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Episode 10: WrestleMania 42 PRIMER + Astros State of the Union
16 Plays1 month ago
The boys welcome a special guest (the first official guest of the pod), Mike Judd, to help prime for WrestleMania 42 this weekend in Las Vegas! Come for the predictions, stay for Cody trying to pronounce the names of wrestlers he's only vaguely heard of before...but if you stay, prepare to be convinced that this weekend is must watch television.
Also, Rory McIlroy stirs up the internet with comments on his preparation routine as he becomes the fourth golfer all time to win back to back Masters, Mason Miller might be the goat, and the Astros may set a record for fastest tailspin in an MLB season. All this and more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Coastal Launch Sports Talk. I'm Cody, coming to you from the bayous of Houston, Texas. And I'm Justin, coming to you from the Magic of Orlando, Florida.
00:00:12
Speaker
And today we are joined by a very special guest. Mike Judd is here to help us preview the upcoming Wrestlemania As we've already learned from the first attempt at this that I am zero help to Justin in doing so. So we brought in the big guns. Mike, i just wanted to give you a chance in the intro here to let the people know where you're coming from, who you root for, or anything you want them to know.
00:00:34
Speaker
Hey, well, first off, my name's Mike. Happy to be here. ah My favorite team's, but um um I'm more baseball. So for me, it's going to be the Yankees. Sorry about you. If you like them, too bad, so sad. From Boston, forget about it. Hey, but as far as everything else is concerned, I'm team sports as a whole. So I'm here to help out where I can and, you know, let my two cents in.
00:00:57
Speaker
That's what here for, baby. There we go. as On the baseball end, you'll fit right in. As a Yankees fan, not so much. Not so much. Hey, hey, hey. We appreciate it. oh we all We all like what we like. and you know Rings, rings. Rings matter, man. Rings. That's true. That's true. What are you going to flash? What was it? 26 of them? Hey, I don't have enough hands. I don't have enough hands.
00:01:22
Speaker
Got to bring the kids back in the room so you can flash all 26 rings. There you go. I like it. So the main focus of the episode today is going to be the WrestleMania preview, but we still have plenty on the docket between the Masters, the and NHL playoff push, NHL season ends on Thursday, um and the early returns on the MLB season, which are a mixed bag and may include a slight meltdown on the pod, but we'll see where that goes. So with the trajectory set, it's time to sit back, lock in, and get started with the rundown. This is the Coastal Launch, and we are ready for liftoff here on Episode 10.
00:01:58
Speaker
And that is what I'm used to kicking it over to you, Justin, but you're, you're playing a road game today. So I got to remember that I'm still got the hosting ball in my hand. Yeah. It's all you, man. It's all you this week as you get to go a little DJ situation here,
Rory McIlroy's Masters Victory and Controversy
00:02:10
Speaker
man.
00:02:10
Speaker
I know, dude. We're messing with the rhythm, but we got um we got a little Masters recap. So I'm going to read a couple of, ah just a quick rundown of what happened in the Masters, and I think this one's kind of your baby. um So obviously we know that Rory wins the Masters this weekend, back-to-back. He's only the fourth golfer ever to go back to back at the masters.
00:02:31
Speaker
The very first was Jack Nicklaus from 60 in 65 and 66 Nick Faldo and 89 and 90 and then most recently with Tiger Woods in 2001 2002. So this is it was a huge weekend a huge surprise as well um to a lot of people. I did want to want to shout out Sunday Scotty Scheffler.
00:02:50
Speaker
He shot um a minus six on Sunday to to come back and give us a little bit of a battle there between him and Rory finishing just one stroke shy. um And then Rory yet again goes into Sunday Tide with Justin Rose. um And then you see kind of the Justin Rose slide. i think I think if I recall correctly, we saw something very similar. I don't remember if they entered Sunday Tide last year, but it was a Rory-Justin Rose battle last year. And we were kind of primed for the same thing before he...
00:03:18
Speaker
Yeah, some discourse.
00:03:28
Speaker
i don't know if you would say it a controversy but there's there's a little talk this more or master yes some discourse Yeah, I don't I don't have the direct quote in front of me, so you can give it to you can give it to the fans here in a second.
00:03:40
Speaker
But yeah, there's a lot of conversation around how Roy had ended up winning back to back masters. An unknown perk or a little known perk that I think a lot of people don't know about and in the golf world is that when you win the Masters, you now have a basically a membership to Augusta National for the whole calendar year while you are Masters champion.
00:03:59
Speaker
So for the last month, Roy has been playing Augusta National. I think he's had three or four times of those spen over the last month um to really get used to the course, see how the course is playing, get that kind of upper hand.
00:04:13
Speaker
um And I think I'm going to tip it back to you real quick to give us that direct quote because I don't want to misquote everything on it.
00:04:21
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. the So the direct quote that he said, i believe on Friday when he was up six strokes, um he said, and I quote, I did a couple of days where I dropped Poppy to school, flew up here, played and landed back home and had dinner with Poppy and Erica. So that's, you know, drops his daughter off at school in the morning, flies to Augusta, plays around, is back in time to have dinner with his daughter and his wife. That was kind of the... ah The quote there.
00:04:47
Speaker
Yeah. yeah So the the discourse is definitely the fact that no one else has access to the course. So no one has that upper hand. And the entire golf community that I'm seeing online right now is basically saying that, you know, yes, you have that perk, but it doesn't mean you should be flaunting that perk and talking about it in the way that you are.
00:05:04
Speaker
And people basically putting an asterisk next to this this second in a row Masters championship, which is a very big deal, right? Because Masters, as we talked about on the podcast last week,
00:05:16
Speaker
is quite literally the biggest tournament in the world every year. So, yeah, definitely definitely some discourse going on, man. I don't see an issue with it, but do agree, maybe don't flaunt it um and the in front of your competitors the weekend and the weekend that you're competing um at the tournament itself.
00:05:34
Speaker
Yeah, I feel you on that one. mike Mike, you got any thoughts on this? I mean, as as a pro sport guy myself, it's you take whatever advantage you can get. It doesn't matter if you're...
00:05:46
Speaker
Say, for example, in the college world, where you got schools with blue fields and they're wearing blue jerseys on it. still got to show and play, regardless of what that looks like. You know, a lot of a lot of people have their feelings about it. And at the end of the day your feelings don't really.
00:06:01
Speaker
help their paycheck they're putting food on their people's plates and they got to be able to so you know support their family and that's how they're going to do it and that whatever edge they can get to do so by all means go for it you still got to show up on that same course and still got to produce and there's different parameters every day when can change all that is a factor and at the end of the day he did what he had to do yeah i think we're probably all on the same side here it sounds like where it's like there's i have no issue with him with him doing it, with him using it. i honestly don't have much of an issue with him flaunting it because like that's the only way we all just found out that he was able to do this. But, I mean, you're yeah know looking back to you know since 1965, only four golfers have repeated and they've seemingly all had that same advantage at their hands. Maybe they didn't take advantage of it. If so, that's on them. But I have to think that over the years,
00:06:55
Speaker
the 60 years that have transpired, there's been more than one golfer who's played Augusta, you know, religiously to try to get the hand up. And at the end of the day you still have to play your best golf, you know, in those four days from Thursday to Sunday. And and that's what he did. And, and,
00:07:12
Speaker
he He did so by melting down on Saturday in a way that I think all of us thought that he was going I was looking forward to i was like, we're going to double meltdown since he didn't meltdown last year. We're going to get like two days of it. And and he and he held strong. He was, you know, he was minus six going into Saturday. Only i think he was even going into Sunday.
00:07:32
Speaker
yeah he he He didn't just dominate this course in a way that I felt showed that he had this unfair advantage. And and quite frankly, he has the advantage because he won last year and so he earned it. So he should be able to use it. I don't have an issue with it. He earned an upper hand and he's got it.
00:07:52
Speaker
The only thing I will say is he he skipped the three tournaments before the Masters, and I really hope we don't set some sort of precedent of diminishing those three previous tournaments in Masters prep. But I guess at the end of the day, if it's only the previous winner who has this,
00:08:09
Speaker
then maybe that's not something that's going to become a big issue. But I really hope we don't see the three tournaments leading up to the Masters diminished by this kind of his showing that that it was a benefit for him to skip those and focus just on the Masters.
MLB Season Highlights and Challenges
00:08:23
Speaker
I think for me, with it, I think he's at the twilight of his career. So I think it's more so at that point of he doesn't need to play in every single weekend leading up to the Masters. So I don't care.
00:08:34
Speaker
and Now, if you ask me if DeChambeau or Scheffler or shuffler anyone like that, you know then they did step out and didn't play that last week, then sure, 100%. Maybe there is a some cause for concern. But at this point in McElroy's career, i don't I don't see an issue with it.
00:08:49
Speaker
I second that. Yeah, I think that's just the thing I'm watching. won this year. did do more do more Does more than one guy do it next year? and if we If we catch a trend on that, I would be a little disappointed, especially because one of those three is the Houston Open.
00:09:03
Speaker
Correct. Which is a ball player for the Masters. Yeah. so um But yeah, I think we're all on the same page here. This was an earned advantage, and he has every right to take it. and If he wants to flaunt flaunt it. flawn it he's He's taking the backlash for it. and And, you know, he's, of all the things we've seen from Rory, the mental side of the game, he's really turned a corner. And so I have no doubt that he can survive the backlash in a way that he probably couldn't have in previous years.
00:09:30
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. And on that, we're going to, we're going to make a transition here to baseball. This is, I think the number one sport for, for all three of us. And I've got, I've got some stats for you here. Cause we talked a lot about Mason Miller in the world baseball classic ah team. USA is closer.
00:09:47
Speaker
Um, Mason Miller, since the MLB season has started, is on an absolute tear. and There's some stats that go back even to the World Baseball Classic performance and back to last year, and I've kind of put those to the side for now. I just want to throw a few stats out for you here is what he's done since opening day this year. Mason Miller has faced 24 batters. 19 strikeouts 24 batters.
00:10:10
Speaker
He has 73% strikeout rate. and twenty four batters he has a seventy three percent strikeout rate um He has those 19 strikeouts. He's thrown 20 balls in those 24 batters. So he almost has more strikeouts than he does balls thrown.
00:10:28
Speaker
He's only given up one hit and one walk in those 24 batters. That's seven and a third innings, four saves, obviously zero yeah ERA. So I just want to catch some reactions to that. This is a this is something that I – has more strikeouts than any other outcome.
00:10:45
Speaker
And he's he's striking out at at a clip that if if you got a hit every time – or if you if you put the ball in play every time that you didn't strike out, you would still have like a sub-200 batting average just based on average.
00:10:58
Speaker
Yeah. Not wrong there. I mean, I think I'll chime in a little bit. One thing that we've seen as of late with a lot of the the changes in the MLB, it puts the ball back in the pitcher's court.
00:11:12
Speaker
I mean, as a hitter, it's very difficult at that level. You know, you got so many guys nowadays. and We talk about the guys that throw 100-plus miles an hour, but now you got guys like Mason Miller who can switch it up on you in a minute. You know, the off-speed was really hurting a lot of that bat that the hitters. Anybody can throw – 90 plus, right? And it it all looks the same. The moment you started throwing curveballs, change-ups, and perfecting all those items, you know, it the numbers show it.
00:11:40
Speaker
You know, his ability is to attack the zone. Diabolical is what that is. um You know, we, i don't know if you guys are familiar with kind of the mental when it comes to pitching. Usually growing up, they tell you to paint the corners.
00:11:57
Speaker
Well, nowadays they're teaching the the major leagues because they have so much break on their off speed to pitch middle and let the ball do what it's going to do. And ah at that point, that's why you see the balls breaking anywhere between five to 12 inches of drop or, you know, four to three, three to four inches of run on your on your fastballs nowadays. And it's just going from middle, middle,
00:12:20
Speaker
to being middle in or middle out maybe even that you know quarter of an inch off the plate and is giving you know the the the hitters the thought process or or the visual of it being in the zone and not chasing. So what we're seeing is somebody who's mastered the craft of you know the the mind game when you're on the bump.
00:12:41
Speaker
And it shows. So I'm really interested to see how long you're going to keep up. Yeah, he's he's he's mastered the mind game. and And like you said, he is devastating off speed and he can also touch 104 and paint the corners when necessary. Yeah, just unreal.
00:12:59
Speaker
Justin, you got any any further thoughts on that? ah Yeah, i don't think I got anything else there, man. 104 on the corners and you got a curveball that bites like hell. Like, yeah, there ain't much more else you can say. You gotta you gotta got guy that has a chance to be one of the most dominant closers that we've ever seen pitch. And we all three of us have lived in an era where Mariano Rivera existed.
00:13:18
Speaker
So, like, and the fact that we're even having this conversation, like, can it be sustained? I guess would be the only thing that I can put out there, right, long term. Yeah. i The fact that you have a closer that's going to come in fresh every single day and at this point is almost a guaranteed three outs and you're not even seeing more than three or three hitters.
00:13:34
Speaker
So, like, yeah man, i there there ain't much else to say about that. That's just an insane stat. Obviously, long-term, it's not going to be that that same that same result. But, like, what ah what an amazing start that you're seeing and and a team that needs that type of player on the back end, right? San Diego has struggled with the bullpen over the years, not being able to maintain leads, not being able to maintain...
00:13:52
Speaker
you know and get wins, especially deep in the postseason. Mason Miller, if you get to the points where you're handing him the ball for three straight outs, you've got to feel pretty good of your if you're a Padres fan. Oh, Yeah. It felt pretty good as a Team USA fan, so that's what the Padres feel like. Absolutely. I've got to feel like they're sure feeling good. and and i mean you you The Padres gave up a lot to get Mason Miller at the trade seat trade deadline last season, and and you're really seeing a payoff. You're really seeing the value of the – of the closer position. And I'm sure this will, to some extent, level out to some sort of mean, some sort of median where, where the numbers look a little less outrageous, but I don't think there's any doubt that he is an elite closer and will continue to be an elite closer ah for the course of his career. As long as, you know, God willing arm holds out things like that, that, you know, you have to worry about with every pitcher these days.
00:14:48
Speaker
but But sticking with with the baseball theme, I'm i'm just going to ask you guys to allow me to have a little bit of a meltdown here for a We've got to talk Astros. and um The Astros played seven games since the last time we recorded. Out of curiosity, and I just want to ask you guys how many you think we won out of those seven games. I know the answer. Yeah.
00:15:17
Speaker
I'm going go with, because last time I checked was like a week and a half ago when I was checking out some stuff. because me and my Me and my manager go back and forth. He's a White Sox fan. I'm a Yankee fan. We talk trash all the time.
00:15:30
Speaker
um But I'm going to go with six wins. Six wins total on the season, yes. Out of the last seven the Astros have played, we've won zero. So, So we were we were sitting sitting pretty at five and two, coming off a sweep of the Red Sox, go on a road trip to Sacramento to play the A's, to Denver to play the Rockies, and then four games in Seattle, and went a combined one and nine on this road trip. and And that's probably the bright spot. Because because the the the harrowing part is I believe we've lost, depending on
00:16:11
Speaker
how when Hunter Brown's injury was tracked, we've lost five players over the course of those 10 games. We've lost ace Hunter Brown. We've lost our number two Christian Javier.
00:16:24
Speaker
We've lost our massive international signing Tatsuya Imai. We lost Hunter Brown's replacement, Cody Bolton, who I had never heard of before until he became Hunter Brown's replacement. We lost him and and we entered Jeremy Pena just went on the 10-day as well. So we went one and nine in a road trip where we played two two teams that should be...
00:16:48
Speaker
um you know generally are are generally viewed as as kind of bottom feeders of the American League and then obviously the team that that took the division from us last year and managed to go one and nine and lose five players. So I was i was i was going on a trip down injury lane today.
00:17:06
Speaker
And we've lost the four starting pitchers that I told you about. We had four starting pitchers on the I.L. before the season even started. So we're up to eight there. And we have two bullpen injuries and then two starting position players on on injured reserve. So the, the state of the union of the Astros as it currently stands is that the building is on fire and we are desperately, desperately looking for an exit.
00:17:34
Speaker
Um, the Astros lead the league and run scored. That's the, that's the bright side here. Jose Altuve is walking. The, the lineup is walking at a rate that we haven't seen in a long time. They brought in a new pitching coach. There's just an incredibly, um,
00:17:51
Speaker
overturned just plate discipline. a team that was that was known for chases and for for being overly aggressive is now patient and taking walks. And we're seeing that really turn turn a couple guys around. Christian Walker, who seemed like he was on the wrong side of of his prime, you know is is bouncing back this this year. Jose Altuve is taking walks at a rate we haven't seen since since he was much, much younger. But the
00:18:22
Speaker
The pitching staff has allowed 107 runs, which is also... so to hitting is the best ah in the majors. Pitching is the worst by on a runs basis by about 20 runs.
00:18:37
Speaker
to the Washington Nationals. I will say the Nationals are playing right now, and I think they have given up 15 runs to the Pirates today, so they are ah doing us a favor and really wo you know shortening that gap between us and number two. But coming into the Knights game, we had 20 more runs allowed than the next worst pitching staff, and we have issued 97 walks in 17 games, which was the highest walks issued on the season by 11. All this to say, when we did our preview, Justin, I said that the Astros might have the best
00:19:14
Speaker
a one, two, three in baseball. And it would appear that I was wrong there. But but that that whole basis is on this idea that the Astros have this pitching lab that they they bring guys in and no matter what their careers have been up to this point. The Astros have a way of introducing a new pitch, introducing a new layer of pitch sequencing that the previous team wasn't able to unlock. And you just consistently see guys join the Astros and have career years.
00:19:43
Speaker
and And I know as myself and and most Astros fans, we really thought this was just what they did. And it was something that was going to continue into this year. And so i i've kind of I've gathered some pitching stats here because I think the Astros' success through this kind of golden era, as we call it in Houston, obviously a tainted golden era, but a golden era for Astros fans all the same.
00:20:11
Speaker
The hitting and the position players have gotten a lot of the the shine for this era, but it's really the pitching staff that that has been at the core of this success.
00:20:21
Speaker
I was looking at yeah ERA plus as a statistic. So this is a statistic that is, it's averaged out. So 100 is league average.
00:20:32
Speaker
Anything over 100 is the percent better than league average that you are. Anything under is a percent worse than league average. So I'll rattle these off and then and then we can we can move on.
00:20:50
Speaker
All right, we had some some quick technical difficulties there, but but we're back. And we don't know exactly where we dropped off in my Astros meltdown. So a quick recap, Astros o and seven this week lost five players, including four starting pitchers this week.
00:21:11
Speaker
um Overall, eight starters, two bullpen, two position players the IL, lead the league in runs, lead the league in runs aloud, um ah the worst in the league in runs aloud, worst in the league in walks aloud.
00:21:26
Speaker
Pitching has been the core of this team. Their pitching lab, their ability to add pitches, pitch sequences has been the core of this run. And for the first time since 2017, we're seeing an Astros pitching staff that is below average as far as performance.
00:21:44
Speaker
earned run average go. So ERA plus in 2017, they were a 99, which is basically league average just a tick below. Since then, we'd seen them as high as 134, 127, 104, 114, 132, and then three straight years of All of that to say that they were above league average and in instances like twenty eighteen twenty nineteen twenty twenty two they were elite ah pitching and right now we're seeing a a rotation that is um whatever you would say the opposite of elite is whatever the antithesis of that is is what you're seeing and and and like we were noting the the loss of starting pitching is is making it um it seemed like the ability to climb out of that is going to be going to be harder than ever i also had some some pure era stats here where
00:22:36
Speaker
um You're seeing ERAs. The last time the Astros completed a season with an ERA, team ERA above four was 2020. That was 4-3-1.
00:22:48
Speaker
um Their team ERA so far this year is 6-4-9. So i not looking good, but Mike, when we were in the break trying to troubleshoot, you you kind of had some thoughts on how this could how a team like this could turn around. Yeah, I mean, ah we've seen it time and time again where teams are struggling at the beginning or even in the middle. And the way you turn around is a shakeup of some sort, especially you've got guys a lot of guys out on injury or injury prone. you tend to go to your minors a little little sooner than you would like to. um But it's just a matter of how how they come in with the right mindset and if they're going to be coming in ready to go.
00:23:25
Speaker
Like I know off the top of my head, looking at it, you got one, two, about seven guys that's down in the minors right now that are pitchers and outfielders who can come in and really really do a job. I mean, granted, it's the minors and their the numbers are a little bit on the elevated side, but they're still learning, right?
00:23:43
Speaker
And I think that with the time in and, you know, some some movement here and there, you can really see a a big change. We've seen it with the Astros. We've seen it back in with the Rays not too long ago when they had their run. And you had a bunch of guys were like, who who are these people? Where they come from? And I think that could work in their favor. We'll you see what what what kind of thought process or ideology they have moving forward to see hopefully that they can see a change in in their rotation.
00:24:14
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. You got to look to the to the system at this point. That's why you have it. And, you know, Houston and Tampa, as Mike alluded to, are two of the best to do that and to dip down into their farm system and pull the people up when it matters the most. You know, we talked about and when I broke down the race at the beginning of the season, right, where, you know, it's, you know, when do you start bringing these guys up? When does it make the most sense? You know, you know we talked about moving Snell. We talked about when they move Glass now. And they do it and they they always found a way to move at the right time.
00:24:43
Speaker
and come out looking like the the winners of every trade, right? That's kind of the Tampa way. Houston was known for before the Rays even did it. So it's you just got to you gotta to you got to be bold. You got to make the move and shake up the shake up the clubhouse if you need to. Obviously, something's not working. The guys that are up there aren't working.
00:25:00
Speaker
Hey, send them back down. Bring up a new crop. do it You got to do what you got to do to get the juices flowing in the positive direction. the The season's still early. Like we talked about before, it's it's a long 162. So make the adjustments now. Wait for those guys to get back. They're going to get healthy.
00:25:14
Speaker
So just do what you can to stop the bleeding, get some wins, and be ready for when those guys get back.
00:25:21
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's that's definitely what we're going to be seeing. I know we've got AAA call-up. Colton Gordon um gave us a lot of similar production last year. Injury-plagued season, to lean on the AAA guys. He was one of them that we leaned on and gave us a lot of good innings. He's back up. He's going to be pitching tomorrow. And then another AAA guy, Spencer Arrogetti, who we've leaned on a couple times in the past.
00:25:49
Speaker
is It's one of those guys that has filthy stuff. He feels like he's right on the verge of turning a corner. He's going to be up Wednesday. um i think you're going to see a pretty similar crop to the crop that was pulled up last year because of the same issues.
00:26:03
Speaker
Again, pulled up this year. And and to y'all's point last year, they they delivered above and beyond what you would expect, what you would have expected them to deliver based on their based on their kind of prospect profile. and so You're going to have to get a lot of that again. and It's going to be interesting times. Obviously, we're only 17 games in, so the the meltdown is is true in the sense that like I don't think I've ever been this dejected after only 17 games, but also a little bit in jest because we have 145
00:26:34
Speaker
But it it will get interesting because you have a you have a manager who whose contract expires at the end of the season and you have a GM whose contract expires at the end of the season. And so if it doesn't turn around, i think you're going to see you know anything that's not bolted down.
00:26:51
Speaker
getting getting sent away for a full rebuild and um but but if they can turn it around then maybe they maybe they save their jobs and maybe they they save an ability to try to keep this this window open per se and stay competitive so a lot to a lot of intrigue on the astro sides right now it's a it's a lot of uh watching a car crash and not being able to to to turn away, but hopefully it turns into ah more of a Project Hail Mary typepo type of intrigue experience that
Recent Sports Events and Notable Occurrences
00:27:19
Speaker
you go to. I haven't watched it yet, but that was
00:27:25
Speaker
I will watch it, I promise. I just i gotta to get a run to it. That's why Mike hasn't watched it yet either, so. want to say hey are you good Are you going to though? That's the question. because he sold you all he won't He won't let me not watch. I think if Justin had his way, he would turn this into a movie podcast. oh and know Absolutely. and Don't give me the opportunity.
00:27:54
Speaker
That's right. I'm going to kick us to the next segment then before I do give Justin that opportunity. we we I'm going to call this this section the notifications. um So this is some stuff that we don't necessarily have thoughts on, but little hat tips to big events from this week in sports.
00:28:10
Speaker
Obviously, while we were recording. the podcast last Monday, Michigan did pull off the the victory and win the men's college basketball national championship over UConn. If you were listening to the last episode, we did note that, you know Michigan was probably going to win this game, but then we did our whole segment on,
00:28:30
Speaker
why you should believe in UConn because we believe in in in in underdogs here on this podcast. And so we were we were pumping up UConn as best we could, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. And and Michigan did pull off the the championship. Shout out to them. dust i believe their coach Dustin May, not Dusty May. That's the...
00:28:47
Speaker
That's the Dodgers pitcher, I believe. But Dustin May just did incredible job there at um Also, men's Frozen Four finalized this weekend with Denver University defeating Wisconsin. I thought this was a really fun thing. One, because Michigan was the favorite to win, and I was terrified of watching Michigan win two championships in one week. as a person who just never gets to experience this for their own school. I didn't want to watch any school win two in one week, so I was glad they they got overthrown. But also Denver, you know, the Frozen Four is only 16 teams, so you're seeding four pods of one through four. Denver was a two seed in their pod. Wisconsin was a three seed in their pod. So we got to see a lot more parity in the men's Frozen Four with a two seed fighting a three seed for the championship.
00:29:35
Speaker
and And I noted Denver under current coach David Carl has had eight seasons, only seven of which were not cut short by a global pandemic. They've won three national championships in those eight seasons, and they have made the Frozen Four, the final four, the the the the Frozen Four five times in those seven seasons. So um twice they didn't make it, and once the world shut down, it didn't allow them to make it. That's an incredible run.
00:30:05
Speaker
So shout out to what what David Carl is doing there at Denver. I am getting really into college hockey because I plan to go to the Frozen Four next year. it's good The championship is on my birthday in Washington, D.C., which my brother lives like an hour away from. So I'm getting really into because I'm getting pumped for the for the for for the vacation next year. But that's all I've got to say about that. We're going kick it over with the wrap-up, Justin, because I know you've got a lot to say about the lightning and the rays. And let's hear it.
00:30:33
Speaker
You're going to have to help me out if I point to you for some stats because I have some things written down for you. But to recap since last week, the Lightning have gone 1-3. They were on a three-game losing streak until I believe it was Saturday when we beat the Bruins.
00:30:46
Speaker
um So not a great stretch after the recording last week. We did lose that game to Buffalo, which as what I referred to a couple weeks ago, that that was the game that was going to decide the division. um It does look like it is going to have inevitably decide the division because now the Lightning sit two points back with two games to play.
00:31:03
Speaker
So there's still a chance, but the the uphill battle is there. um This week, Cody, if you can read me off the games this week, there's a two. Two games left. Buffalo. no um I'm looking for it.
00:31:17
Speaker
I don't know that you wrote the two teams. ah did i night Well, they again there was a game tonight which just went final. on We won. The Red Wins. That's right. ah So that that that game goes final. So we are now technically tied with Buffalo, who plays tomorrow.
00:31:30
Speaker
um So that'll put us both at 81. And Montreal plays on Wednesday. It's their final game. They're currently tied with Buffalo at 106 points. So I did put in there the tiebreaker scenarios that – If the Lightning win both games, we would finish the season at 108 points-wise.
00:31:47
Speaker
We need Buffalo to split or lose both, and we need the Canadians to lose their game. If Sabres split and we win on Wednesday, then we end in a tiebreaker, um and it comes down to regulation wins, which tonight was not a regulation win, so that does not help our case.
00:32:04
Speaker
So now we definitely need Buffalo to lose um and or or just win an overtime type scenario. So um the door is still open, but it does look a little much – it does look like it is closing for the Lightning to win the division. We've already clinched the playoffs. We already talked about that.
00:32:20
Speaker
um We'll talk about you know where we're at in terms of first round next week when the the bracket should come out over the weekend. um on where the lightning fall, um should at least get home ice for the first round.
00:32:32
Speaker
And then NHL recedes after each round for for a home ice advantage. So at least being the top three division will give us post home ice advantage against whatever wildcard team pops up from in the rankings. So um Excited for the guys. A little shaky this week, but um should finish the season strong. Hopefully you at least finish with two wins and get us to that 108 point range and see what everyone else ends up with.
00:33:00
Speaker
Do you have your eyes set on a preferred opponent? you got like Is there ah a team out there that's like ah kind of a wounded duck that you're just like – I think we, yeah, I think the way that NHL does it is it usually favors the the wildcard teams from your division.
00:33:16
Speaker
um so that lines us up with Boston, I believe, for the for being the bottom, ah potentially the bottom team. We've had good success against Boston this season, so I would be happy with Boston. Obviously, you don't want to see any division opponent. It's the same with MLB, anything like that. You don't want to see a division opponent, especially early in the playoffs.
00:33:34
Speaker
um That's been our Achilles heel last two seasons, losing to the Panthers in the first round. both of the last seasons, which eventually led the Panthers to win the Stanley Cup. So, you know, we can get past Boston, I feel good because then you're going to line up against, you know, probably get a Buffalo or Montreal or whoever ends up winning from the other side.
00:33:52
Speaker
um So definitely feel good about that long term, but definitely got to get over this this hump that the Lightning have been faced over over the last two seasons where we just can't get past the the first round of the playoffs. So,
00:34:03
Speaker
um But I feel good if it's Boston because we i we won this regular season schedule against Boston. So feel good about them coming to town and taking care of business. No problem.
00:34:15
Speaker
And then I believe now I go to i got the Rays for you. Yeah, you got the Rays i Give me those the record again. ah four So the record over this last week was four and two.
00:34:27
Speaker
sweep of the Yankees this weekend and dropped two at the hands of the Cubs. So one and two against the Cubs sweep of the Yankees. Yeah, the one game came at the McLanehan start that we talked about last week and then dropped the next two.
00:34:41
Speaker
um And then the sweep over the Yankees. um The talk of the town isn't necessarily the Rays. It's more so, and and and Mike, you can jump in here, is bad defensive play in New York and especially the Saturday game with Josh Chisholm Jr.
00:34:56
Speaker
um and the the post game afterwards coming out saying that he didn't know the rules on what to do with the ball when he when he grounded when he when he collected the ball at second base. Yeah, I know, questionable. You've been playing baseball all your life. But yeah apparently the the quote was that if he threw the ball to second or if he threw the ball to first, if you threw if the first baseman threw the second, was it a force out?
00:35:16
Speaker
Was the question? um And obviously, as all three of us are lifetime baseball fans, know that if you get the force out at first, it is no longer a force out at second. um But it didn't even come down to it because he bobbled the ball.
00:35:28
Speaker
And then it ah and ended up being a walk-off bunt because we play small ball in Tampa, if you didn't know. Walk-off bunt? Walk-off bunt. But yeah, we play small ball. And then I'll hit my last point. And Mike, you can talk about the Yankee side of things.
00:35:42
Speaker
um Chandler Simpson is the talk of the town, um not just in Tampa, but he's spreading across the league in terms of how he's approaching hitting this year. And this is true Tampa fashion.
00:35:53
Speaker
He is playing for so soft contact and is basically running out every ball because he's got that type of speed. So he's looking for and infield to hits or just barely getting into the outfield and just getting on base.
00:36:06
Speaker
He has the highest batting average in the league. And the second place isn't even close. I believe second place is Bobby Wood Jr. And it's not even close because I believe Chandler Simpson's like 417 and Bobby Wood's like high two hundred low three hundreds um So it's it's incredible to see.
00:36:21
Speaker
But that is his approach. He's literally like, I'm goingnna slow roll it or bunt or basically just get it into the outfield and get on base. And then I'm going to steal second, steal a third, and then we can do a sack fly or bunt me into home.
00:36:34
Speaker
So we are playing true old fashioned small ball in Tampa. um It's refreshing to me. I love it. because it's it's what I grew up on. I was a small ball player. Mike and I talk about it all the time about my playing days. like i was I was a small ball guy. So it's exciting for me to watch and kind of see how this Tampa roster is actually constructed to play small ball um and really put you into a pickle, which where you can't play defense against it because the the guys just don't know what to do when when they're in that position.
00:37:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, my my whole career was just that. I ran and you know for my own personal stats, pat myself on the back. you know I came up running a 6-360, so the coach would look at me and be like, hey, lay down. it's It's hard to defend the bunt, especially the big leagues, because not too many people do it or know how to do it or want to do it. So when you can perfect...
00:37:26
Speaker
the small game and the to the point of of of them, you know, soft contact, hard contact gets me the ball at 90 plus miles an hour. I was a two hopper, I'm making a play, whereas soft hops or even just small contact, bloops it over to second baseman's head. Now that's a base hit. And then, you know, Chandler's case, same too with Yandy as well. Like, you know, anybody who can run a little bit, right?
00:37:51
Speaker
We say even a little bit. can be a tear on the base path. and You got guys that's out here, especially with the pitching rules that they have now, especially with the bases being larger, especially with all these other rules that they have. That's why I said hitting-wise is a pitcher's game. Nowadays, on the base path, you try your eating and everything you can to get on base because you can turn that single into a double, triple real quick, and that's what we're seeing. right and These are the guys who can run are really exploiting that, taking larger leads. You guys see it just like the other day.
00:38:23
Speaker
Not to bash on the Astros even more, respectfully. It's the fact that you look at Altuve taking a huge lead on that and getting picked off. And you're just like, how we get here, right?
00:38:35
Speaker
Well, you're used to one way, and now that this is becoming a standard, like sure, we can say, oh, it's been this way for a little while. But sometimes you get back into those habits. So in a grumble of jazz chasm, one thing that I will say as a player who's a utility guy, you may not necessarily remember every nook and cranny detail. um Do I, as a person who also plays short, third outfield, second base,
00:38:57
Speaker
Am I going to make that mistake? Absolutely not. You should know the game and be able to do that. um So in the realm of the Rays, I mean, they are tearing it up. You know mean? So for me, like, it's ah it's a game, it's a team that I'm willing to just sit there you know what?
00:39:12
Speaker
I'm a Yankee fan, but I got tip my hat. You know I mean? And and literally just go, and y'all swept a ah team who is has a lot of –
00:39:22
Speaker
how to start power and don't know how to work together at the at the current timeframe. And, you know, for me, a team that is gelling well and and is able to execute, i think,
00:39:32
Speaker
as a person who executed this quite frequently, and I really want to see Chandler does pull this out too, is, you know, a push bump to second base we're hauling it out. You know what I mean? It's going to be wild to to watch. Same thing on a third base side too, and and getting it into that the little Bermuda triangle, as we like to call it, and watching it fly, you know? And that's what, you know, other countries do very well that we don't see often.
00:39:56
Speaker
So to see it, oof I'm here for. Yeah. We talked about the World Baseball Classic, right? That, you know, in our buildup to that, right? That we talked about Nicaragua, right? Where Nicaragua plays that type of baseball. They play that small ball, right? And we talked about how, you know, obviously they they didn't end up doing super well in the in the Classic, but like, you know, just it's refreshing to see that type of baseball come back into play where it has always, for the last, what, four or five years been exit velo, exit velo and launch angle, right? Now you're you're getting back to the roots of like how baseball is supposed to be played. So it's refreshing. Yeah.
00:40:28
Speaker
I think the last note I had on there for the Rays wrap up, Cody, was that we are now in a three-way tie for the division, which I didn't even predict. Obviously, we're still super early into the regular season, but in a three-way tie with the Yankees and Baltimore. So I have two of the top teams correct in my predictions from the primer, but did not expect to see the somewhat early success of the Rays. So we'll see how long the Rays can hold on to it. I said, I I think we're going to keep talking about as the season goes on. Enjoy what we have because we may not have it next year.
00:40:57
Speaker
um So definitely happy to see the Rays at least be somewhat competitive this year. Yeah. Yeah. And you just, the Rays are that the team that they, when the Rays are at their best, they're doing whatever the next trend in baseball is about to be.
00:41:13
Speaker
They're kind of that, that leading edge forefront. And so if, as a Rays, like yourself as a Rays fan, you have to be excited to see them doing something different because there's a chance that they're onto the next trend now and they've got, and and they've got a chance to, to excel at it before it catches on. yeah.
00:41:30
Speaker
yeah Definitely excited. you say I know you you didn't expect anything from the race this year. So if you if if you're getting competition 17 games in, I know you'll take it. I think you expect it to be to be kind of checked out by now already. And and it's always good to have a sweep of the Yankees. So I'll take that whenever I can get it. Yeah, yeah.
WrestleMania Build-up and Highlights
00:41:50
Speaker
I've got to make it personal. I like it.
00:41:55
Speaker
Yeah, I'll give you a little...
00:41:59
Speaker
i'll give you a little A&M baseball ah wrap up before we we head over to our WrestleMania preview. A&M baseball, two and one on the week. That's ah a midweek loss to Texas State, a little look forward game. Obviously, the University of Texas was coming to town.
00:42:16
Speaker
for the biggest weekend series in A&M baseball program history that I can remember in a long time. Obviously, this is this is the first trip back to College Station for Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagel after he left A&M, was it two or three days after losing the... It was the next day. No, it was literally the next day. Within 24 hours. It was it was crazy. You know, he obviously in the postgame after losing the championship, he tells off the reporter for ah for for asking if he is talking to Texas about the job, which had been leaked three or four days prior.
00:42:56
Speaker
um you know He simply gets a question. He he and tells off the reporter, says, you know i came here to retire. I'm not going anywhere. You're selfish to ask me this question. And then he takes the Texas job 24 hours later and has been you know persona non grata since then. And so this was going this was always going to be the rowdiest that Olsen Field has ever been. and And there's a lot of anticipation. you know ah Texas is number two team in the country coming in this weekend. A&M at number 18 had a lot of ups and downs. You weren't really sure what the ceiling for this team was yet.
00:43:29
Speaker
and and what a performance they put on so i think it's nine to eight victory friday night and then 11 to four on saturday and a rain delayed first inning and puts up two runs and immediately two pitches into the next batter you can't see the batter because it's raining so hard anymore game goes off for ah goes off for hour 40, come back. Both starting pitchers stay in the game after an hour 40 delay. That was a very huge surprise. Texas' is starting pitcher goes on to give up six runs six more runs in that first inning. A&M goes up eight to zero.
00:44:05
Speaker
Holtz on only needs two pitchers to get through the game, four and two thirds from the starter, four and a third from the piggyback. Just an an an incredible weekend for the for the offense to put up 20 runs in two games.
00:44:16
Speaker
It was insane. Every Texas starters ERA was in the twos. I think two, seven, six was the highest ERA coming into this weekend. And they put up 20 runs and in two games. This is the most runs Texas has given up in a weekend all season. And we only played two games, not three. The Sunday game gets rained out.
00:44:34
Speaker
Very unfortunately, people staying at the stadium for nine hours for a a one o'clock game that that wasn't officially canceled until 930. But the fans are still there and they're still giving the the Texas dugout the business for for nine hours of baseball. It was awesome. We we talked last week briefly.
00:44:55
Speaker
That we might see a rotation switch up by A&M. I've been talking to you, Justin, you know saying that Aiden Sims is the best pitcher on the team and he's our Sunday starter, which is typically you know your best starters Friday and then you kind of trickle down from there.
00:45:10
Speaker
We did see Aiden Sims move up to Saturday, which turned out to be huge given that we didn't play Sunday. um And then our previous Saturday starter, who was a weapon out of the bullpen for us last year, is back in a floater role. So he was available out of the bullpen Friday and Saturday if needed to keep a game in hand.
00:45:29
Speaker
And then because he wasn't used Friday or Saturday, he was ready to go to start on Sunday. So you're going see him float between bullpen and starting. and I think this can be huge to... to to use him and in an opportunity where you can salvage, you can save a game um and try to try to take that series that weekend series two to one. So I'm really excited with what A&M baseball has going on, but it is one of those weekends where like starting today, last weekend, doesn't matter, it didn't happen because you have to go on the road this weekend to play defending champion LSU, and then you have to go on the road and play one of the hottest teams in the country in Florida the weekend after that. so
00:46:05
Speaker
What an awesome weekend. a bummer for it to end early on rain. But as far as as far as all of us are concerned, like that that that doesn't matter anymore. It's on to the next one because you have – you changed the perceived ceiling of this team as far as you know outsiders are concerned. And you've got to you got to keep up with that and you've got to make it happen week after week because you you play in the SEC and you're you're playing you're playing soon to be professional baseball players every weekend. So – yeah Yeah, it was it was ah it was a fun one.
00:46:38
Speaker
Absolutely, yeah. I saw a lot of the energy through the weekend. And obviously, you know, as I just said with the Rays being and the Yankees, it's always good to see the Aggies beat the Longhorns. So, it's you know, whenever an opportunity to to have those two teams square off, especially the the bad blood, there's still some players on that team from a couple years ago that feel some type of way about Schlossnagel. And, i you know, you and I definitely still do. so you know, it's Any chance that we have to go against them, um I'm going to take it. So good to see that too and how I saw a ton of bubbles. So always good to see the bubbles come out.
00:47:11
Speaker
Tons and tons and tons of bubbles. um So good to see it. you know I agree. and you know We went into the season. We've got to really putt up or shut up with this type of team now. like you know What is early due in year two? Can we can we you know get back to where we should be?
00:47:25
Speaker
Obviously, the ceiling is there now, you've got to play the yeah play the next couple of teams up. And that's the that's the good, the bad, in the ugly with baseball, man. you You have such an emotional high. You've got to get ready to go the next week because the next team is coming and they don't care what you your emotional high from last weekend.
00:47:40
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And with that, man, it's it's time for what what at least what you both have been waiting for. This is this is what really matters. It's WrestleMania primer time.
00:47:52
Speaker
we are We are a podcast of primers. There's nothing else, and we got props today. We got it we got the championship belt. oh Yeah, man so we got we wre So this is WrestleMania Vegas Saturday and Sunday. It's a two-night event, it looks like.
00:48:11
Speaker
um Y'all are the experts, so I'm going to kick it over to you. Where's your excitement for this year's for this year's mania? what How's it feeling a week a week out? Yeah, I think, and Mike, you you can attest to it too. The excitement's there because it's Mania season, right? you know it's It's felt a little you know weird at times on this road to WrestleMania.
00:48:34
Speaker
Obviously on the pod, we've talked about the Rumble. and We've talked about um Elimination Chamber. you know We've had some highs, had some lows at both of those PLEs this year. um I think where the card is now, well obviously we'll talk about the card here in a second, I think the card is there now. um It's a card that's had to get here. There wasn't like a lot of feuds and a lot of injuries that just like sizzled out during, during this road to WrestleMania.
00:48:56
Speaker
um What we have now is good. I think it's going to be an event that we're going to need to watch it to to really see if it pays off and, um as as Mike will attest to, as important as this weekend is, next Monday is equally as important because while while Saturday and Sunday is the Super Bowl, week one of the regular season starts back over next on Monday Night Raw next week. So, you know, what can they do afterwards to really set the next storylines going because backlashes in three weeks after WrestleMania here in Tampa. So you got to get the ball moving really quickly. But
00:49:27
Speaker
um I would say if I had to rank my excitement level, I'm probably about a seven and a half out of 10 right now. um I think as the week goes on, i'll you know once we're done here, i'll I'll get a recap on Raw um and we'll see how the go home is on on Friday. But right now I'm at seven and a half out of 10. Ask me again after Friday night and Saturday afternoon at to as I'm getting off of work to see where I'm at. But right now seven and a half.
00:49:50
Speaker
Yeah, I think I'm in the same boat. I, I, the, the build to a lot of these matches been subpar at best, but like the blow off for half of them is going to be dope. The, the fact that we get to see a lot of brand new faces that just got here in the, in the show of shows is, is huge. Like, you know, so the likes of, you know, Javon Evans and, you know, you got, you know,
00:50:12
Speaker
your One of one of the stands you're for is Trick Williams. you know It's one of those things that WWE hasn't been great at you know taking a young talent just to the moon right off the bat.
00:50:26
Speaker
So to see these young guys actually coming in and and doing a job is where there's a lot of injury right now is huge. And they're going to be the future of the the business. So really that's the hype for me. And I think I'm at a solid...
00:50:41
Speaker
seven, eight-ish on my end, just because of what they were able to do in the last couple of weeks. If you asked me this about a few weeks ago, have been like, I'm like to be honest. It's just the the rapid buildup really quickly to throw this together. been it It feels like it was well thought out to be, all right, we're going home.
00:51:02
Speaker
Here it is. yeah Lay it out for you. so yeah here okay okay you both Both of you mentioned the build. um Could you give me a little more about this build? So obviously, like you said, four and a half a few weeks ago, all the way up to like an eight now, what but what yeah what would they do that that changed this, that's got you so excited?
00:51:24
Speaker
So for example, I think one of the biggest things that is not like the main attraction of it is the Dom and Finn Balor scenario for me.
00:51:35
Speaker
When I think of Finn Balor, I think of many, many years ago when he had his demon character, And it was very much hard hitting after every hard hitting match. um And I know as the demon, he's been like record wise, like six and two and like main event scenarios. So like for him to bring back this character at this time against this person who is probably the number one bad guy you got right now, ah it's it's it's hard hitting. So for me, it's going to be, that was one of the ones that really threw it
00:52:11
Speaker
in the right angle for me, as well as, like I said before, the young guns coming in and really just stepping in and coming in like seasoned veterans. It wasn't like they came in and then they had to take them off TV and kind of coach them up a little bit. No, they came in and said, give me the ball and what should I do with it? And they really took the reins. You have guys who have been good guys forever and now are just bad guys now. You're just like, time out.
00:52:36
Speaker
With this happen, you got, you know, people coming in and that really just kind of taking the the the ball essentially and just saying, hey, I want this moment.
00:52:47
Speaker
And you can really feel that they genuinely want the moment. And it's not necessarily forced. And I think at the beginning, it was kind of forced. You were kind of seeing, oh, well we already know what this is going to be. And then at the end of it, now you have this swerve and it's like timeout.
00:53:00
Speaker
What are we going for? Is this the actual main ah main like blow off? Or are we telling a story to get us to the next season and watch how that plays out for the next few pay-per-views?
00:53:14
Speaker
Yeah, I think for me to kind of piggyback on what he's saying there, right, in terms of the build and where we're at now, right, where we knew probably back in January, I think when when we talked about the Rumble recap, right, on the first episode, right, where, you know, we wanted to see Finn Balor go be a good guy. We want to see Judgment Day break up. We want to see these things happen.
00:53:34
Speaker
We didn't get it back in January when we should have gotten it. It's now taking up until the last, what, three weeks ago when Finn finally turnedur when each turned babyface. But then we didn't even get the match confirmed until the following week.
00:53:47
Speaker
And then last week, you get um you actually get Finn confirming that he's going to pull out the demon character. And this was all last week. So like it's it's more so just... when we should have set up the storylines to where we are now i think is what where my issue with the build happened where everything has just come together in the last two to three weeks rather than letting these feuds breathe and really build up to it where you know we're going to talk about the the only one that's really had legs outside of the two main events is becky lynch versus aj lee which has been going on for what six months mike
00:54:19
Speaker
like it's been going since before a survivor series um so like you know we have this we have that that's the only few that i can really think of that's actually had legs for a long term that actually matters to wrestlemania where everything else has really been the last three months but it really is more the last month month and a half since what elimination chamber yeah okay okay there's uh There's one more thing that you wanted me to ask about here, Justin, and I don't know what this means, but is the TKO WWE beef real or a work for the story?
00:54:56
Speaker
I like that question. I think it's layered answer in this one. I think that you have the TKO guys, which is you know the guys that are put there by the business, and then you have the guys who are there because they're genuinely wrestling, right? So the fan base, if you would, or WWE guys, if you would. um Think about, for example, let's take Roman Reigns.
00:55:19
Speaker
right Roman Reigns at one point, everybody hated him. He got booed out of the arena left and right. and was kind of forced down our throats by the company. And then you throw the rock in there and you have that storyline going with, oh, and I'm not going face you know Cody Rhodes, I'm going to face my cousin.
00:55:36
Speaker
right and then now you're going back to the whole thing of Roman Reigns having the longest reign ever as ah as a champion. So now you have the voice of the people versus this company built, I'm pushing them down your throat kind of guy, but What side do you go with, right?
00:55:59
Speaker
What's best for business, what's best for the fan base? And it's not just that match. It's so many more. um You know, you look at, again, guys like Dom and Finn is another one. Finn came up through NXT. He was built by the system itself. Yes, he had a run on the Indies as Finn Balor, but what got him to where he's at now, you know? And then Dom, again,
00:56:22
Speaker
a ah one who is, i am my father's predecessor. I'm literally coming behind him. I have, you know, and I'm not talking about Rey Mysterio. I'm talking about Latino Heat himself, Eddie Guerrero, you know. So when you think about where these guys came from, there they were there for the people.
00:56:39
Speaker
Now, what is it, what happens next, you know? And I think that you kind of see what side and how it's splitting a little bit at a time. And we'll see what happens come this weekend.
00:56:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think, and the reason I put it in there is the, um is like Pat McAfee being added into this main event feud last, or what, two weeks ago, right, with Cody Rhodes in and Randy Orton, where He shouldn't have been, right? I think we can a little prelude into that conversation, right? where yeah there' There's 20 plus years of history between those those two guys. And, you know, now there's no reason add even Jelly Roll, who's popped up in this thing now. Like there's no reason for celebrities to pop up into this thing.
00:57:19
Speaker
um Does it work long term? Maybe. um Obviously, we're going to see them both on Saturday night, you know, Jelly Roll and and Pat McAfee. But it for me, it's just like, there's no reason for TKO to have gotten involved with with with WrestleMania. Obviously we saw it two years ago with 40, with injecting Dwayne into it and then everyone else ever that came down that night to be in the best six minutes of wrestling history right for WrestleMania 40.
00:57:46
Speaker
um But yeah, it's it's an interesting place. where Obviously TKO owns WWE, they own UFC. So, you know, they want what's best for their for their their properties. And, you know, we'll see what the payoff is. Last year, it didn't work with with Travis Scott.
00:58:01
Speaker
So what does it look like this year with what the celebrity appearances into it all? I mean, to to go back, you mentioned celebs. I didn't really want to go into, you know, Pat McAfee yet until we got to that point.
00:58:14
Speaker
But when we talk about celebrities and those who can go, if you want to go back in history, you know, you have the celebrity wing of the Hall of Fame for a reason for those who can genuinely go. So your guys like, say, for example, Bad Bunny is another one.
00:58:29
Speaker
who literally came in in a street fight in Puerto Rico and tore the house down. Right. You got guys like Logan Paul, again, another one who came in can go You got, in this case, in with Logan Paul, you have Ayesho Speed, who was a freak athlete, but at the same time, taking bumps and they're airing it, showing it. And I thought it was just a gimmick kind of thing, just to kind of do it.
00:58:52
Speaker
But then you realize that hellacious spear he took from Brock Breaker, and then you go, you got right back up. And he said he was going to lay it into you, and you took it. As those who can come and go, just go, okay, I have a little bit of respect for those. Jelly Roll, for him, for example, losing all the weight to even be able to go for a minute.
00:59:15
Speaker
I think that certain celebrities absolutely can come in, in addition to helping sell the tickets, be mainstream, that WWE genuinely needs right now because of all the competition that they have. But again, for those who just come in, Showface,
00:59:30
Speaker
yeah There's no reason for like Lil Yachty to be there, respectfully. you know i think that when you when you want to sell to a diff a specific demographic, it has to make sense. And right now, certain celebrities that can actually go, absolutely.
00:59:47
Speaker
Others, nah, don't eat them. and And I think that's the TKO portion talking of, oh, they're so mainstream, they have all these. Don't care. Because the fan base will tell you. And they spoke up very loud.
01:00:00
Speaker
The last two weeks. Yes. Oh, yeah. We we can we can carry that through out when we get to the the the main events, when we get around to them. But we got to get to these predictions, man. i be Yeah, man. Let's go. We've been holding off for the last week to talk about this stuff, so we're ready.
01:00:16
Speaker
Where where is Jelly Roll on this? I don't see him in any of these. Jelly Roll is going to be tied into the the Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes fight. Okay, so he's going to be tied in with Pat McAfee.
01:00:27
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, and yeah, literally. yeah i got I was looking for him on on this card here. I didn't see him. So I was like, where's he going to be? All right. All right. So let's let's do it. Let's get into predictions. So I'm going to go one match at a time here, kind of ah from lowest stakes to highest stakes and just predictions and general thoughts on on every matchup. So what we're going to do and ah correct me as I go, because I'm old and these first names are really, really small. for sure I got you. I got you. So the the first one we've got, we've got the six man tag team match. know A couple of these guys y'all were mentioning already. So we've got l LA Knight
01:01:05
Speaker
I'm thinking that says Randy Uso and Jey Uso. the Jimmy and Jey Uso. Jimmy and Jey Uso. All right. Jimmy and Jey Uso versus one of the two Paul brothers. I can't read that. It's Jake or Logan. Logan Paul. Fury and I show speed. So we've got a six-man tag team match. What are what are we thinking here?
01:01:27
Speaker
ahead, buddy. I think for me – This is one one of those ones that like, yeah, I show speed has a respect, man. He's good. He can take those bumps. ah But for me, it's going to be one of those things that the storyline that they're going to be able to tell on the back end of this, I have to go LA Knight and the Usos.
01:01:45
Speaker
I'll give my quick why on it. And it's because, and Judd and I've talked a little bit about it. They gave the Usos a brand new tag team intro, um a new theme a new theme song to come out to and all that stuff, um just for them to drop the belts.
01:01:58
Speaker
um So I think ultimately what's going to happen is that we're going to flip it. So I think they're going to beat the vision. So that's Logan Paul in and Austin Theory. so I think they're going to beat him to set up something for backlash. And that's that blow off that Judd was talking about the, you know, what's going to happen after Mania is done. So I think we're going to see that come up again for backlash, but you need to see that, kind that, that rivalry go back and forth while this may not be for the titles, but I think it sets up something for the titles a little way down a couple weeks down the road.
01:02:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think I would have to go ah the LA Knight and Usos in this scenario as well. Although I'll give the nod Ayesha for really coming in and just trying to learn the business and understanding like what's happening. He's really worked his behind off to be here. But again, being it is not for the titles, I don't see it meaning to change hands right now, especially when the Usos are involved in a bigger picture with Roman Reigns in that scenario. with the bloodline. So I think the blow off ends up being Usos on the back end later on. ah But right now, as far as this weekend goes, I got LA and and the Usos for sure.
01:03:04
Speaker
Whether it's a clean win or not. No way. No shot. No shot. Not going to be clean at all. I think i think in this case, the the faces will take this one.
01:03:15
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. That's what the vibes are saying too. i I was asked to come prepare with vibes picks based entirely off of what I'm looking at on the the show card. The vibes were saying to be on the Knight and Uso side. So I like where else heads are at.
01:03:29
Speaker
We also have an unsanctioned match. Knight won. Jacob, I think this is Jacob Fatu versus Drew McIntyre. Hey, good job. looking Look at you. Hey, there we go. I'm squinting, but I can read it Yeah. Mike, why don't you start us off with this one since Justin started this on the last one?
01:03:49
Speaker
For sure. Now, this one is deep-rooted a little bit a ways back, back with the bloodline going against Drew and everybody else, the main roster, as you would. So they've tied...
01:04:00
Speaker
you know, hands before. This one's a little different only because Drew is trying to prove something and Jacob is saying like, hey, i I'm still aggressive. I'm still out here. You got what i mean? So for me in this scenario, the only person who can really take an L and be okay it is Drew.
01:04:22
Speaker
So I think in this one for me, I think Jacob gets the dump. God. I've gone back and forth on this match for me. it's the The big caveat to this, and a lot of people, you know why i don't think we spoke about it, is that Drew is leaving WWE for a couple months when Mania is over um to go film the the Highlander reboot.
01:04:43
Speaker
So I think to your credit, yes, you know Drew's that position that he can take this L, leave for a couple months, come back and in a new character arc type of scenario. um I think that because it's an unsanctioned match, Drew's going to get hurt, quote unquote, um because it's going to be that type of brutal matchup.
01:05:00
Speaker
and We've seen it for the last couple weeks and literally throwing each other off of a building. you know Drew doing a big beat down over the weekend over ah over on Friday night. literally handcuffing Jacob to the to the corner, to the turnbuckle. So I agree. I think it is Jacob, but it's gonna this is one of one of the few matches that I think you're going to see blood. You're going to see brutality, oh yeah um especially because it's on the it's on the first hour.
01:05:22
Speaker
So yeah ESPN wants to show off their investment with with with buying up the PLE cycle from WWE. So I think WWE wants to show off how brutal they can still be while still being PG.
01:05:33
Speaker
um on ESPN, especially being this one, night one's on ESPN too. But I'm going Jacob, but it's going to be, this is going to be a gnarly fight for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Vibes are saying Jacob as well. He's mean mugging pretty nasty in this photo and I like the vibes on that.
01:05:50
Speaker
All right. So we've also, with ah exactly, dude, that's pretty spot on right there actually. that so we got that We've got the w WWE women's tag team championship fatal four-way.
01:06:04
Speaker
We've got Bliss, Flair, Jackson Legend. yeah Yeah. Bliss, Flair, Jackson Legend versus Bailey, Valkyria, and do yeah Bellas.
01:06:18
Speaker
Hey. I'm smooth.
01:06:21
Speaker
Yes. For me, man, this this is something that Mike and I have been talking about for so long. They finally booked this this women's tag team match finally. The women's division has been stacked with with main event talent for what feels like the last year, honestly, since since Charlotte and Alexa got together for a tag team. um For me, this and this match could literally go in in any direction. Right now, the title holders are Lash and...
01:06:49
Speaker
and and and legend Yeah, last legend and Nia Jax. So they're they're the current title holders. They don't have the titles leaving mania. Where goes, man, it could change probably the night of, if you really ask me.
01:07:04
Speaker
Right now, I'm to lean towards Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. um is where I'm going to go. They've been building these two for so long now. um I do think that there's some ramifications of this match. I think you see char Charlotte and Alexa finally break up.
01:07:19
Speaker
you You get the introduction of the Bellas back into this tag team title scene where they where they dominated for so long in their in their careers. With the caveat, I'm sure you've seen too, Mike, is that if Nikki can't go, um apparently Asuka and Kyrie are supposed to get tapped into this if if the Bellas aren't able to go.
01:07:38
Speaker
um come saturday um so i think that that already tells me that the bellas aren't lined up to win this thing um so right now my mind goes so to bailey and lyra pikeria yeah i mean respectfully it's that i agree um the build has been the most around them uh especially their their back if like behind the scenes like in the in in in Gorilla and all of them, just their interviews have been very much here. Everybody else is kind of everywhere else, minus the the last legend and Nia Jax conversation. I think that Lash coming in and immediately making an impact, I think for her, I think they're protecting her, if you ask me. um I think that she's still very novice in that realm. So for her to go into this next year and and be a champion, I just don't see it right now. I do think that you have to give it to Valkyria, who's really been, if you look at every single person that's in this match, the workhorse out of all of them.
01:08:45
Speaker
And I think that this is their nod to her and putting her with a veteran that, you know, Ginny doesn't necessarily need a title, but it's probably out of everybody here that one of the more animated and more best people to watch than Bayley and is a proven champion and can hold her own as well. So I think for me, it's going to have to be the same thing of Bayley and Valkyria going into, you know, and going into it.
01:09:09
Speaker
I do have to say i am not opposed to Flair and Bliss winning it one more time, but I definitely don't see the Bellas at all. And I don't think that the last legend in the Ajax walk out, but I think my number one has to go again with Bailey and Valkyria.
01:09:27
Speaker
All right. All right. There's a lot of agreement here. So yeah, I'm going to switch it up. I'm going put the vibes on the other side because I think that's Charlotte flair, right? That's like Ric Flair's daughter.
01:09:42
Speaker
So we're going with Ric Flair's daughter vibes s meter. I also saw her do an interview on one of the podcasts that I listened to. So I'll go, I'll go vibe side on the other side and give us a little bit of mixture here.
01:09:54
Speaker
i sure Past that, we've got Women's Intercontinental Championship match between aj Lee and Becky Lynch. Mike, start us off on this one. All right. this one goes back a ways.
01:10:09
Speaker
We talk about long-term storytelling. We're talking well over a decade ago and how AJ left losing to Becky back way back in the day. We talk about AJ coming into this year.
01:10:22
Speaker
into this year And not knowing if she's going to actually go. And the next thing they give her the belt. so I was like, whoa. I think for this one, you know when you throw these women who are the pioneers in their own right into this matchup, it's nothing but egos and just pure ability. It can go either way.
01:10:44
Speaker
I think that they keep the belt on AJ lee a little bit longer, if you ask me. um i just don't see it right now. I think that they're to to ride that wave as long as possible. um Becky, hell of an athlete, hell of a hell of a person just to be there. Her character is going up and down. She doesn't necessarily need the belt. But I think AJ right now, just to solidify the fact that she is who she says she is and claims to be, in every interview, I think that she she'll come out on top. That's one.
01:11:14
Speaker
Man, I really thought that's where we were going split. I thought you were going to go Becky. thought you were going to go Becky. um I can see it going either way. I see it being a really good match. Every time they've faced so far, it's been a really good match.
01:11:28
Speaker
But I'm with you. There's no reason to take the belt off of AJ at this point. um And it just makes sense going forward, especially as we look at night two main event, where there may only be one title in that household going forward, depending on how it goes on night two. so But yeah, I'm going AJ Lee. No other notes.
01:11:45
Speaker
All right. Am I, ah am I, so I might be making this up, but is AJ Lee married to another wrestler, CM Punk or Cody Rhodes? Okay. All right. So, okay. CM Punk. All right. There we go. So vibes meters on AJ Lee because knew a fact about her.
01:12:03
Speaker
Becky Lynch is also married to Seth Rollins. Oh, who is going to the next fight that we're about to talk about? you go what is what is what what a clear segue man we got seth rollins versus uh the man with only one name gunther yeah yeah uh i like the vibes on this one the uh gunther the career killer man ah this is one of those ones that we talked about man the the build for this match has been nothing it literally popped up last what last week two weeks ago whenever it popped up the first time um
01:12:38
Speaker
I don't know, man. I, I, this match doesn't really excite me a whole lot. Um, going to be real honest. It's probably the that I'm going to refill my beer and come back and it's going be done. Like this is a less than 10 minute match. I feel like, um, it's one of those ones that could be good once we actually get to, to Saturday night.
01:12:55
Speaker
Um, I'm going to go go through, uh, just because that's, that's where WWE has been building it to. Um, Seth doesn't need this wind. Seth doesn't need to be in this story. And, if If they want to keep building Gunther up as to be this insurmountable force, um then they have to take out their their their golden egg and Seth Rollins. so But I do think this sets up Seth Rollins for later on down the road, but not right now.
01:13:19
Speaker
Well, this is where we disagree. Let's go. We finally got one. I think Seth, and mostly because of the most recent thing, like initially I was thinking in the same way of like the Gunther scenario. he He needs the win just to continue his or the validity of his dominance and taking out careers. Seth has no career to end yet. He still can go. So I don't think that he is going to lose to Gunther in that realm. I think Seth is actually going to go over because he has even more to prove. He needs to get his belt back. He's trying to take out the vision. you You could take out Gunther. That means you could take out three of the vision leading up to it later on. So I think that right now in where we're at, I think he goes home with a dub and his wife goes home with an L. That's where I'm at with it. So I think bragging rights in the household goes to Seth.
01:14:10
Speaker
that's ah That's a fair split though. One, you know, the WWE got with him. It's said only one y'all can win. We got a one win, one loss. We got to keep it even here. I like the predictions. but I'm going with Gunther because he only has one name.
01:14:22
Speaker
And I feel like that's pretty cool. So here he looks like he – you called him a career killer. he His face looks like that of a killer. So we'll give it to him. He went back to the ring general the ring general gimmick, and it's it's great to see him go back to that. and I think that for you, like definitely it's going to be one of those ones where we're probably going to walk out, go over to Phil, you get the snackies, come back. I'm like, oh, good. But I think that it's going to be hard hitting, and we'll see who comes out on the end.
01:14:52
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. we're We're building up real close to the to the main event here, but we got one more before we get
Main Matches and Predictions for WrestleMania
01:14:59
Speaker
there. We got the Women's World Championship match between Liv Morgan and Stephanie Vaquer.
01:15:06
Speaker
Oh, yeah. the only one ah The only women's match I'm actually excited to watch. Oh, same. As as we go through this. We are we're invested. and Invested is a word.
01:15:25
Speaker
We'll explain. looks I'll send you videos. I'll send you videos. um I think for me, the way that this goes is it's... i it's been built since royal It's been built since Rumble. This is Liv's title. Liv has needed a title since she came back. It's the it's the easiest build um for her.
01:15:46
Speaker
But Kira's had a great run with the title, great defenses. But it's time for her to take some take some time off. She's had a hell of a run through 2025. So some well-deserved rest for her after after Mania. But this is Liv's belt. And she's going hopefully get a face turn on the back end of this and see the end of Judgment Day.
01:16:08
Speaker
see what you did there. I see what you did there. i yeah i I think that she's due for a face turn as well. But i think I'm going to have to go Vaqir for a little bit longer. i think that the story behind it and the storytelling behind it has been pretty decent for the most part. But with the popularity of Vaqir right now,
01:16:31
Speaker
you kind of have to ride that wave a little bit longer. Like it's not necessarily that it's on a tail end just yet, like when we on way on a downslope yet. And I think that a refresh for Vakir soon, for sure. But I think right now to have any one of them have a WrestleMania moment will be ideal. um But I think i' would have to go with Vakir just to kind of keep it spicy. But also you like Liv, I don like Vakir. I think that's fair. That's true. That's true. There you I like it. i Vibes are on the Liv Morgan side of things. I don't have reasons this time, but we're throw we're throwing the vibes that way. i just that Just the name alone is enough of a reason for you. deal You don't have to worry about it past that point.
01:17:11
Speaker
but Exactly, exactly. So let's let's get to the let's get to the main event here, the undisputed w WWE Championship match. as yeah As you've noted, Cody Rhodes versus Randy Orton with a sprinkle of Pat McAfee for some reason. As ah as a non-follower, I don't understand why Pat McAfee's give winking at me with shades on. It's a terrible picture.
01:17:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's a weird one. It's so bad. It's a weird one. Let's get, let's get, let's let Mike start off on this one. I want to see it. So for me, with Pat McAfee, first of foremost, as a wrestling guy, Pat McAfee would not have been a first person I call him.
01:17:50
Speaker
And I think that when it comes to Pat, I think it's the name, it's it's the fact that he brings the energy. The fan base have been missing him as one of the commentators. So I think that in this realm, the business was like, hey, bring back somebody that the people can easily hate or get behind. So right now you had at one point, Cody and Randy both being on the same side of being faces and both of them are just super popular. So somebody has to be the bad guy. And the one person who was really good at being a bad guy is one Randy Orton.
01:18:23
Speaker
So for me, I look at it and i said, wow, like, I need this. And the fact that he keeps talking about beating Triple H's record with 15 and 16, that's where he's at.
01:18:35
Speaker
And I think I got Randy Orton on this one for me. um The people want to see a change, and it clearly ain't Randy. It clearly ain't you know, Cody right now, it is 100% Randy going into the new the the new year, new season, if you would, as the heelish champion. Could he turn face on the back end? Sure. But I think right now is what the people want, is what the business right now needs, and it needs to change, and that changes.
01:19:01
Speaker
Randy Key Thornton. Yeah. i the I think the only question of this match is how how how involved is Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll in it all. um That's where that's all it's really going to come down to for me. yeah um But you and I agree. And we've talked about this match for what feels like months now.
01:19:19
Speaker
um it's It's Randy's title and it's deservedly so. um He's done a lot of work for the company as ah as a face over the last like eight, nine years. um So it's it's good that he's finally going to get his title back.
01:19:31
Speaker
um I'm more interested in the backlash of what happens to Cody. um I think Cody steps away for a little bit, deservingly so. I think he deserves a little vacay. But you know you and I have talked about it a lot. I think this is it's time for Cody Lander. It's time for Cody to go heel and but Let but the WWE main roster see what heel Cody is capable of. So, you know, when that happens, I'm not 100% sure. But i think I think we're due for a heel turn for Cody Rhodes. But let Randy hold that belt for a little bit and let's see what what a heel champion can do for a long run. Yeah, man.
01:20:06
Speaker
And heel Cody is also really, really dope. Watching him in other another you know companies and when he was part of Bullet Club as a heel champion. Ah, yeah.
01:20:17
Speaker
He needs time rebuild that. Okay. Okay. The vibes were going to be on the Cody Rhodes side of things, but I think, I think you guys have have have convinced me that the vibes can stay with Pat McAfee. I was going to go other side, just, just to anti Pat McAfee winking at me. i Listen, I think we're all in agreeance.
01:20:37
Speaker
We were all in agreeance that we are all anti Pat McAfee. He should keep his his job with definitely with the talking portion of it. I agree.
01:20:48
Speaker
There you go. And with that that, I mean, that wraps up night one there. So we're going to kick it over to night two, Sunday, April 19th. We're starting it off with an intercontinental intercontinental championship ladder match.
01:21:03
Speaker
So we've got a ladder match here between McDonough, Lee, Penta, Evans, Rey Mysterio, and Rusev. yeah Yes.
01:21:15
Speaker
What a match. What a match this is going to be, man. I'm so happy for this match, man. Background for you, Cody. Literally last night, Pinta is your current Intercontinental Champion.
01:21:27
Speaker
um You and I, we've talked about AAA on the podcast before, the the Mexico City All Lucha brand um down there. Penta went down to Mexico City out there um ah in the mountains, Monterey, and defended his intercontinental championship against Fakingo last night. Still win, obviously, because he has a WrestleMania match on Sunday.
01:21:48
Speaker
um But in a what looks to be one of the best matches of the night from last night on AAA, took some hellacious bumps. some Bumps that I wouldn't expect anyone to take literally six days before wrestle man your WrestleMania match, but um a great match all all all the same.
01:22:06
Speaker
um But there's a lot of stories in this match. And i think I think Mike and I differ a lot on which way this match is going to go. um Mike already touched on to Javon Evans, the new guy up here, you know, was at a Elimination Chamber.
01:22:19
Speaker
My boy Bouncy out here having a good time. You get Rey Mysterio back into the fold, um you know, a late addition into this match. JD McDonough in there and Rusev seem to be cannon fodder for this match, in my opinion.
01:22:35
Speaker
um Either one of them can take the pin. um so i To me, this match really comes down to Penta, Rey, and Javon Evans. um i I think Mike's going to go Javon on this match.
01:22:48
Speaker
um I'm going to keep the belt on Penta. Full transparency, Penta's been a company jobber almost in a way for the last year since he came up to WWE. So I think he he deserves a long reign with this title.
01:23:00
Speaker
But I think we build into a story between him with Rey, obviously Triple A. I think there's a lot of involvement down there, um whether it's Fakingo or whoever maybe, or maybe a dominant Mysterio, who we'll talk about a little bit later.
01:23:14
Speaker
But I think there's a lot of different storylines that play out, but I think you need to keep it on Penta for those storylines to play out the right way.
01:23:22
Speaker
I will agree with your disagreeance and say that I'm going to go with Javon Evans for a multitude of reasons. One, when you watch AAA a little bit, you'll see that they're also pushing Penta to be with his brother really heavy in AAA. um Meanwhile, on this end, Javon is 21 years old and if he wins, would become the youngest Intercontinental Champion ever so there's a lot more than just wrestling involved in this one you have the elder if you would in ray mysterio uh showing face and there's a lot of respect between penta ray mysterio dragon lee along with uh javon evans um and there's a mutual like lucha style
01:24:06
Speaker
So when it comes down to it, for me, giving the young guy his nod and then being able to give it back to Pinto later on is is sure. I'm down with that. But I also can see from the most recent matches with what he the bumps he took in AAA, I don't know if you know this, Justin, but you're talking about a guy who literally had his bicep ripped off and still was wrestling through it and is still continuing to wrestle through it to this day. So the bumps, they all said the same thing that they look at Pinto Matt Jeff Hardy as like inspiration a guy who's just rubber band like and just bounce back and keep going so in this round I think give it to the to the young bull Joshua Evans and if you have let them be bouncing all over the place and watch for a heck of a match but you're going to see some see some real real stars showing off in that I wouldn't be mad I wouldn't be mad if Evans comes out with the title
01:25:01
Speaker
I wouldn't be mad if Pinta walked out either. I ain't gonna lie to you. There you go. But would you be mad if Rey Mysterio did? Because that's what the vibes are telling me. no not at all. I wouldn't be mad at all.
01:25:13
Speaker
Yeah, and let me tell you why wouldn't mad. It's because Rey is at the end of his career. um And we're looking for how you want to end his career. Mike and I talked about this last week. you know How do you get Ray Mysterio out the door in the right way? um I think giving him the belt to eventually go face his son for the retirement match makes a lot of sense. But I agree with Mike. I think the way to do it isn't with the IC. It's with the AAA Mega Championship. and let let it fight out AAA because that makes the most sense to honor to honor Eddie, to honor Ray, and Dom obviously is the new guy and in the fold.
01:25:52
Speaker
But I think that title makes more sense for Ray's career than the IC title. yeah Okay. okay So the vibes aren't 100% there. That's good. Yeah, for sure. the The other fight that we have in this ESPN first hour is Brock Lesnar versus Obafemi.
01:26:11
Speaker
What are we thinking about this one Man, what a match. What a match is going to be. um i think ah we've gone back and forth on this for the last couple months. of like where What do you do with Brock Lesnar, who is also apparently you know rumored to retire this year at SummerSlam because it's in his hometown?
01:26:31
Speaker
So what do how do you build Brock to that point and get him out, obviously, in the right way, the same way that we talked about Rey? um I think you start doing that here and now with Oba. Oba is built to be the next Brock Lesnar-esque guy.
01:26:45
Speaker
the The force that you can't beat and you pull out when you need that that type of guy to take the belt and carry it for a little bit. um i i've gone back and forth on my mentality on how they get brock to summer slam to retire um and i think you do it by letting him put up put over oba and beat oba um but ah the the popular way that i've seen it and i agree with it is that neither man walks out of this match like they both need help to leave um like but like basically like a car crash type scenario um and then you bring back brock um
01:27:18
Speaker
ah late July into into that August build for SummerSlam to be like, Oba, one more chance and I'm going to walk out on my own two feet type of scenario. But i have I have Oba winning this, but it's this is a match that i'm very much looking forward to on Sunday.
01:27:32
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you 100%. I think that the one thing that a lot of people that some people are talking about and a lot of people aren't is the fact that every single time there was a new person brought up and they had the face of Brock, they took an L. Every time somebody was like, oh, they're this, they're that, they're the next big thing whatever, they took an L.
01:27:55
Speaker
And we're not talking about lightweights. We're talking about heavy hitters, your Bobby Lashley's, your biggies, you know, even those guys who came in and just got squashed on the backside with a return to Brock Lesnar, right? So he's coming in with a lot of, you know, pressure, a lot of weight on him. He's carrying me like a boss right now. Nobody's ever had manhandled Brock Lesnar like that. Even the other big guys, you know, your big shows, your, you know, um,
01:28:22
Speaker
great colleagues, you know, Mark Henry, like nobody has manhandled Brock Lesnar the way that Oba has manhandled Brock Lesnar. That's what's really getting people invested in this. And I think that right now you have to, you know, pass the torch, and maybe not tonight, you know, but over the timeframe and building it up to it when he leaves, Oba is going to be the replacement. And I think in this realm, Oba takes the dub.
01:28:49
Speaker
I like it. I like it. The vibes are saying Oba as well. I got go to go Lillard. That's the logic on that.
01:29:03
Speaker
I like it. we've also We've also got ourselves here a United States Championship match between Sami Zayn and Trick Williams. Man.
01:29:15
Speaker
Oh, yeah, man. I'll let you start it, Mike, because I started the Hobo one. Yeah, I mean, this one, again, is one of the ones that's a toss-up with a brand new young gun coming in.
01:29:27
Speaker
you know, what if Lemon Pepper Steppers? And then you also got Sami Zayn that's really heelish right now. And people are loving the fact that he's showing that side. The question is, does he actually stay that way? It's million dollar question that nobody really has the answer to. But right now, the hottest thing going right now is Trick Williams. So for me, it's going to be him walking in without a belt and his lemon pepper step those and walking out with the title and his lemon pepper step was in full intact.
01:30:02
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. Trick is trick is ah is a made star right now. um if If the main event scene was clear, he would be up there facing Cody, but if it needed Randy on SmackDown. um But yeah, the only one that's in danger in this match against Sami Zayn is if you're a water bottle backstage because you don't like water bottles backstage. But yeah, I think Trick takes this and it's it's very clear. But you know i'll I'll be happy with this tweener type of mentality that Trick is in, but it's going to set up one great of a match, maybe Backlash, maybe a little bit, maybe in in June. against Carmelo Hayes, which is what I i want to see.
01:30:41
Speaker
They used to be tag team partners. So like I'm really interested to see how that dynamic plays on the main roster. Yeah, same. like get the The vibes are saying the same thing. You said Trick Williams is the hottest name in the streets right now.
01:30:52
Speaker
And his photo shoot, he looks like the hottest name in the streets right now. So that that checks out. I'm going with Trick Williams well. was at my brother's pro game with the title and people were who are you? said, Trick Willie, baby. may There you go.
01:31:09
Speaker
I like it. I like it women Another w WWE Women's Championship match. We've got, let's see, Ryan Ripley and we've got Jade Cargill.
01:31:21
Speaker
Am I doing this right? Those are wrong. We'll get you a name correction there. Rhea Ripley. Rhea Ripley. The words are very small on their on their post. and i was That's true.
01:31:33
Speaker
I thought I saw R-I-E-N and I just went for it.
01:31:38
Speaker
Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargo. Yeah. um I don't care about this match one bit. The build to this match sucks. It sucks since the Elimination Chamber. um I have zero... This is the one I'm going to get up and get my drink refill and get the snackies going and get the pizza ordered. Every night, meet ones. Every night, meet ones. The build to this match has been god-awful.
01:32:01
Speaker
It's very clear where they're going to go. This is WWE's girl. it It makes the most sense. It's going to go back to Rhea. Rhea needs the belt. Rhea's needed the belt for some time. And it it just it's sucked on Jade. Jade has done nothing with this belt.
01:32:16
Speaker
um it It feels like last year where we talked about that Gunther has done nothing with the World Heavyweight Championship, so it makes sense to give it to Jade. Jade's done nothing with this belt, so it makes sense to give it to Rhea. Let her hold it for a little bit.
01:32:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the build to this, like you said, has been lackluster. Jade, literally, to think that it wasn't supposed to be Jade, it was supposed to be Naomi before she went there, how mommy leave. and now you also don't have Bianca Belair as well, who would have been perfect for this spot to put it on. And right now we got Rhea Ripley, Jay Cargill. Rhea Ripley definitely is the fan favorite. She's coming in. Yeah, there's maybe some distractions from Io and the... Beef, beef, yeah, and all the extra people. But I think that the person comes out, the top is definitely going to be Rhea.
01:33:11
Speaker
I like it. I like it. Vibes are saying the same thing here. i'm Just out of apologies for pronouncing the name so poorly. That's what the vibes are saying. This match really comes down to who intervenes.
01:33:23
Speaker
That's just what it comes down to. there's thiss ri have The extra body is going to come on to help. We'll see. Who knows? Maybe somebody's returning. Help out. think Justin missed that one. We didn't get a reaction from Justin on that.
01:33:41
Speaker
All right, matchup before the main event here. This is a name you've been saying a lot up until this point. We've got Finn Balor and Dominic Mysterio.
01:33:52
Speaker
So, Mike, you've been bringing Finn up a few times. Yeah, I'm sorry. Finn is again a company man. has literally been tried and true black and gold from NXT. Before that you got him and I just give a little backstory a little history. Finn has always had some type of face painted character or some type master gimmick at some point in time as like the demon if you would.
01:34:19
Speaker
When he first got to the main roster people a lot of people forget that he was the inaugural universal champion. And he, when he came in with the demon character, that was what gets him over. um The losses he had is to other people with a very dark gimmick as well that he just was not ready to come over with. And now that he's going back to it is we're talking years. He hasn't worn us.
01:34:44
Speaker
This character hasn't been here in years. And I think it's time that it comes back in. And the fact that it is is against Dom is against the judgment day is in the right realm and in, in Honestly, Dom's riding this high horse of, um I'm the leader.
01:35:01
Speaker
Finn is like, na no, no, I'm to show you how it's done. And I think Finn definitely comes out on top as the demon character. And his entrance is going to be one hell of one to watch. And I'm here for it.
01:35:15
Speaker
I am here for all of it. I like it. I didn't i didn't know because I can i can see this this demon character talking about. I didn't know this was something he got away from that he's coming back to. so Yeah, the the business, we'll say the TKO side of things, the WWE side of it, the business side of it really tried to push it down people's throats and was like,
01:35:38
Speaker
every week do this. That wasn't what it was meant for. It was meant for that storytelling. It's meant for it's himself saying, when I don the paint, I'm going to a darker place that I haven't had to go into in a while. So it it should have only come out once in a while. And when we say that time frame, it's been I want to say maybe close to two, three years we've seen it.
01:36:01
Speaker
Oh, wow. It's been longer probably. yeah I might say because reality once he lost to Bray Wyatt using the that gimmick, its it's been a while. He hasn't seen it since.
01:36:12
Speaker
So this gimmick that's coming back isn't necessarily one that to be to be played with, if you would. So, yeah, I definitely think going banger of a match. It's not going be a squash match. Dom's going to fight, and he's going to fight hard.
01:36:25
Speaker
But I think Ballet takes the edge.
01:36:29
Speaker
Yeah. What you got, Justin? I'm with you, man. I'm excited to finally see a demon match. I've never witnessed a demon match. So I'm really excited for the for this. I'm excited for the intro.
01:36:41
Speaker
I want the full effect from him doing the, yeah, i want the arms. i want I want the fog. I want it all. I want the whole the whole the whole show the show of it all. um Yeah, this is this is something that's been built too for so long. you know i feel like Judgment Day has been the talk of w w for since I've gotten back into it and probably a little bit before then. um So, you know, whatever the ramifications of this is long term, I think Dom, I think becomes more of a triple A guy for a little bit on the back end of this.
01:37:08
Speaker
But Finn needs this win. Finn needs to take to get the the face side of him back over. And I think doing it at at Mania is going to be huge. um And, you know, we talk about this being the show shows, you know, this is this is the right stage to do. And especially if it's later on in the night building into that main event, this is a perfect spot for that fight.
01:37:28
Speaker
But I'm with you, Matt, Finn Balor all the way. um but I want the Finn Balor face push. I want him to to get to get a belt at some point this year, what whether it's IC or even maybe a Money in the Bank later in the year. But I'm i'm i'm on board with the Finn Balor push for sure.
01:37:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, the the vibes are saying they didn't bring this back just to have them lose. So I got to be on the other side with you, too. Yeah. yeah the issue weight You're going to see a major, major shift in the the landscape once it's out of what's out and in in the open. and when you guys watch it and you guys are seeing it the fan base and everything, it's going to change a lot. You may even see him in the main title maincuttle run a little bit later on.
01:38:11
Speaker
Yeah. There you go. I like it. Predictions beyond this weekend. All right. And then we're going wrap it up night two with the world heavyweight championship match between CM Punk and Roman Reigns.
01:38:27
Speaker
Mike, you want to get us started on this one as well? Roman Reigns.
01:38:34
Speaker
um And it's not even because don't like Punk. I love Punk. I think, you know, for me, It's very similar to what we talk about with them bringing back The Rock, bringing back John Cena. Reality is Cody and CM Punk couldn't necessarily hold everything together this year ah without, even though Roman's part-time, Roman again held it down when nobody was watching live, right? And were able to captivate fan base.
01:39:02
Speaker
So because of it, I think they're going back to their workhorse and saying, hey, go back to being Roman Reigns. But the real question is, is it actually Roman Reigns or is there something playing beyond that?
01:39:14
Speaker
And that's the real question. We talk about bloodline, we talk about how deep that family actually is. roman i think Roman genuinely edges it out just based off of that. Like we're talking Amy and everybody coming out the woodwork. Every year we see Roman win, it was always due to some type of interference of some sort. And I don't think punk has the,
01:39:37
Speaker
The backing on his side to withstand that that army that's just going to come out of nowhere if they even do that. I think Roman can take him one on one. But again, it's one of those things where we'll see what happens.
01:39:52
Speaker
Yeah, the the fan in me wants punk. i am Mike knows I'm probably one of the biggest punk fans there is. I remember like punk was the guy when I when i was watching as ah as a teenager.
01:40:04
Speaker
And it's someone that i the his intro at Mania last year damn near brought me to tears seeing the recap of his career, pulling out his old song and all that stuff, his color his old colors and everything.
01:40:14
Speaker
um So everything you want me everything in me wants to say Punk. um But man, it's tough to sit there and say that the establishment isn't going to push Roman. um My only question is, does Dwayne Johnson come out on Sunday night?
01:40:30
Speaker
They've alluded to him multiple times in this buildup. The Usos have showed up multiple times in this buildup. So what does that look like? What is, you know, is it the bloodline? Does FAT2 show up? Does Solo show up? Like, does all these other people, do you see maybe an introduction of someone that hasn't been on the main roster? Do any of the Tongas come over? Like, do you see a Zilla FAT2? Like, what do you see? You know, there's so many people that can play into this. And, you know, Roman can very easily lead a bloodline for the next year with a belt on them and regroup the family basically and, and,
01:40:59
Speaker
run WWE again for another year plus. um So I think officially I'm going to say Roman Reigns, even though I don't want to say Roman Reigns. um But, and it's, the it Mike's emoting on me over here. Everything in me wants to say Punk. i i I would not be surprised if they go Punk. I just don't know how they're going to have Punk win unless it is someone that we don't that we can't think of that's going to come out and and fight for him.
01:41:26
Speaker
and take out someone. Cena's there. I don't know if you get an AA from Cena this weekend. He's a host. He's done with the wrestling part. Can he do an AA with a suit on? I don't know. um So that's my thing. It's going to be a great match. You know, does Paul Heyman get involved? Does Brock Lesnar get involved? Does Gunther get involved? You know, what does that look like? Does the vision get involved? I don't know.
01:41:46
Speaker
And to me, like all those guys are going to play with Roman and not with Punk. And that's where it's tough for me to sit there and say that Punk comes out on top with this belt.
01:41:56
Speaker
Would I be surprised if Punk still finds a way? No, absolutely not. I think he can very easily come out with the belt and, and run with that belt for a little bit longer. But it just it's hard to not look at the way they built this this matchup to not say Roman Reigns takes his belt.
01:42:12
Speaker
Yeah, I'm interested to see how turns out between the Jey Uso, Roman Reigns, you know, scenario. When you brought up, you know, having John Cena there, it's like, does the whole thing between LA Knight and Jey Uso play a factor?
01:42:28
Speaker
Does Jey Uso turn and you see him as the next tribal chief? Like, all that plays a factor in it that can determine which way this match goes. um But you also can't forget Seth.
01:42:41
Speaker
he got me over his dead body to see Punk as a champion. So who knows, reunion of the of the shield that CM Punk created. like it's it's yeah You see a lot that can be at play in this one. But all of the the things that we can bring up all still point to Hoomst.
01:42:59
Speaker
Go to the tribal chief. So we'll see. All right. I like it, guys. I like it. I've just got a couple quest couple more questions here. Overall thoughts um before we wrap this up.
01:43:15
Speaker
Obviously, we've got a two-night premiere event. which Which night do you think is going to be the better night?
01:43:25
Speaker
The fan in me wants to say night two just because of Roman and Punk. You know, you got You got yeah Oba, Brock, you got Dom, you got the the Demon.
01:43:40
Speaker
Night one gives us a little bit, but think night two for me, I'm more invested in night two overall than I am in night one. Yeah, I think they've backfilled this card. by When I put this question, I was leaning night one, but after just talking through it, like I forgot that Finn and Dom were on night two, and that to me pushes it over. so It's night two for sure.
01:44:04
Speaker
Okay. Night two makes the most sense based on the way we just talked about it. Night two was feeling like a pretty heavyweight night. Yeah. I should like matches night two has less matches, but like I think that overall, just the length and time they they put in, I think they put in more with night two than night one.
01:44:22
Speaker
Maybe Dan Housen on night two. That might also be the reason why there's not a match in there. Dan Housen. That's all I'm saying. Curse.
01:44:34
Speaker
All right. ah Which and into individual match is your favorite? Which one are you looking forward to the most? Brock and Oba. Yes. oh close close Close second is Finn and Dom.
01:44:48
Speaker
But Brock and Oba to see what the future looks like with with with Oba. Oba is the guy that you're going to hand hand this company over to. um So I'm very interested to see what they do with that match. But yeah, the close second is Finn and Dom.
01:45:01
Speaker
I think definitely Oba. and Brock is my number one with the, actually the six pack challenge for the me, the ladder matches where I'm at. And number two, just the talent pool that's in it. Yeah. You got Rusev, but people forget that Rusev also is a beast wanting to jump off the road. He's off. He's wanting to jump off the road. He slimmed down a lot.
01:45:20
Speaker
A lot of things he did on, uh, AEW and things like that were also in the air, surprisingly. um He can do a lot and he can truly go. And I think that having the powerhouse in there to kind of take a lot of the heavier hits to keep everybody else safe is important. um So I think that for me, like just watching what all these young guys can do, even with Ryan being a little bit older, it's a safe bet to watch. We're probably going to see some some pretty gnarly bumps in this one and and hopefully get right back up.
01:45:50
Speaker
Yeah. I like it. i like it a lot, man. Any, ah i'll do I'll just throw this last one out there. Just anything, any final thoughts, anything you feel like you didn't get to get off your chest ah in the the primer that you want to leave us with?
01:46:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think the the last thing that I got to hop off is what is what is John Cena's involvement? This is the first time we're seeing John Cena at WWE since his retirement match. um So what does that look like? What is his involvement? What does he do?
01:46:20
Speaker
um He's the host of WrestleMania. So what is his involvement? But it's it's going to be good to see Cena back in the WWE w house um and just kind of see what what he's able to do going forward.
01:46:31
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, along with seeing Cena for the first time, you got A lot of implications of The Rock will be present, whether he gets involved or not. It's is' up in the air. Hell, Triple H might even get involved if The Rock is there and involved as well, because we've seen that in a lot of behind-the-scenes segments. But I'm really, really interested to see how the non-wrestlers impact each and every match.
01:46:57
Speaker
So it's the it's the unknown for me. For sure. I appreciate it, you guys. that was ah That's a really good good primer for the WrestleMania event this weekend. And if anything, this is probably the most likely, just following the the primer of the last one versus this one, um I feel like I'm more likely to maybe maybe try to tune in for this one because I i am very intrigued by this Finn Balor demon paint. I like St. Brock Lesnar back in it.
01:47:27
Speaker
um I'm very intrigued with what a ladder match is. and so there's ah There's a lot in there. that this This is a a very, very good primer as ah as a casual who hasn't watched wrestling since he was a child.
01:47:40
Speaker
um this was this was a good one. I appreciate know both of you guys being here. Just for you, just to know this, that kind of hopefully it gets you to kind of say, absolutely, I'm watching.
01:47:52
Speaker
you Between both nights, you kind of get a little bit of everything that WWE has to offer, along with a little bit of extreme wrestling side of it, like ECW and things like that. You come and get a gist of every type of wrestling out there, between Lucha, between your you big men between your small, your David versus Goliath scenarios, you know, ladder matches, extreme rules, no folds barred, you know, all kinds of things are out here right now. And you get to kind of see all of that.
01:48:24
Speaker
So if you're if you're not tuning in, you're going to miss a lot. And you don't necessarily have to know the backstory to kind of just enjoy what you're watching in front of you. Because like Justin said, this is the Super Bowl. And then you get right to season day one of season, the next season right after. And you kind of like, OK, I understand where we're going moving forward. So you kind of get a little bit everything.
01:48:48
Speaker
I like it, man. Well, thank you both for joining. i guess we matt Mike, thank you for joining us. Very special guest. First special guest in Pod's history. Really excited to have you join us. And that a great primer again. It's Saturday and Sunday. Two-day event. WrestleMania Vegas. And we will be recapping it next week as well. I know that's on the docket is to do a recap of this. So I don't know yet, Mike, if you'll be joining us for that. I'm sure you'll talk with Justin about it, but you're always welcome back if you want to I'd be more than happy to come back anytime.
01:49:21
Speaker
the so if If it works for you you're more than welcome to to come recap it with us. and and If you're still listening, thanks thanks for listening this far. That's all we got for you this week. Look forward to the recap next week. NFL draft preview next week as well. Like, comment, subscribe, and let us know if there's anything else you us to talk about. but Other than that, I'm Cody.
01:49:42
Speaker
I'm Justin. It's your boy, Jetty. And we'll catch you next time. Peace. Peace.