it if you don't live in SoCal is to buy it online. It's $13 a bottle, and it also costs $13 to ship, so not worth it. One bottle would cost me $26. Correct. Of Steve Austin's beer. But, where I lived, I could get it around the corner at a market, and, you know, I was just, uh, you know, I didn't have a podcast, I was just a market that wanted to drink Stone Cold's beer, like a cool guy while I watched a pay-per-view.
00:18:45
Speaker
So I went and got one, turns out I love it. And then since it was just around the corner, I just kept drinking it. Yeah, was it stone colds? Yeah, it was, but pretty cool. Do you miss it? I actually do miss it, I might get one. At the time that you're listening to this, I'm probably in LA now. My flight's at 6 a.m., maybe I'll land, go to El Segundo Brewing Company and pick up a Broken Skull IPA. Bring some back, we can have those all out weekend. Oh, actually, you can't really bring back liquid, can you?
00:19:16
Speaker
That's such a shame. That is such a shame.
Los Angeles Trip and Movie Plans
00:19:21
Speaker
I'm going to bar wrestling tomorrow or if you're listening to this today. You're going to be in Los Angeles Thursday through what? I'll be back Sunday. And you're visiting friends. You're going to bar wrestling. You're going to go see Hobbs and Shaw for sure.
00:19:38
Speaker
This is, and Impact is there for three of the nights that I'm in town, but I'm not making it to Impact. Does that hurt you? If that puts into perspective where they rank in your life, they're still below a movie that you could see anywhere in the world.
00:19:58
Speaker
but I'm seeing it at my favorite theater in the country. Does it blow your mind to see the kind of sponsorships that Dwayne and Jason Statham are getting? Like, did you see that they have like a thing with brisk tea? That's fucking rad. No, I guess, wait, I just threw my white claw away and there's a brisk in my hand now, so continue.
00:20:19
Speaker
I can't wait for this movie man. Like this might be my most anticipated movie of all time.
00:20:34
Speaker
Any of our listeners that have not partook in the single greatest movie franchise This is once every hundred years. This is like tanahashi. This is one in a hundred Derek These movies movie franchise I Try and argue it Well, I haven't seen him. So how name a movie franchise any of them? I Don't know the fucking MCU not as good. I
00:21:06
Speaker
You probably don't even care about the first three or four, do you? You don't care until The Rock joins up. Number five, Derek, is where the Fast and Furious franchise start. Because in the first one, they're stealing DVD players. By number five, they're secret agents. No, they're not. They're still thieves. Number six, they're secret agents. So in the first one, they're stealing DVD players, because that's how relevant that topic was whenever the first one came out. And the law was not having it.
00:21:37
Speaker
And then they're stealing, what, fuel? And one of the later ones? That was number four. I don't remember what happens in two. Number three, they're Tokyo Drifting. Which, did you know these movies have a really fucked up timeline where Tokyo Drift actually comes after number six? Why is that important to the story? Because characters that die in three are still in six. That is odd.
00:22:04
Speaker
There was no way that was planned. I think they just realized that we liked the character named Han Solo and figured maybe bring him back. Anyways, why are you excited about Hobbs and Shaw? Because it's the two greatest actors of our fucking generation, Derek.
00:22:19
Speaker
The Rock and Jason Statham, star of Crank Too High Voltage. You don't have to cop a fucking attitude with me. I understand how you feel. Oh, you're interviewing. Yes. You don't have to raise your voice. I mean, I think the listeners need to know why why Jason Statham is so important to you. And obviously we know why Dwayne is.
00:22:40
Speaker
Jason Statham, the transporter, Frank Martin, the greatest action hero of our time. Yeah, that's true. The greatest action hero of our time is not in the Fast and Furious franchise because that is the transporter. And he really touched Derek and I when that first transporter came out.
00:22:58
Speaker
on DVD that we watched it two times in a row. And then from there I've just felt like Transporter 2 gravity didn't exist. And then number three kind of sucked. But then Crank was awesome and Crank 2 was the greatest movie ever made and I will follow Jason Statham to the end of the Earth.
00:23:16
Speaker
There are very few movies in my life that I've seen for the very first time, and then when it was over said, yep, I'm seeing that again right now. And that happened with the first transporter. We're probably scaring away a lot of people who are like, I remember seeing the transporter. Don't remember it being that big of a deal.
00:23:32
Speaker
Well, that's because you don't remember the theatrical trailer where you get to watch a rocket shoot at this man. He picks up a dinner tray and smacks it out of the way and it explodes somewhere else. Not in the movie. Science works. But it is in the DVD menu, so you can just watch through that and see the best moment ever caught on film not used in the actual movie. Now, did you ever pick up on the correlation between Jason Statham deflecting a missile with a dinner tray and the rock?
00:24:00
Speaker
deflecting a missile with his bare hands. You mean him fasting the Furious 8 when there's a nuclear missile going down and he bends over and moves it with his muscles? Yeah. Yeah, I did. And that's why they're the best team ever. I can't wait. And they're taking on the coolest guy on the planet, Idris Elba.
00:24:19
Speaker
who all I've wanted for years, Derek, is a movie where Idris Elba has a gun. I just want to see him have a gun and be an action guy. And now it's like three of my favorite people fighting each other in one movie, and I can watch that? You made this for me? It really does feel like this is a movie for you.
00:24:40
Speaker
Now, unless they make a Crank 3 one of these days, which I don't know the likelihood of that, this is a movie customized for our very own Garrett, our host. I truly wish all of you could see my face as I watch this film, because when I get really excited in a movie, you'll see me punching air, and I can already tell this is an air puncher. If only there was a way you could film your reaction to the movie without getting in trouble with theater staff,
00:25:10
Speaker
Yeah, and I'm going to a theater that's pretty strict about no phones. That's why I like it so much. Wouldn't it be funny if you flew all the way out to LA to watch Hobbs and Shaw and then got kicked out of the theater? For filming in the theater that I applaud for not allowing phones. Yeah, goddamn. Funny.
00:25:27
Speaker
Man, I can't wait to see that. Roman Reigns is in it,
WWE SmackDown and Raw Review
00:25:30
Speaker
because you know wrestling. Hey, speaking of Roman Reigns, did you watch SmackDown this week? I watched Raw and SmackDown this week, and I can tell you honestly, it's been a long time since I could say I watch both shows in the same week, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I thought it was a nice week for wrestling. Top to bottom, did you think they were good shows, or were there decent shows with really good moments sprinkled?
00:25:56
Speaker
I thought Raw was an okay show with some good moments sprinkled, and I thought SmackDown, top to bottom, was a good show. On the Raw side of things, we have new tag team champions. How do you feel about them going away from calling Gallows, Anderson, and Styles the club, and they're just trying to embrace calling them the OC? Here's the thing, when the OC was a TV show, I referred to it as the OC.
00:26:25
Speaker
And you can't just show me that again and not have me do it again. It was too much fun the first time. So you're calling, you're calling the original Bullet Club, you're calling them the Oc now. If WWE wants to call them the Oc, well, they'll be the Oc. I'm not gonna fight it.
00:26:41
Speaker
It's weird cuz I'm enjoying the hell out of seeing Styles be a heel again. And right now they've got the United States Championship on Styles and now Gallows and Anderson are new tag team champions. Congrats, good for them. Didn't they just sign big fat contracts to stay with WWE?
00:26:59
Speaker
Oh yeah, I think they got fuck you money. We were talking about this how you're gonna gradually just start... Basically, Gallows and Anderson's Instagrams are about to be the most fun thing you've ever seen. Cause it sounds like that's the kind of money they're gonna have is just fuck you money. So basically they were in a position where WWE didn't want to lose any more guys and guys that you wouldn't expect to get big time deals are now getting big time deals. Including guys like Mojo Rawley from what I understand.
00:27:30
Speaker
So you see Mojo Raleigh take a pie to the face, but then he's like, fuck you, look at my Lamborghini who gives a shit. Right. Right. I don't know. I think Paul Heyman's doing some interesting stuff. I do think there's some fun stuff happening. I think some of the 24-7 title stuff is entertaining. I feel like eventually it's going to run its course with me, and I'm going to be really annoyed by it.
00:27:57
Speaker
The problem with raw that I will continue to have is three hours is just a long fucking show And I think as you're approaching the end of the second hour you're thinking fuck I can't do this Well, what did they open the show what did they open raw with this week because smackdown had an awesome opener What did they do to try and keep me watching for three hours? Didn't they open with that? 24 7 title like
00:28:27
Speaker
What was it? Like a mosh pit that they call it where they had, they had Drake Maverick versus our truth. And after the match was, I mean, I guess surrounding the ring, it was basically like a lumberjack match. And then as soon as the match was over and our truth retained the 24 seven championship.
00:28:46
Speaker
Everyone piled into the ring to attack him because that rules her back on and Mike Bennett ended up walking out with the title and immediately laid down for his wife Maria and They're really playing up the idea that she's pregnant and she's the champ and therefore everyone's terrified to even touch her So how is she gonna lose the belt? That is quite the conundrum well, I'm just saying I mean It theoretically if somebody if somebody's boning her right there on top of her
00:29:17
Speaker
So Mike Kanellis is going to beat his wife for the title and get his manhood back? Well, apparently, according to the storyline, she's not she's not fucking Mike Bennett anymore. And somebody else supposedly is. So if that person is willing to bring a referee into the situation. Wait, somebody else is having sex with her or Mike Bennett? That's the implication is that she's not even positive that her her unborn child is Mike Bennett's.
00:29:43
Speaker
This is a crazy-ass fucking storyline, and I'm not even sure if I'm into it. Can I throw out my prediction? What? I have a feeling that they're gonna be in the operating room. That baby's coming out, and as it's coming out, it's really pumping a fist like it's pulling the horn on a truck, and it says, I'm coming!
00:30:04
Speaker
And it's, and it's jizz's baby. That would make sense. He's a great lover. He's very gentle. And then somebody immediately pins her as soon as she gives birth. I'm going to drag this out for another six, seven months. It's Tucker actually. And that's how we have to break up this tag team so we can get that jizz run. We've been looking for, you know, the ultimate turn for us would be down the line at some point to start referring to them by their real names.
00:30:32
Speaker
like look up their actual names? No, I mean like just calling them Otis and Tucker, like nothing ever happened. Just pretend like something happened and maybe we secretly are getting a payday from WWE to say nice things. Why aren't we working our listeners more? I don't know. Should we work them? I like them. I don't know. Give us your feedback. Let us know if you want us to work you, if you want us to.
00:31:02
Speaker
if you want us to dedicate an entire episode to something we don't necessarily believe in. Um, did enjoy the hell out of seeing Seth Rollins get beat down by Brock Lesnar. I think that was the story coming out of raw this week. And a lot of people making the same jokes online, including me, which is didn't know Brock Lesnar was a big Will Osprey fan.
00:31:27
Speaker
I like when that guy does the flips.
Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar
00:31:29
Speaker
I mean, I know I'm never going to get to face him, but I, you know, I like when he does it and you don't talk as good as Ricochet. I think that's fair. He really is just as good. He's maybe even a little taller. It's still a fucking leprechaun. It's still an Irish accent when you do it. It's probably been a good half a year since I've done a Lesnar impression because that's because I haven't been watching.
00:31:54
Speaker
God damn, no, I just- I really did like that beat down though. The best part was how long it lasted, right? Like that was the coolest thing? Well, the way we've been talking about Seth lately, this was the first time that Lesnar's felt like a babyface in a couple years. That's true. It's fucked up, but it's true. It's like, do you know the way we felt?
00:32:15
Speaker
at mania last year when everyone was kind of ready to just let roman win the title and they were ready to embrace him being universal champion and then it didn't happen and everyone was pissed off and upset but this time around it's like rock lesnar
00:32:34
Speaker
When Brock Lesnar won the Money in the Bank briefcase, it was like that for him.
00:32:57
Speaker
See, it turns out to like Brock, all he has to do is fucking show up. No, here's the thing. Do you think he's going to start showing up more just because Heyman's running the show more? I mean, if they pay him a bunch. Like, if honestly, if they're passing out money to Gallows and Anderson and Mojo Raleigh, I have to assume Brock's like, if you throw a little of that my way, I'll come do whatever you want.
00:33:23
Speaker
Why don't I ever get to be in any of those pie in the face bits? I always see these back stages with everybody. It turns out Brock Lesnar's like Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp ends up doing all these weird small movies like Tusk because Kevin Smith fucking asked him and Johnny Depp's like, no one ever asks me. They think I won't want to do it. Just ask Lesnar if he'll be in the fucking pie fight bit for the 4th of July. I bet he might.
00:33:49
Speaker
He's got a great sense of humor. Wouldn't it be funny to find out that early on in the contract negotiations with Lesnar, he said something that could have been loosely interpreted as, I don't want to be at Raw every week. And nobody ever really asked and they just assumed he doesn't once. It turns out that Brock Lesnar is super likable. But once again, this is just Vince McMahon booking where we're like, I don't like him. And he's like, Paul, you don't understand. I'm a very likable guy.
00:34:16
Speaker
Why can't I come to the show every week like everyone else?" And he's like, sad. They won't even let me use my Twitter account and I've got some really funny musings. You know, one thing I wish we did more often is you doing your voice impersonations. You mentioned you haven't done the Lesnar one in like six months. When's the last time you pulled out of Dusty? I guess the problem is that we haven't been...
00:34:43
Speaker
We haven't been really talking about WWE, and that's where the voices come out because the AEW guys I don't make fun of. What the fuck? That really isn't fair, is it? No, because I feel like you can use Dusty for anything.
00:34:59
Speaker
I feel like if I handed you my phone, I would like you to record my voicemail message as Dusty Rhodes talking about it being my voicemail. Come on, baby. Let Brock be part of that pie fight. He's so good. If there's nothing funnier than a big muscular man with a pie. Baby, if you're going to be having a backstage food fight, there's nobody better at that than Brock Lesnar.
00:35:27
Speaker
Cherry's my favorite. Nice. He doesn't really have a lot to say that actually adds to the conversation, but he's like, I like pie. Ask Rita how funny I am. That is Irish. Why can't I do Lesnar? I feel like I used to be able to do Lesnar.
00:35:44
Speaker
I think you're close to a Minnesota accent, but I think you lay it on pretty thick, and then it just becomes Irish. I just let it go, and then it gets away from me. And the thing is, if I tried to do an Irish accent, it would come out wrong too, because I don't know how to do that.
SmackDown Highlights and Praise
00:35:59
Speaker
So what did you think of the opening of SmackDown? How fucking cool is your girlfriend now? You just got slammed under the wheel of a gurney. Your fucking ribs are broken.
00:36:14
Speaker
I hope Brock wins at SummerSlam. Me too. Fuck it. What has happened? I'm not even mad about that. That is an actual thing where I'm like, hey, Seth Rollins didn't work. It kind of turns out he's an asshole when he gets the title. Let's try someone else. So basically what you're telling me is that last year's WrestleMania after the fact when he walked
00:36:38
Speaker
backstage and threw the belt at Vince and Rollins was sitting there, you're telling me that I'm supposed to perceive this situation as Lesnar was standing up and doing the right thing and Rollins was being the sniveling little bitch sitting there trying to weasel his way into the title picture? You told me if I go in there and take the job for Rollins that things are going to turn around around here. Fuck you. And when he throws the title. And yeah, here's the fucking title. Now give me a fucking pie.
00:37:07
Speaker
He wants to be more part of more comedy bits. Like in his mind, he's like, I've done everything there is to do in this business. I don't know what Cornet has against Chuck Taylor. What the guy does works. Can I ask you a question? I want you to give a sincere response to.
00:37:26
Speaker
If I gave you like 100% believable factual evidence that Brock Lesnar listened to this podcast every week, how would you react to that? And how would you feel? I would be an incredibly star struck and humbled.
00:37:43
Speaker
Would it make you scared for some of the things you've said? Not a bit. I'm more afraid of Ryback. He seems more unstable. Brock Lesnar isn't traveling here. Like when Lesnar's back on his farm in Minnesota or wherever the fuck he's living these days, he just says, oh, it's Thursday. Well, already downloaded.
00:38:07
Speaker
He's like, oh, fuck you guys. I'm going to Ryback. The damn music already. I love that song. We went 10 minutes before you hit the music this week. They haven't even plugged their social media in there. They've only got like two minutes left.
00:38:21
Speaker
Just tweet at us and let us know what match you want us to talk about if Brock Lesnar with his fucking Twitter account where he's probably sent like three Things period if he plugged our podcast I would shit Guys big big fan. I'm just curious. Do you ever think you might need a third person? Yeah, yes Yes
00:38:44
Speaker
Brock, can we bring you in on a trial basis? Oh, trial? How many? I got a lot of free time. WWE doesn't use me very much. Brock, we'll give you the pie throwing bit that you've always wanted. Oh, fuck yeah. What did you think of the opener to SmackDown this week? Because you know I was highly entertained.
00:39:04
Speaker
So as I was watching through SmackDown, right now it's just really, really hard for a match to grab me just because I spent the last couple days catching up on the G1 and just kind of watching everything. And when you're absorbing new Japan matches, it's kind of hard to watch a wrestling match in another promotion and get the same thing.
00:39:27
Speaker
I actually very much enjoyed the opening to SmackDown. And I do think that it's awesome that Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens are able to open that show, get a crowd that excited, get me excited, even after days of watching the G1 now. That is a compliment. I mean, it's weird because
00:39:48
Speaker
You don't think of it as a matchup that you need to see until you're about to see it. And then even then like you're skeptical about, cause I mean, I don't know. Do you consider both of those guys like power move guys? Yeah. And throughout this match, I think you text me this, you said it's just nice getting to see KO uses arsenal. Well, yeah. I mean, you, you, I think,
00:40:11
Speaker
one of the things anytime he's been a heel and he breaks out like a like a you know a swan tom bomb or a you know a frog splash I mean the thing they always articulate is like oh my god like he's so agile for a big guy but I think when he's a baby face
00:40:30
Speaker
I think they're able to like that it almost fits the character even more and They had a really good back and forth and Well, and that was always Rollins problem when he was a heel is they couldn't let him do his high flying shit because you don't want people to cheer for moves you're doing as a heel and now with KO, you know he I like having him as a baby face again, so we can just see more of his shit and
00:40:58
Speaker
I think somebody, I'm plagiarizing this, I saw somebody write this online, but somebody basically wrote that Kevin Owens now basically has the moveset of the ultimate creator wrestler on a wrestling video game. He's got a Swanton Bomb from Jeff Hardy, he's got a Frog Splash from Eddie Guerrero, he's got a Super Kick from Shawn Michaels, and he's got a Stunner.
00:41:26
Speaker
which no one uses this is he he really is the first person to actually have the stunner since stone cold right yeah and he's used it in the past i think he had a match with roman a couple years ago for the universal title where he broke that out and he's
G1 Climax Tournament Discussion
00:41:41
Speaker
broken out a couple times but actually the first time he broke that out he talked about it on stone colds podcast to him yes and stone cold explained to him how he did the stunner wrong
00:41:53
Speaker
and explained like, people think the kick is just to get them bent over, but he explained the science behind the stunner. They went into detail about how you do it so that it actually knocks out the opponent. And he has done it exactly the way Stone Cold has said ever since.
00:42:10
Speaker
dropping stunners left and right and I've been loving it. It was cool to see the crowd really be into that match with him and McIntyre. I thought SmackDown was good this week. I also had a good time watching the main event between Styles and Kofi Kingston. What did you think of this one? It actually, I feel bad saying this. It didn't really hold my attention as much as the first one.
00:42:34
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if it was as good as the opening match, but I think what I really popped for was I loved the outside stuff with New Day and Gallows and Anderson, and I liked the finish. The timing of catching that Trouble in Paradise on Styles as he's jumping into the ring for the phenomenal forearm, that's tough shit. I wish the camera hadn't been so distracted by the stuff on the outside because that looked like an awesome way to end the match.
00:43:00
Speaker
There were actually a couple times they missed because there was so much shit going on in this match that the camera would miss. Like I think at one point Xavier did a.
00:43:11
Speaker
flip off the table or something and they caught that in the background while another move was happening in the ring. It was an exciting match and it was a good raw match. I think once again though, it just kind of comes down to when you're really watching a lot of hours of the G1 in a row and you're seeing some of the best wrestling matches on the planet being put on all in a short period of time.
00:43:37
Speaker
It just gets to a point where, I mean, there's even some G1 matches that don't pull me in. But it makes it even harder on WWE, I feel like. I wanna bring this up because I guess this is as good a time as any. Maybe we've talked about this too much in the past. I don't know, remind me. But do you really think of it as a, with New Japan and the G1, do you view it as a quality thing or just a style thing?
00:44:07
Speaker
Honestly, as far as the matches because I know that. Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. I wanted to elaborate, but I was just saying that like there have been times where I've watched some matches in New Japan. And by now I'm used to how New Japan matches work. And there are times and I can say this with a straight face where I'm not happy that the finish in the match didn't happen sooner.
00:44:33
Speaker
In other words, I think they find the high point in the match and then they kick out of what are supposed to be finishers. There are no finishers in New Japan. There are just moves that hurt really, really bad that you have to hit multiple times to get a pinfall. And that actually I was texting Jeffy about that this weekend because it what was it for a while? The one winged angel was the only move that no one had ever kicked out of.
00:45:01
Speaker
And after watching so much G1, Jeffy and I were talking about Nido and how it used to be that his finisher was, you know, Destino, you didn't kick out of it. And now it seems like he just has to hit you with like three of them in a row before he can actually pin you. I do agree with you that that can be a problem sometimes.
New Japan Wrestling Critique
00:45:21
Speaker
Again, that's not me ripping them. There have been times in the past where, I think during one of Osprey's last matches that we watched, where it felt like the finish was at a spot that didn't end up being the finish. And when he kicked out, I actually let out a like, oh no. Like, you had taken the fan to the top of the mountain as far as peak interest and excitement.
00:45:47
Speaker
and yes see this is the thing like if people are going to rip about like finishers being overexposed new japan is the primary culprit of this shit and specifically to talk about nido i think the one thing that doesn't help and i noticed this with nido matches and i noticed i noticed it with kenny omega matches it's the announcing the in like the the announcing
00:46:14
Speaker
focuses so much on the call for the finisher that it exaggerates it and it kind of makes it annoying. Like the fact that every time Nido goes for a Destina, it's a Destina. Oh, no. You have to call it every time. Like it's the biggest move that anyone's ever hit in a wrestling match. You're right. I never really thought about that. But every time they do a finisher, Kevin Kelly really drags the name of it out. He gets the shout.
00:46:43
Speaker
Yeah. And it's the best or when somebody starts to do the finisher and he starts saying it. Yeah. But the move goes a little long. So he has to hold it longer. Yeah. And again, I'm just I'm just spit balling. I'm not I'm not sitting here saying fuck New Japan. I think that would be my primary critique is that sometimes the matches don't need to be as
00:47:09
Speaker
Long is not the right word. The finish could come sooner. Like some of these matches could like they, cause they don't even need their finish for the match to be exciting. Some of the other stuff that they do, the other high spots they have in the match are good enough to get you into a position where like a false finish makes sense. And then they could go hit their finisher and the match could be over, but it's almost like a guarantee in a new Japan match that one finisher is not going to end the match.
00:47:38
Speaker
You are definitely right there. I don't do you think That it that falls on to the wrestlers because you I assume they're given an amount of time and told this is how long your match is gonna be You know when they're planning out for TV and do you think that just comes with poor planning on their part? or do you think that it's just New Japan's making the matches long for the sake of being long cuz that's their match style and
00:48:01
Speaker
I don't know. I think there's definitely a new Japan style that's different than other wrestling that you'll see. But I don't know if that if you took away the kicking out of three finishers, I don't think if you took that away, that it would not feel like a new Japan match. I think it would still feel like a new Japan match to just the the. I don't know, the finish would be a little bit more sensible or understandable. They really make it. It's like
00:48:32
Speaker
it's like saying I don't know like like I was gonna make like a drug reference like but it's like saying that like do you think doing crack
00:48:44
Speaker
you know, three times, is that extreme? Or is that just how they do it? Is that like, fuck, I don't know, man. Like, it's... Three cracks for me, please. I don't know. I'm not a drug user or anything, but fuck, man. Like, New Japan, I've told you before. You seem to, like, we've, you just basically acknowledged it a few minutes ago. It's like, you can't go back to regular wrestling after watching New Japan. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing.
00:49:11
Speaker
I think you should be able to watch a really awesome New Japan match with a good finish and still be able to come back and watch other wrestling without seeing somebody hit their finisher 15 fucking times and then the match is over. And I can but the G1 is a special time of the year where we're basically gifted with dozens and dozens of incredible matches.
Jon Moxley's Future in Wrestling
00:49:35
Speaker
And at the time that that's coming, this is almost like one of their holidays. Like yeah, WWE has SummerSlam coming up, but there's also a month and a half, two month tournament going on right now where these guys are going out and trying to steal the show over and over and over and over and over again.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah. And the thing is, they are succeeding at doing so. And when you get that type of match built in your head, you know, it is hard to just jump to another when, you know, I've got three more days of this coming up here. What? Fucking today? Like I the Toro Yano night Moxley match is happening at three a.m. today. So I'll be able to, I guess, watch that on the airplane. Well, speaking of Moxley, I did get the chance to go back and watch
00:50:21
Speaker
Tetsuya Naito and Jon Moxley fight each other in the G1 and I enjoyed the hell out of this match.
00:50:39
Speaker
You've finally like you've embraced him wrestling there like like he fits Or do you at least feel like his character is different enough than everyone else there that he fits in that way? I think he fits in that way and I I think when you see guys that you don't know what kind of stuff they're willing to take Because a big part of New Japan is people taking crazy fucking moves
00:51:03
Speaker
And as I was watching through the G1 and kind of watching guys like Ishii, you know, you can be a guy who can just, you don't have to take the craziest shit, but it kind of feels like if you're not gonna take the crazy shit, you're gonna have to take some hard fucking hits over there. You gotta compromise somewhere. And it looks like Moxley's willing to just, you know, get fucking his head taken off with some really good lariants.
00:51:27
Speaker
Yeah. Did you like the, um, cause I can tell you, I was a fan of the back and forth mocking between Nido and Moxley at the beginning of the match. Those two just made so much sense to me as being paired up. Like they're different, like they have similar attitudes in a way that it was just like, yeah, this guy's going to want to run at me and I'm just going to take my pants off forever. And that's going to piss this guy off. But I loved like the just rolling out of the ring. I love Nido fucking with Moxley in this one.
00:51:59
Speaker
Yeah, I thought they had really good chemistry together. I'd like to see them do this a few more times, if at all possible. Were you happy with Moxley going over? I'm fine with it. I'm not losing my mind over all the stuff that's going on with Moxley and wrestling right now, but I think it's been fun to see him having a good time away from WWE.
00:52:26
Speaker
You've definitely got me convinced that he's gonna win the G1 now though. I don't know, to me, like if you're gonna bother bringing him in...
00:52:35
Speaker
Like here's the thing, you know, that from new Japan's perspective, him wanting to be their period is somewhat flattering, right? Like a guy who basically had the world in the palm of his hands in WWE left. Obviously he made the deal with AEW, but he also expressed wanting to be in the G1. So that's flattering to them. So I'm sure they, they want to do something big with him. Maybe that was one of the things they immediately discussed.
00:53:02
Speaker
Would you let Moxley go completely undefeated in the tournament, or would you let him get a loss that people could deal with? Toroyano, maybe tonight Toroyano does some stupid shit and rolls him up really quick, and the match is just over from shenanigans. Would you get the loss out of the way like that, or would you let him just run roughshot on everyone through the G1, win the G1, go fight Okada?
00:53:29
Speaker
It makes, well, there's a couple of different ways they can go with that because theoretically those two can meet, right? Nido and Okada, I'm sorry, Okada and Moxley. Yeah, right now they're both undefeated. They're the only two. There's a couple of different ways they can go with that then. But let's assume that that's going to be a match at Wrestle Kingdom, right?
00:53:56
Speaker
Yeah, because your Wrestle Kingdom's a two-day event, so there will be two main events. And I think that, you know, like if there were a New Japan purist that didn't like the idea of a Moxley headlining, they still have the opportunity to give us a second headlining match that isn't that. Could you explain to me what a New Japan purist is?
00:54:20
Speaker
I don't know. I think right now, when a new guy gets thrown into the mix, seeing him immediately shoot to the top like that, to me it was, I need to see Moxley prove himself first. And like I said, the longer this tournament's going on, he is proving himself more to me. And I am getting more over with, he's more over with me now. Maybe once I finally see him, if he does take on Okada in the finals, maybe that'll be the one that finally pushes it over.
00:54:50
Speaker
This is kind of what I've been waiting for. I need to see him with their top guys to see how he can hang with the top guys. Don't you think he's done that? Once again, wouldn't you consider Nido a top guy? No, I'm saying this is where we're at now where I watched him and enjoyed him very much with Nido and I enjoyed the shit out of his match with Ishii and seeing those longer matches. But I think Nido is truly like the first top guy.
00:55:19
Speaker
that he is faced there. Fair enough. But I don't know. Like I said, I'm not going to get worked up about it one way or the other. I'm not mad. To me, the reason I bring it up is because this came up the other day between us in a text conversation. And in my mind, I was thinking, man, this feels like a very WWE fan type complaint, right? Like, it's too soon.
00:55:46
Speaker
Don't push him, don't push him so hard, so soon. Like, do they know how long they're going to be able to have Moxley before he becomes more focused on AEW? Like they're in a really nice window right now where they have him more than AEW does.
00:56:01
Speaker
And see, I think that's what I don't know. If I knew that Moxley is going to hang around, if I know he is going to be doing New Japan and AEW simultaneously, and I get to watch him face off with all these different people, I love that. I have no issues with that. But you know, I don't want him to go all the way to Wrestle Kingdom, be the one to take a belt away from Okada to just leave a month later, you know?
00:56:26
Speaker
Well, there's a couple scenarios I could see playing out. What if he beats Okada and the G1 gets Okada at Wrestle Kingdom but loses to Okada for the title? And that is entirely possible and I could be into that.
00:56:42
Speaker
And then he goes off to face Kenny Omega within a few months of facing Okada. Well, actually, the other way around I get the
AEW TV Debut Speculations
00:56:50
Speaker
other way. Yeah. Yeah. But I brought this up to you earlier, like the fact that we could see Dean Dean Ambrose essentially face Okada and Omega within a few months of each other. That's pretty wild. That is really wild. And we were talking I think last week about who
00:57:08
Speaker
New Japan is really building to be their next top guy. Who would that guy be? And we were kind of talking Osprey, but clearly he's getting his ass kicked all over this G1. But I don't know, maybe we overlook Moxley. Maybe the plan is he is there longer and he could be a top guy. And maybe that's the working relationship we need with New Japan and AEW. Maybe we can get that.
00:57:33
Speaker
Maybe that will eventually, we'll see. I'm not fretting the moxie stuff one way or another, because again, I've been enjoying his stuff since he's left WWE. But I'm not demanding that he gets top billing either way. It doesn't matter to me. I've been enjoying what he's done in New Japan. And it's crazy to stop and think about how little he's actually done in AEW, and technically how little AEW has done in general.
00:58:02
Speaker
like we talk about it like it's like this this entity but it's I mean it hasn't been quantified yet they've done a few shows and we now know that October 2nd is when things get going on TNT on Wednesday nights
00:58:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be in a 20,000 seat arena in DC. I was actually I kind of I'm not going to lie. I looked into flights to see if it were doable to go there and back in a day. Not really for me. So I'll be watching that one from home. You don't think this.
00:58:35
Speaker
Doable the flights were too expensive if I come across the cheaper flight Or you know maybe I can use some airline miles something like that Maybe I would like to be there for their first show, but honestly being there for all out double or nothing and all and That all is fine with me. I you know I'll have a little bit of FOMO, but you know I
00:58:57
Speaker
No, it's fine. I think it'll be equally awesome seeing it on television for the first time. Because that, I mean, that's an experience too.
00:59:07
Speaker
And I'm honestly, I am excited. I like that they already have what Cody versus Sammy Guevara announced. And then they announced that Omega and the Young Bucks are teaming up against Jericho and two mystery opponents, which I saw some people speculate in LAX because LAX is out of their impact contracts. That would be a hell of a debut, don't you think? I can't think of two people that we need to introduce to that tag division more than LAX.
00:59:36
Speaker
Did you happen to catch any more G1 matches? Because I can tell you Zack Sabre Jr. and Will Osprey delivered. Fuck that was good. I love seeing when somebody can counter Sabre Jr. shit. You've brought this up before. There's nobody on the planet right now quite like Zack Sabre Jr. as far as pro wrestling goes. Can you name another wrestler who like 80 to 90% of their offense is submission?
01:00:07
Speaker
fuck I mean I'm trying to think you know what you can think of wrestlers whose finishers are submission moves and you can think of wrestlers whose finishers are submission moves that do a lot of setting up for that finisher throughout the match like stomping on limbs or working the limb but I feel like Zack Sabre Jr. every few seconds is grabbing a hold and twisting you like a fucking pretzel
01:00:29
Speaker
I mean, the guy is very unique.
Zack Sabre Jr.'s Wrestling Style
01:00:32
Speaker
And he is kind of I can think of some other wrestlers like some other wrestlers that I remember doing that kind of style would be like in PWG. I feel like I saw like Drew Gulak do it. Maybe Timothy Thatcher, like some different mat wrestlers. But I feel like no one is at the level of Zack Sabre Jr. where it feels like he just has an infinite amount of holds. And every match I feel like I'm seeing some shit I'd never seen before.
01:00:58
Speaker
I thought my girlfriend made a really good point. She said that there was a spot where Will Osprey came off the top rope to get Zack Sabre Jr. while he was down. And Zack Sabre Jr. basically just opened his legs, caught him, and immediately put him in a triangle submission. And she said it reminded her of a tarantula or a spider grabbing an insect out of the air.
01:01:25
Speaker
Good shit That was a really fun one. Let me look at this and see cuz I'm pretty much okay how Hat do you like Tai Chi? I Don't really have an affinity for him
01:01:42
Speaker
I think he, maybe there is a cultural barrier somewhere in there, but I feel like he is the one wrestler that if somebody who has been really hesitant to watch New Japan just saw Tai Chi's entrance, they'd be like, see, this is why I don't want to watch it. This is exactly what I pictured this was going to be like. In what way?
01:02:09
Speaker
And that he is the most anime character-like of any wrestler in that promotion. Like you feel like it's just laying it on thick, the fact that they're in Japan. He comes out, he's wearing a goddamn Phantom of the Opera mask, he's got a really like cute, a bushy haircut, he's lip-syncing to some bullshit. Which, fuck the lip-syncing. The lazy lip-syncing is very heelish.
01:02:37
Speaker
That's not acceptable here in the States, let alone Japan. Also, I finally decided to sit down and watch... Fuck, which... I'm trying to remember which...
01:02:51
Speaker
I watched, I guess, a couple Switchblade matches. I wanted to see if he could get over with me at all. How's that going? It's not going, Derek. I really am trying hard. It doesn't seem to matter what that guy does in the ring. I just can't like him. And we were talking about who I would switch if I could swap two people from two wrestling promotions. I'm telling you this right now.
01:03:18
Speaker
I would send Jay White to SmackDown and I would send Jizz to New Japan. You would break up heavy machinery to get Jizz in New Japan. I would just tell Vince McMahon, nobody likes this guy. I think you're going to love him. And I bet he would see something in Jay White that is the champion of the world. Does he even tan?
01:03:43
Speaker
I don't know why I can't like the guy, I just cannot. I'm not a big Jay White guy either, but I guess this is one of those things where people are saying, hey, you're gonna come around on Jay White eventually. That's the prediction. I really like how over Sonata is throughout this entire tournament, even though he's not having the best run. He is clearly that crowd's like one of their top guys.
01:04:09
Speaker
I could see Sonata being like an IC champ soon or something. That's a possibility. Going back to the Moxley thing, I think him joining the company when he did is maybe pushing some things out of the way that otherwise would have happened. Is that why people do have some resentment? I had told you before I was really wanting to see Kota Ibushi get the title at Wrestle Kingdom this year.
01:04:36
Speaker
And yeah, it just made sense. Honestly, I think you could be right, but we also had the complaint, or not a complaint, but a concern. Like you just lost all your top guys. Who are you gonna use? Or not all your top guys, but some major players in your company. And you're right, if you get like a toy as important as Jon Moxley, you're gonna fucking use them. Especially if you don't know how long you're gonna be able to have them. And at a time when Kenny Omega leaves and you're trying to get new eyes on your product.
01:05:06
Speaker
That's true. That's very true. What else? I'm trying to think who else I've been in. I enjoyed the shit out of, uh, was it Toro Yano versus Godo? And, or was it Takagi?
01:05:21
Speaker
No, I think it was him versus Godo. And Godo still beat Toro Yano, but at the end of it, he respected enough to give him a Toro Yano t-shirt. And watching Godo walk to the top of the ramp with a Toro Yano t-shirt to commemorate the match and his hand.
01:05:38
Speaker
this honestly picking a favorite match out of this is really difficult I don't know if I had to pick just single matches for you to watch I think right now Jeffy wrestling on Twitter who's been tweeting at us his banger match list just his favorites he's done a really good job of compiling some shit so if you only have limited amount of time and you can't watch all four or five matches every night go check out a Jeffy wrestling he'll tell you which ones are the bangers
01:06:24
Speaker
on Twitter.
01:06:28
Speaker
use microphones for a lot of their skits that they do. So I'll be listening to something at a regular volume and the next thing I know, like I'm having to crank that up because it's so quiet.
01:06:41
Speaker
See, now, this is maybe a situation where this type of video would have made me like a WWE wrestler more. I already liked the Young Bucks. I was excited to tune in. And you sent me a text that said, oh, I just watched it. It's not that great. And seeing that it ended with about three minutes of just the Young Bucks jumping off a diving board was a little much. But that being said, if Roman Reigns jumped off a diving board for three minutes with his family, I might be into that.
01:07:09
Speaker
That's the thing that gets a guy over with you.
01:07:11
Speaker
Well, I already liked the young bucks. That didn't help, but I think it would have helped. I like Roman now, too. Shit, I don't know who this... Honestly, this whole episode was kind of like, hey, we don't got a lot going on until this show. Right, that's what it felt like. That's exactly what it felt like. I mean, again, I'm not knocking them. I'm just saying that I watched it thinking, oh, I'll be entertained. There'll be something to talk about on the podcast. And I was like, well, I guess we'll be talking about them doing a bunch of flippy shit into the pool. And that's cool. And it just didn't end.
01:07:40
Speaker
And I didn't feel like I was watching anything different. I felt like I was watching the same thing every 15 seconds. I really did enjoy Brit Baker making the Adam Cole joke. Yeah. That was fun. And I think one of the biggest things AEW did this week was their promotion for the Joey Janela, Darby Allen, Jimmy Havoc match.
01:08:04
Speaker
Oh, them having a brawl in front of Blink-182? And then that just ended with Mark Hoppe saying, what the fuck, Janela? Again? That's good. Honestly, just seeing Blink-182 be part of AEW, I think, raised Blink-182 stock with a lot of fans.
01:08:27
Speaker
Are they definitely involved? Like, what's going on there? Well, though, when all of that shit was happening with Janela and Enzo, I remember somebody tweeted at Blink-182 about it, and Mark Hoppus did respond. So I'm guessing what pretty much happened, you noticed they were at Tony Khan's venue. Right. I'm thinking Blink-182 was playing that night, and they're like, hey, you want to do us a favor? You want to have a spot on our internet show? And I think they had the time, and it was funny. It was.
01:08:56
Speaker
Actually, I fucking love Darby Allen just flying out of the corner and banging his head into that barricade.
01:09:04
Speaker
I feel like I got a lot of heat this past week from saying that when it comes to all out, I'm gonna be cheering for Joey Janela and booing Darby Allen. And I'm okay with Jimmy Havoc, so... I think, honestly, the heat might be warranted in this one. I know that, you know, it's a subjective art form, but I think, overall, everybody tends to like Darby, and you might be in the minority on this one.
01:09:28
Speaker
I'm... didn't... I may not be in the minority, but I... I said, I stand by my statement. I watched Joey Janola wipe his ass with the Confederate flag. That's the guy I'm cheering for. Darby Allen, I'll see you outside a hot topic this weekend. That's not nice. What the fuck is wrong with that? You know who his wife is, right? No, I don't. Priscilla Kelly, who pulled the tampon out and stuffed it and tuned his mouth and kicked her in the face.
01:09:57
Speaker
Well, I'll see her at Hot Topic 2. She's great. I love her. Can we get her a contract over there? Also, speaking of contracts, did you see who on their 23rd birthday, Derek, signed an AEW contract?
Marco Stunt's AEW Signing
01:10:12
Speaker
Congratulations to our friend Marco Stunt.
01:10:15
Speaker
Fucking love that guy. He's one that, you know, I feel like we really got to watch. It's funny to say grow up, but grow up. We got to all the way from basement east to fucking the Capitol Wrestling Center, whatever the fucking DC.
01:10:32
Speaker
I think it is fair to say that MJF and Marco Stunt are two guys that we feel like have grown with this podcast. They would probably be insulted to hear that comparison and be like, what growing have you guys done? But it really does feel like we've watched their rise happen while we've had this podcast and it's been cool to see. Sucks that Ryback probably has more listeners than us. It does a little bit, doesn't it? It stings. But also he was in wrestling and who the fuck are we?
01:11:03
Speaker
Just speaking, did you see any of the controversy on Twitter today regarding Marco Stuntz being an AEW?
01:11:17
Speaker
I do. I've seen him wrestle. What once? Once. I've saw him wrestle at Southern Underground Pro, the guys from Chattanooga. So basically he's mad that somebody who doesn't look like a traditional professional wrestler is more popular and getting more opportunities than he is.
01:11:34
Speaker
Since this guy clearly made this post to cause a stir, because as of now, I mean it looks like, you know, fucking 600, 700 people have commented on his Facebook post about it. So he wants us to talk about how much of an asshole he is, so let's do it. Gunnar Miller from Chattanooga, he put, I'll just read the post. When I was six, I wanted to be a professional wrestler. I idolized the men I saw on TV flipping the channel from Nitro to Raw each Monday.
01:12:03
Speaker
Oh fuck, I'm fucking up Gunner Miller's thing. God damn it, Derek, this is fucking with me. Remember when I had to read in classes in high school or junior high and I would get nervous and I would read sentences out of order and fuck up? And you just took so much delight from it?
01:12:22
Speaker
I wasn't getting into light out of it this time if that's what you're getting at. Because it's fucking up your show and it's getting us fewer listeners than Ryback? I just, you seemed really excited about reading it and so I was excited to hear you and now I just want you to do the job.
01:12:36
Speaker
I feel like we need to tell more stories from our hometown days because people fucking loved your tale of Ronan and the man under the car. People or you? No, I had had multiple people message me after that saying that they were in tears from your story. And even as I listened to it back while I was editing, I'm not going to lie, I was enjoying it myself. Hey, guess what? I'm a fan of the show.
01:13:03
Speaker
When I was six I wanted to be a professional wrestler. I idolized men I saw on TV flipping the channel from raw to nitro each Monday night. Men like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Warrior, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Goldberg, Sting, and too many other gigantic white men to name. I added some of that. Clearly.
01:13:26
Speaker
So I trained hard my entire life, still training. Getting recognized in college by Warrior. Getting scouted by Brisco. Jumping into the wrestling world myself in 2014. Doing all the right things. Still doing it. Saying all the right things. Eh, this might have changed. Rubbing the right elbows. Eh, maybe pissing some people off. Just wanting a shot at a contract to get my foot in the door and have a platform. East shouted platform, all caps.
01:13:56
Speaker
having a platform to perform. But in reality, this is what a major promotion decides to sign. Five foot two, 115 pounds of Marco Stunt, a guy that six year old me laughs at. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't care. This is silly as shit and a slap in the face, my face, to real athletes.
01:14:21
Speaker
I think he can be upset that he worked out a lot to be a giant man, but to say that Marco Stunt is not an athlete is the biggest fuck you.
01:14:36
Speaker
I'll disagree with you. I would argue that even if people haven't vocalized it, I'm sure he's not the only one that feels that way. He's just the guy besides Jim Cornette who has thrown himself out there with unpopular takes on modern pro wrestling.
01:14:55
Speaker
I've stated this before on this podcast. If it works, it works. It doesn't have to be conventional. It can be counterintuitive. It doesn't have to fit a certain mold. If it works, it works. It's not like the crowd is rejecting all big guys. Like Luchasaurus is proof of that. He's about to be a fucking toy, I'm sure of it.
01:15:17
Speaker
Well, that's what I'm saying. I'm saying you can have, you, there's still room for both ends of the spectrum. I think there's a lot of things that work in pro wrestling and I, Marco stunt is cornering his little section of, of, of the pro wrestling market and that's fine. And for this guy to be blood heard about it and jealous is kind of petty.
01:15:36
Speaker
It really is, because I'll tell you, the first time I saw him, and I honestly, I probably talked about it on this show, we could probably go back and find what my thoughts were on him initially, and I'm pretty sure what I said was, he looks like a pro wrestler.
01:15:53
Speaker
Like, but just because you have the build to be a pro wrestler doesn't mean you have that thing that makes everybody want to watch you. Right. Like, I don't need just a ton of jack guys with a beard. I fucking got Drew McIntyre and he's bigger than you, sir. Are you mad at Drew?
01:16:09
Speaker
Guy looks like a goddamn romance novel cover. And you're yelling in Chattanooga. I don't know how much smaller Marko Stunt is than Ray Mysterio, but there have been small guys who have had a lot of success in pro wrestling. So I mean, I think Marko Stunt is like the most extreme case.
01:16:28
Speaker
I mean, I guess it depends on if you consider a guy like Hornswoggle, like not a... It really blurs the line on what your gimmick is. Marco Stunt is Mr. Fun Size. That's his thing.
01:16:42
Speaker
And we were kind of talking about how, you know, Luchasaurus is going to be an action figure because he's just appealing to children. I mean, he's a great wrestler and I love the guy. But, you know, you can look at a wrestler and know like, who are the kids going to like? They're going to like the fucking dinosaur guy. But I don't think he's just appealing to children. I think he just has that appeal.
01:17:10
Speaker
as well.
01:17:22
Speaker
I'm sure they can. I guess if I could take an unpopular opinion here, I don't know. I think with Marco Stunt, the reason it works is because there aren't a bunch of people that look like him.
01:17:36
Speaker
Like I don't know if Marko Stunt's act would work if it was an entire promotion. Sorry, I don't know why I'm fumbling over my words there. Like isn't his whole shtick is that he stands out from the crowd because of his size? Yeah, absolutely.
01:17:54
Speaker
I mean, that's the thing is that kids can be inspired that they can go and fill that void, I guess. But I don't know. You hear how many people say that Shawn Michaels was their inspiration to get into professional wrestling. And at the time, Shawn Michaels was considered a smaller guy, even though he's probably about our height, maybe an inch taller.
01:18:16
Speaker
Technically, so I mean Wrestling's always evolving. It's changing Leave fucking Marco stunt alone quit being jealous Don't be a what's fucked up is he's he's wrestling at the same building as him this weekend this weekend fun Yeah, it's actually here in Tennessee the scenic city invitational. It's a couple-day tournament Guys like Tony Depp and Marco stunt Brett Eisen and Gunner Miller. I guess are in it
01:18:44
Speaker
You're gonna go check it out? Sorry. I want a bus. Am I gonna check it out? I'm actually gonna be out of town, so I'll miss it. There's also... This weekend is a Southern Underground Pro Show on Sunday at Basement East. I won't be able to be there, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be. Come, go, tell me what it's like. The last show I went to, I fucking regret it because it sounded awesome. Go see another
Event Promotion and Recording Challenges
01:19:05
Speaker
one.
01:19:05
Speaker
They're not even, we're not, we're not sponsoring them. I just like it. It's a good product. They do good shit. Go see them. You live in Nashville, go, there's no excuse. It's like 15 bucks. You go, it's two in the afternoon. What are you doing at two in the afternoon on a Sunday? There's your commercial.
01:19:22
Speaker
I have nothing else to add to that. We said we were going to go short today because I have to edit all this before I wake up really early this morning. And we've gone an hour 20. Well, that's how it is sometimes. Sometimes that just happens. Yeah. Sometimes you're having show off your buddy. Yeah.
01:19:46
Speaker
and actually they're gonna they're gonna say this isn't an hour and 20 and we're gonna say well you didn't hear that part where our phone stopped working and we had to call each other back and do this again you missed that part I was trying to be nice have fun in LA you asshole thank you thank you there safely get back safely have a couple white claws get some milk does whatever the fuck it is you get at the theater are you still on the thing where you don't buy food
01:20:11
Speaker
Uh, no, I, I only did some peanut. I mean, Oh, at the theater I'm going to though, they have the, uh, arc light Hollywood or any of the arc light cinema theaters. They have the best fucking caramel corn. You're going to look at the caramel corn and say like, do I need that? Yeah, you need the caramel corn. So I'm going to go eat that caramel corn. I'm going to watch Hobbs and Shaw. I'm going to shit my pants. Then I'm going to come back to Nashville and talk to you about it. And also, uh,
01:20:36
Speaker
Also gonna talk about bar wrestling, which I'm seeing fucking Brian Cajun, Scott Steiner versus Joey Ryan and Orange Cassidy, seeing Tyler Bateman versus Tommy Dreamer, which Tyler Bateman is a buddy of West Coast correspondent John. Nice.
01:20:51
Speaker
Let's see, what else do we got on this? We got Taya Valkyrie versus Ethan Page. This is gonna be a weird show. I'm excited to finally check out VAR Wrestling and hopefully see John, Billy, Luke, see some LA friends, see Matt, Mike, Kelly, see them all. We're gonna have some fun. Let's do it. Come back with stories. This is a preview for next week.
01:21:09
Speaker
You hear that, Matt?
Final Encouragement and Social Media
01:21:12
Speaker
You need to get wasted and do something for me to talk about because that's why I'm traveling. Talk some more shit about Meltzer. Yeah, because Lord knows he won't be there. He might, I don't know. Meltzer might be there.
01:21:25
Speaker
All right, if you are on your computer right now or your phone, get on iTunes, leave us that five-star review. You're holding it right now. We made you laugh a couple times, right? Isn't that worth something? We're not charging you for this podcast. Leave that review. We'll talk about whatever you want us to. If you want to talk to us on social media, at Wrestle Hangout on Instagram, at pre-deter, no, no, no, at Wrestle Hangout on Twitter and Facebook, at pre-determine podcast on Instagram.
01:21:52
Speaker
pre determined podcast at gmail.com. If you want to email us, I am at guard tat on social media. Derek is at Halloween helping. Do you have anything to add my friend? I've got nothing to add everyone have an awesome weekend. Enjoy the rest of the summer. Hit our goddamn music