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00:00:00
00:00:01
67 Plays1 year ago
Garrett and Fax speculate on the whereabouts of Chris Migs. They're also chatting Hardway Heeter in Japan, Garrett goes to Circle 6 Barroom Blitz, late career Edge, Mox's new haircut, a TK betrayal and more!
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Transcript
Missing Migsie and Wrestling Burnout
00:00:35
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined at Pro Wrestling Hangout, Garrett Calendar, Jimmy Fax. Whoo! What are we, I mean- No Migs? No Migsie? No Migsie, I don't know. I thought there was gonna be Migsie, no Migsie. And I hope Migsie is doing well. Yeah, he's a little burnt out today. I don't know, maybe it's a rough work week. Hasn't watched enough wrestling maybe, I don't know. Maybe he's watched too much.
00:01:01
Speaker
You know, there's been that's actually. Yeah, that's more likely for him than not enough. Yeah, I feel like, you know, you know how like you always have that coworker that like takes a lot of sick days, you know, and you're always like, really? Really, you're sick again. I feel like that's Chris's coworkers with him, but it's all he's just wrestling burnout. He just is like, I got to take Friday off, guys.
00:01:31
Speaker
And it's like, Oh, it's strep throat. You flew. It's like, no, I just, there was a bunch of really interesting matches in Japan this morning. And, uh, yeah, I couldn't sleep. I had to watch them all. I found myself at a hog show in Queens and they're like, like a farm show. Like what is happening? No, no, no, it's, it's, it's, it's house of glory. Uh, there's some guys that dresses lions, but you know, it's, it's wrestling.
AEW Fanboy Confessions
00:02:00
Speaker
Well, we do have, I think the big thing that's going to happen in this episode at some point is, we have been, I would even go so far and say we're AEW fanboys. We have drank the Kool-Aid. We've been here since the beginning. We're sycophants of AEW, yeah. And...
00:02:23
Speaker
I didn't know what they could do to finally break me, but they did. Let's talk about that in a minute though.
Hardway Heater in Japan and Chris's Absence
00:02:32
Speaker
We had some, our good friend Hardway Heater is over in goddamn Japan now. That's probably why Chris isn't here. He had to be watching Heater matches in the middle of the night, Eastern time.
00:02:45
Speaker
He probably flew over. He might actually be in rural Japan somewhere, watching just the whole tour. Follow him. That's gonna be the big reveal, is because you and I haven't caught up to some of the current stuff, but we do have access to see some of these heater matches. We're gonna get to the last match, and Chris is gonna be his little guy. Oh my God. Oh my God.
00:03:11
Speaker
He's gonna steal that job from you. That was meant to be your job, Garrett. Chris is gonna just take it right from under you. Well, I think we were all three gonna be the little guys, but I mean, you know, what is it? Big Japan? Big Japan, yeah, yeah, that's what it's called. Big Japan can't afford to fly all three of us out. So they went ahead and flew the guy out who's been watching the most wrestling.
00:03:35
Speaker
Right. Well, so they just saw they got their first ever subscription from someone in America.
Chris's Wrestling Burnout and Jokes
00:03:40
Speaker
And then they immediately reached out to him and it was Chris. And they're like, would you like to come out and be Heater's little guy? Because it has to be Heater. They put the two and two together that Heater directly, you know, they bring in Heater, their subs in the US go up.
00:03:54
Speaker
So Chris put in the work to figure out how to get us access to the Hard Way Heater matches, because as we've set on the show right now, it's Heater, Dale Patrick's, Magga Butcher, and Mad Man Pondo are over there, just wreaking havoc on the big Japan crew.
Challenges Accessing Japanese Wrestling
00:04:18
Speaker
And Chris, yeah, he figured out how to get us to this website. It looked like there were two different places.
00:04:24
Speaker
And it was like 500 yen? It was like five bucks? It was somewhere in that ballpark. Yeah, it was definitely like, it wasn't 10. It was definitely under 10. It was a single digit amount of dollars when we did the conversion. So he sent us the login. I try to go to this website.
00:04:42
Speaker
I couldn't get my computer to translate anything at first. The majority of the website was anime and I couldn't find wrestling anywhere. Was it normal anime or was it corny anime? I'll never know. The one photo looked pretty normal, but I feel like a lot of anime is inherently pretty sexy. Yeah, that's true.
00:05:08
Speaker
So it's just like, I don't know. It didn't look like it was super kid friendly. Like I saw a busty lady or two in the thumbnails. But it wasn't like Mandy Rose's only fans. I was just wall to wall, just nothing but the real shit.
00:05:26
Speaker
Do you have a subscription to
OnlyFans and Patreon Jokes
00:05:28
Speaker
that? I've actually not checked that out. I don't. But I'm just assuming because I mean, basically when she got fired. How many yen? Right. The line. Yeah. If I could get if it is only five ninety nine yen, I might because I just kind of assumed when she kind of was like, I'm not saying I got fired. I make more money doing this. I was like, oh, yeah, she's doing full blown porn some very soon.
00:05:52
Speaker
Do you remember when Tony Storm got fired from WWE and then in like the very first day she started OnlyFans made like 30 grand? I didn't know that but I mean it checks out. Apparently one of the other WWE girls that was let go recently just started at OnlyFans. I don't blame them. I mean if somebody wanted to look at my feet
00:06:17
Speaker
I'm gonna yeah, I I don't and it's it's it seems like it's just a victimless system, right? The money goes pretty much directly to them Only fans gets their cut just because they thought of it. I guess you know, it's just kind of like You know, whatever if you wanna and and it's just one of those things like I think most people that like do do these things I don't think it's just for the naughty fix like it's it's definitely somewhat for the nobody thinks but I think it's just like hey, I like you I Want to give you money
00:06:47
Speaker
You seem like somebody whose cause I want to support.
00:06:51
Speaker
That's, that is true. I mean, it's essentially like, you know, some people do a Patreon for a podcast. We've never, we've never done that because I'm worried what our listeners would expect from us. I mean, if you want to throw us a couple bucks, we should just give you a, we'll give you MiG's PO box address and send whatever you want to him. Actually, you know what? He is always in our like New York area wrestling fans chat. He is always unloading merch and just whoever will take it. Cause it literally like,
00:07:21
Speaker
When he goes to something to WrestleMania weekend and Philly, the volume of new stuff he buys, he needs to make room for, like physically, he needs to make room for it. So he's always giving people stuff. So honestly, we probably could do a Patreon. We're just get a random Greg bag. We give away a random grab bag from mixes closet every month.
Chris's Generosity with Wrestling Merchandise
00:07:40
Speaker
You know, I've don't know if I've ever talked about this on here, but, and I assume most of our listeners are his size.
00:07:49
Speaker
I mean, it's black wrestling t-shirts, extra large. I think that that's pretty universal. Every now and then a box will come in the mail to me and it will just be filled with wrestling stuff that Chris didn't tell me he was sending me. And there's always a very nice handwritten note inside. And it's always very thoughtful.
00:08:12
Speaker
But I do wonder sometimes, I'm like, where is he getting this many Dan? I get all the Danhausen shirts that he has. And like, I mean, the hat I'm wearing right now is from him. I also have, you're wearing a sting hat. I also have a sting hat from him.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, great friend. He's a great friend because I think he does multiple like wrestling crate type things. Right. And it's pretty much so I used to always explain I don't know if I've ever talked about on our podcast here. I always have the three wares rule.
00:08:43
Speaker
That if I'm gonna buy a t-shirt like I have to wear it at least three times outside of the house like that's my rule and So like I have to kind of dig it and usually that means I'm gonna need to wear it at least once not to a wrestling show because the ratio of How many shirts I own to the amount of shows I go to it can get skewed So that's one of my rules and he never had that rule
Wrestling Shirt Rules and Fashion
00:09:06
Speaker
So I think that that's where it's like, some of these things, it's like, I think he literally, someone just buys a shirt and is like, it might not have never even get a wear. And then he's like, well, I never wore it. I should give it to somebody. I do get that though. There's, I mean, back in the. But he keeps all the Marty Skrull ones. Those ones he has in a collector's case.
00:09:29
Speaker
Well, he knows that someday he's coming back. Either someday he's coming back, or someday Chris is going to Puerto Rico. Right. Well, what if we find out Marty's girl actually is the most delicious meat spice of all, even better than the Beef King? Then it's like, well, we got to go to Puerto Rico and try this out. It is insane that Marty didn't control his narrative. I don't know. Yeah, like, because you got to figure they would have wanted him, right? It's not like they're- It's a big hit.
00:09:59
Speaker
Yeah, they're not turning anyone down. They seem like they had sub money, some kind of business plan that obviously didn't work out. But there seemed like, I bet EC3 had a pretty compelling PowerPoint at some point. Did Marty not get the PowerPoint? I would love for EC3 to have an OnlyFans and I can pay the whatever tier to see that PowerPoint.
00:10:24
Speaker
I had mentioned that next, not this weekend, but the following weekend, OVW is doing
OVW Show and Targeted Ads
00:10:32
Speaker
a show at a venue that's entirely too big, in my opinion, for OVW. And the guys in the poster were basically just the guys you saw on Netflix, but I've been getting targeted ads on Facebook that are including EC3's photo in that now.
00:10:54
Speaker
You gotta go and you gotta ask him about your comic book. I know. And what if he's like the one that's in that, cause what I'm trying to remember what the front row costs. It was like $200 almost or something. Oh geez, yeah. And, but it included a meet and greet. That $200 is what I gotta pay to see if I can make EC3 blush or admit that he stole $7. Yeah. I don't even think you want the money back, right? You just want him to admit it.
00:11:22
Speaker
What's gonna suck though is if he's like, I refunded that to everybody and it's $7, so you probably just didn't notice when $7 reappeared in your bank account. Right. Which could happen. You might be a great guy. Or you just be like, listen, sorry about that, but like, instead of the refund, can you just give me $7 worth of Beef King? Because we can't buy it right
Beef King Seasoning Scarcity
00:11:43
Speaker
now. And we talked to Braun a couple, my buddies talked to Braun a couple of weeks ago. And I know there's more Beef King coming, but I need my fix now.
00:11:51
Speaker
He's gonna say, he's like, are you kidding me? He's like, I don't know if you've heard, but there's a salt, pepper, garlic shortage in the United States. It'll be, by the way, do you watch Drag Race? Just distract me. Just be like, yeah, no garlic anywhere, can't find it. Well, either way- Remember like Sriracha, there was like this rumored short because they were like, there's a shortage in peppers.
00:12:18
Speaker
And I'm like, this was like a year ago. I'm like, what? There's a shortage of just peppers. There's so many different types of peppers. Well, not the pepper we need to put it in the item. I ended up buying a huge surplus of sriracha that I still haven't finished. And every time I go to the grocery store, I can't help but notice that it's never been out of stock. I wondered why every little bit
00:12:45
Speaker
I get a box in the mail from you with a really nice handwritten note and a bottle of Sriracha, no explanation. Yeah, it's it's Sriracha and just a clove of garlic. Just get that extra. OK, so heater is in Japan is what we were doing. I finally got my computer to translate. So just like it was like immune to Google, Google Chrome, because Chrome normally can translate everything.
00:13:13
Speaker
Well, the problem was this app, so I couldn't open it in Chrome because I had already tried in Safari and that required Chris to open his email and send me a code. And I didn't want to bother Chris more than I had to.
00:13:28
Speaker
So as I'm trying to get logged into this, I finally figured out, get it set to English. And actually somehow the English made the website more confusing. It made everything more of a riddle on how to figure this out. And it turned out a lot of the early, Chris had been watching since he's been over there. So he's seen all of his matches so far. I was going to start at the beginning. They shut that off. So there was a time limit.
00:13:58
Speaker
Oh, really? So I only got to watch the last two that he had done. But I do know the first one, it seems like they're over there beating ass and winning. It's mostly tag matches between Heater and Patrick. Like they're the team.
00:14:15
Speaker
They're the, yeah, they are the team. Like I did see that on, as of this record tonight or this morning's episode or whatever, the main event was a trios match and it was Pondo, Magga Butcher and Heater.
00:14:30
Speaker
But I think Patrick's
Japanese Matches and Translation Hurdles
00:14:32
Speaker
had a singles match that night. But I mean, he's been kicking ass over there. In the one match I did get to see, Big Japan, it seems like based on where they are and how rural the show is, decides how the camera setup is. And it is mostly one hard cam that does not move while people brawl around the ring and make it pretty difficult to see the action, to be honest. Yeah.
00:14:58
Speaker
That is interesting. I am seeing that they do, interestingly, have an English language Twitter where everything seems fine. They definitely have somebody working for Big Japan that speaks just perfect English. How hard would it be to just have a quick little English page? Even if the commentary, even if everything's in Japanese in the actual video, that's fine. I did New Japan World like that for years. Years. Yeah.
00:15:27
Speaker
But the website was, although, and maybe that's because the New Japan website was really bad. It's gotten better, but it's like, maybe that's just the thing, like Japanese websites. They're like, if you can't figure it out, it's not for you.
00:15:39
Speaker
It does make it an exclusive club. But yeah, I'm happy for Heater. He's kicking ass over there winning matches. And I'm hoping that eventually I can see more of these matches. But I saw some promos and I am almost certain that one of the promos said that Dale Patrick's is going to be in a singles match for the big Japan title at Corrigan Hall. So I did see that they have a pay-per-view coming up.
00:16:07
Speaker
Um, I, I just saw a match announcement. I don't know. I'm going to see if I'm the Twitter. I can find the full card. I will say, by the way, do you know what they refer to to Dale as in, in big Japan? Is he the deathmatch jackass still? That's not what they refer to him as. Oh, they call him unknown a guy Jean Dale.
00:16:29
Speaker
I'm looking at an image on their Twitter with a referee holding up their hands and says, unknown Gaijin Dale and Heater beat DGW deathmatch fighters by capitalizing on their height. Specifically, it specifically says that the height was their main resource for victory there. That was on April 10th.
00:16:54
Speaker
I'm wondering if, what is today? So today's the 17th. I think the one I watched was from the 16th and it was the, okay. So they, the majority of the matches that I saw that they were competing in were like barbed wire board matches, but there's, he, he, he either looks like he's got some color in this one.
00:17:14
Speaker
The Google Translate though said that it was bedazzled board matches, which does sound pretty zazzy and also something that could easily be in a Japanese wrestling match. But in the one I saw, somebody ducked one of the Japanese guys with a baseball bat, which resulted in the Japanese guy hitting his partner in the asshole with a barbed wire baseball bat.
00:17:41
Speaker
I'm glad you got to see that. That sounds right up your alley. That's, yeah, that's, that's for me. I feel like, I feel like Heater set that up just for me. Miss you, buddy. Can't wait to see you. Yeah. He's like, you know.
00:17:54
Speaker
If you can't physically be my little guy, I'm gonna make you remind you that you're always my little guy. So, Heater is gonna be wrestling. It turns out Circle Six has another show in Nashville. They just ran one on Saturday. They have one this coming Saturday again at a arcade in Nashville, but like in the street.
00:18:18
Speaker
In like the parking lot, basically.
Unique Circle Six Wrestling Events
00:18:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And it's like an all day thing with like music and food trucks. But Heater's actually wrestling at that one. So it's crazy that circle six, two weekends in a row, right here in Nashville. I should tell my sister, bring your daughter. She loves games. She loves parking lots.
00:18:39
Speaker
And I think she'll love seeing Heater be in some fights. He's a nice guy. Yeah, Casanova Valentine seems like a nice guy. The whole Circle Six crew, they're all just sweethearts. So I ended up, JB from Circle Six ended up asking me to be the merch boy.
00:18:59
Speaker
Uh, for circle six on Saturday. And I didn't know if I wanted to take that responsibility. I didn't, you know, sometimes you just want to go to a wrestling show and drink, but then I was offered a, uh, a job and I've never gotten to get Carney at a wrestling show. And you seem like you'd be a natural at it. So I'm glad. I'm glad you got the opportunity.
Merch Stand Challenges and Experiences
00:19:22
Speaker
Honestly, I'm a little afraid of carneys. As a child, I was a Portley fellow, as I still am. And this one carney at a carnival, I believe the Dart game, where you pop the balloons. He was yelling at me to play the game, and I didn't want to play the game. And as I walked by, I said, ah, come on, pork chop, get over here and play it. And the fact that I remember it, you know,
00:19:45
Speaker
30 years later, it left a deep wound. And I don't know if I want to hurt people like that. Yeah. And I hope this doesn't doesn't wound you at all. I'm not trying to be piercing here, but you don't strike me as a great salesman. You know, you don't keep going. Why? What about? I don't know. I just don't feel like you'll give the hard sell. I feel like people will be like,
00:20:14
Speaker
How much does that shirt cost? And you'd be like, 20 bucks. You're like, ah, 20's a little steep. And then you just stare blankly at one another until they leave. I feel like they're just kind of looking like, could you do 18? But they're not going to make the first move. And you're just like, yeah. But that's not in this situation is T-shirt boy. Is that my call? These aren't my shirts. This isn't my money.
00:20:43
Speaker
I can't cut deals. Like a guy did ask me, he said, can I do a bundle deal? And I said, no. You know, I was firm. I was firm. And did he buy any shirts? He bought two. No bundle. Full price. Two, no bundle. OK, so I mean, how many was he realistically going to buy? Right. Because unless you're talking four or five plus bundle deal, you know, it's not worth your time.
00:21:11
Speaker
Well, I think he was wanting to bundle a hoodie and a t-shirt. So, you know, that's 60 bucks what he was looking to spend. Yeah, those are equal items, right? It's like, it's like the, you know, when you go to McDonald's and they've got like a buy one, get one half off, it's the cheaper thing you get half off if they're not the same item, right? You can't just be like, oh, I'll pay for a normal cheeseburger and get half off Big Mac. That's not how it works.
00:21:38
Speaker
Though I remember a friend, I thought this was really bold, in high school I watched him try to haggle at a... Fuck, what's the skate shoe shop that's in every mall? It's a brand or it's just a shop? It's the shop. I know, that's why I'm like, what the fuck is that store? Everybody's like...
00:22:03
Speaker
I can picture the storefront. I don't know, but either way he picked up the shoes. He's like, would you take this much for it? And the fucking teenager working there's like, no, no, I'm not gonna just, that's not how this works. Right. Right. That guy ended up going to West Point and driving army tanks or something. Yeah. I mean, he probably, he's probably a better salesman. Yeah. But, but so you did do it though.
00:22:33
Speaker
Oh, I did. I know. I sold the shit out of stuff. I mean, I knew that. I'm saying for the audience here. Yeah. Yeah. You were a good t-shirt boy. I'm wrong. My instincts on your sales ability. We're just a hungry crowd.
00:22:47
Speaker
My t-shirt stand did end up getting destroyed, though, by Zicky Dice and Matt Justice. So that, you know, I didn't know what to do after that. I couldn't lay things out and display them. So I just had to stand there in a pile of t-shirts and go, yeah, what do you want? What do you want? Have you seen Zicky Dice live? Yes, it's been it's been a while, though.
00:23:16
Speaker
God, I had seen him wrestle, I'd seen some TV matches, but getting to see him wrestle in a gravel pit behind a bar was something spectacular.
Zicky Dice's Comedic Performance
00:23:26
Speaker
He essentially kind of does magic throughout the matches, so he's doing the thing where he pulls an infinite handkerchief out of his mouth, and then when he was done, choke justice with it. But one of the funniest things,
00:23:42
Speaker
If you remember the last time Circle Six was here, they broke one of the picnic tables out back. And the broken one is the one I was using as my table.
00:23:55
Speaker
and they were going to break it accidentally broke a fresh one then realized well we already did that we can just break this one too took my merch stand away and when zicky dice got slammed down on it he exploded in cards it was just like a deck of playing cards exploded out of his body and went everywhere and then
00:24:16
Speaker
That's a funny bit. That's a great comedy spot. That's a nice visual. It's a good comedy spot indeed. Now, did this hurt or hinder the sales when you were just a guy with stuff on the ground afterwards? So I think it actually helped. Because sale, like the sale, they were still flying. Ship was flying. I sold out completely. People probably thought it was your table. Like you brought that from home. And they're like, oh, I better buy this guy's shirts. He's got to buy a new table now. Oh, people thought I made that stuff.
00:24:46
Speaker
I was getting handshakes and introductions. I think people thought I was part of Circle Six and were being especially nice to me, except for the guitarist of Wax's girlfriend. She was kind of a dick. And I'm gonna go ahead and tell Mr. Waxed that your girlfriend sucks. She's not nice to me. Take that. Burned on a wrestling podcast.
00:25:12
Speaker
Yeah, he is from Nashville. He's gonna find out about this and beat my ass at the next show. Which is this weekend, right? Yeah. Shit. The opening match, it was, I don't know who, a couple people dropped off the card. The Bev was supposed to be there and...
00:25:35
Speaker
Adam Priest was supposed to be. And what what did tickets for a Circle Six show in Nashville go for? Is it all G.A., I'm assuming? Yeah, it's just, you know, an open it's just bar room blitz again. So it's just an open space. So I think it was 20 bucks. I think it was 23 after fees and I think 25 at the door. So they think they think OVW is worth 10 times as much as Circle Six. That's ridiculous. Isn't that insane? Yeah.
00:26:03
Speaker
That's nuts. I mean, because Circle Six is always a good time and always a good show. I really can't imagine that OVW shows actually going to be good. No, you know way. Yeah.
00:26:16
Speaker
Well, the opening match of this show, it was a Heater's partner, Sean Campbell. And I don't know who it was supposed to be, but it ended up being this guy out of Indianapolis whose name was Noctis. He was a super nice guy, but he was wearing like a like a mesh shirt and he was supposed to be like a little goth vampirey kind of guy. He even had garlic at some point that got stuffed into his mouth.
00:26:40
Speaker
Noctis sounds more like a redneck vampire, but okay. He's from Indiana. Yeah, okay. So one of the funniest moments, one of the funniest things I've ever seen in any wrestling match, because we are in a gravel pit. They're bumping in gravel all night. There's no floor. Unless they're breaking a table, they're hitting rocks.
00:27:01
Speaker
And when I was, I got there early and Matt Justice walked out and realized like, oh my God, we're bumping in gravel tonight. He wasn't told that before he came in, but Noctis gets thrown against the stage where the bands are playing. Sean Campbell just picks up a handful of rocks and one at a time, like he's skipping rocks. It's just whipping them at Noctis' side. And that is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant wrestling. Why not? Why not?
00:27:31
Speaker
You gotta have that creativity, use what they give you. I feel like with some of the Circle Six shows, though, a lot of people come for the wrestling and there are bands there.
Hardcore Bands at Wrestling Events
00:27:42
Speaker
This was the opposite, because they got two big Nashville hardcore bands. It was Waxed and Dogpile, both have a decent size following. And now it's these two bands.
00:27:55
Speaker
are playing at like seven o'clock. You're getting basically a matinee show of these two bands out on a patio and they brought the crowd. Like the crowd was certainly there for those bands and ended up having a goddamn blast. And I'm not trying to change topics here, but do we think maybe that's what AEW needs to start doing to sell more tickets? Like they get, you know, toad the wet sprocket to do a show.
00:28:25
Speaker
Like I remember when I lived in Queens way back when the Mets were in one of their not so great phases and they started doing concerts on the field after games and like they were just picking like big bands from like the late 90s. So I can see third eye blind down on the field.
00:28:43
Speaker
I saw Third Eye Blind on the field smashing pumpkins were there. And me, a non Mets fan, but I'm a giant baseball fan. I'm like, cool, I'm gonna go to all of these shows. And my roommate at the time, he was a Mets fan, so he's in. Yeah, it was fun.
00:28:58
Speaker
That's, and probably like with baseball, I mean, you can, if you're just going for the concert, you can get a cheap seat, go down on the field after, and also getting to go down on the field is fun. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. The, the acoustics kind of suck though, unfortunately. Like they didn't use the actual speaker system. Cause, and to be fair, most of the fans left before Third Eye Blind is trying to do a set.
00:29:20
Speaker
But it was a fun idea and I would endorse it.
AEW and Live Music Strategies
00:29:23
Speaker
But as much as I hate live music in a wrestling show, live music either directly before or directly after a live wrestling show, I'm all for that. So you get to see Abaddon versus Sky Blue and then the Squirrel Nut Zippers. And now you're watching Danny Garcia versus
00:29:45
Speaker
Kill Switch. Kill Switch. And now we're, yeah, now we have to get to the wet sprocket and so on and so forth. Right. And then you get Tony Schiavone being like, come back next week for real big fish in the Hartford Civic Center. And again, for those bands, if they move just an extra, like that's a pretty good show. They play in front of like four or five thousand people. That's probably bigger house than they get on a normal night. You can't tell me
00:30:14
Speaker
that the wrestling and ska fan, Venn diagram, doesn't intersect somewhere there. Oh, it certainly does. At the very least, I think you would get Beastman there as a fan. Again, I don't know, I've never talked about ska music with him, but when you see Beastman in his just normal street clothes, he definitely has big ska energy.
00:30:43
Speaker
Well, you saw him in the Ray Finkel twice Ventura Jersey. You can't tell me that that fucking guy doesn't love the movie baseball that features live performances by real big fish. He'd be there. He'd fucking wrestle again. You'd bring him out of retirement. Right. All the shows he wrestled in mania weekend.
00:31:06
Speaker
I think, by the way, that's why he ducked us at the meet and greet beast man, me and Chris and Philly, because he knew we were going to call bullshit on the we got our fist bumps and stuff like that. And then and then after we walked by it, he realized, oh, wait, those are those guys that actually follow my Instagram, maybe a little too close. They're going to call me out on not being retired. I have to get the beast woman. She has to protect me. She would yell at us so much. Yeah.
00:31:35
Speaker
But also after she's done yelling, I'd be like, does he have a box of merch in the garage you're trying to move? Because our friend is willing to take all of it. And if he buys all of it somewhere down the line, I'm getting one of those in the mail. Yeah, maybe, maybe that's when we'll launch the Patreon. When we can get the box from Beastman's basement, that's when we'll launch the Patreon.
00:32:00
Speaker
God, if we could've gotten that box of circle six short, or not circle six, control your narrative shorts, that would've been a perfect Patreon gift to every listener that subscribed.
00:32:11
Speaker
By the way, so Chris's birthday was just a couple of weeks ago. It was actually WrestleMania weekend, right? Yeah, Sunday. So I said weeks, weeks looking for a place to buy like a used pair on eBay, anything of those control your narrative shorts. And I couldn't.
00:32:31
Speaker
And I had already asked his wife what shorts size he wears. So then I'm put in a weird spot that if I don't produce any shorts... If there's no pants, yeah. If there's no pants, then his wife's like, what weird reason did you need that for? So yeah, so I just bought him some Bret Hart shorts and said they're very nice, but they're...
00:32:51
Speaker
I was pretty bummed out I could not acquire, like literally, I'm not gonna say what the price I had in my head that I was willing to pay for these shorts, but it was multiples of the MSRP, the original retail price. Because now it's a rare collector's item, which also adds gravity due to the fact that we think, I don't think they ever produced them, right? We've talked about this a couple times. There were never shorts.
00:33:17
Speaker
I mean, I say somebody would have bought them, but they also had to cancel an entire tour for not selling tickets. So, yeah. All right. Circle Six is awesome. Go see Circle Six. Honest to God, bring your wife to see Circle Six. This is a show that if you know somebody that isn't a wrestling fan, this show can turn them. And it's not even really wrestling. It's more just like you exist in the movie Roadhouse.
00:33:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's like seeing an interactive play version of Roadhouse. And who wouldn't like to see that? And I think that, yeah, I don't know that it'll necessarily convert people to wrestling, but they'll absolutely say, I would go to this show again.
00:33:59
Speaker
And that's what I, honest to God, think that's how many, so many shirts got sold of people that just like fucking loved the experience. You know, they were there for the bands, but when you see guys like getting, I mean, Nate Webb got power bombed on his neck in gravel by AJ Gray. It was disgusting. Like that's something you remember the rest of your life if you've never watched wrestling live. And this is just happening at the show you went to.
00:34:28
Speaker
Right, where you've only seen like WWE from like the upper level of your local arena, you know, basketball arena or something. It's not really the same. It's the exact opposite of that, right? It's a very tactile in your face. Like you feel like you are literally part of the show. And sometimes you are, to be fair, but you feel like it more than you actually are.
00:34:51
Speaker
Oh, as merch boy, I did get to hold Nate Webb's vest for him during the match. So I was, I had to keep, uh, keep tabs on that. I didn't smell it. Isn't that, I mean, in retrospect, like as a journalist, as a pro wrestling journalist, the fact that, yeah, no one gives us like the credentials to go. There has to be somewhere where we apply, but we've got,
00:35:16
Speaker
200 and some episodes of this shit. We're, we cover. I, I've thought about that. Like they do these, like maybe not like the WrestleMania one, but like even like AEW, they do, there was press conferences and I always think about like, there's only like two journalists there from outlets you've actually heard of. Right. And then some of them are the local newspaper people in the town. Like I bet we probably could actually get those credentials.
Applying for AEW Press Credentials
00:35:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:45
Speaker
I don't think they'd fly us out. Maybe I'll do it at some point. I'll just nose around, see what we can do. I think if we could get Chris backstage, he would ask some nice questions that the wrestlers or TK would appreciate. Yeah, I would just be blind drunk, because it would be after a show. Chris would ask good questions. And you could have volunteered to be a T-shirt boy.
00:36:12
Speaker
you know, that's some extra merch. He's like, okay, you don't just sell the shirts during the show, sell it at the press conference too. Yeah, these fucking dorks in here with the microphones, they're the ones that are buying this shit. Yeah, none of them are real journalists. They're all just wrestling fans. Okay, so we get, let's say we hypothetically, we orchestrated this and we couldn't buy that for Dynasty this weekend, right? What is your question for TK?
00:36:42
Speaker
at the press conference that's live-streamed on YouTube. Sir, how dare you? How dare you? You made a fuck out of me. Do you think? Yeah? Do you think you did? Yeah, because we got into, I wouldn't say an argument that's putting a two story, but we had a little round table last episode about this footage.
00:37:12
Speaker
And now it's aired. It's aired, yeah. It's aired. And it was kind of just nothing. Like it was, I was going to give the, I thought it was a bad idea, but I was giving the benefit of the doubt of like, hey, there's got to be something interesting in here. And I think the Bucks did an okay job, I guess, tying it to their actual match coming up with FTR, but not really. And it just, I still, I just don't understand why they did it.
00:37:42
Speaker
So is there air in that? And I mean, it is- It did pop a rating though. It did have a very, it's like a 28% increase in the ratings week over week. So like, that's a pretty big impact. That's like Hogan coming back level impact, you know? It's crazy though. They didn't put it on YouTube and they are actively, like if it's on Instagram, if it's on Twitter, it is getting pulled. So they're doing a good job of like keeping it away.
00:38:12
Speaker
I bet it's on Mandy Rose's OnlyFans. She doesn't let those people in. She's a journalist. She's the real journalist. She's got all the shoes. Here's an envelope of yin. Send me that VHS tape. Yeah. I don't know. We talked about how it seemed like a bad idea, but we're like, let's just wait and see. We're always giving TK the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't steer us wrong that often.
00:38:41
Speaker
But yeah, I think I'm beginning to be of the opinion that I think a lot of people, a lot of other people had for a long time. But like, I think TK needs a break. I think TK needs help. I think TK is very fallible. And I honestly think the thing I love most about AEW is just the workers, right?
AEW's Roster and Storytelling Appreciation
00:39:00
Speaker
You don't need Tony Khan to be like, put Osprey and Danielson in a match together.
00:39:06
Speaker
Like literally anyone would have done that, right? Like what do you, what specifically do you need us to do? Make it good.
00:39:15
Speaker
You've got 40 minutes. I mean, he is, he's the money Mark, right? Which you need. And obviously like a lot of the business stuff, getting the HP, not the HBO deal, the Turner deal, all of the TV, like he should be running this company to be clear. I'm not saying he shouldn't be running the company. He's doing a very good job running the company, but I think the creative and some of the TV.
00:39:38
Speaker
I don't know who they bring in. It's almost like you just bring in someone from like TV that maybe doesn't have wrestling experience hasn't worked great in the past. I don't know who within the wrestling business you could use. Ironically, Cody would have been perfect, right? If he was still around. Cody seems like he could run a show. I don't know that Kenny can or is interested. I don't know if the Bucks can or they're interested.
00:40:01
Speaker
I don't think Jericho would be interested in unless he himself is still a featured player. So I don't know if I'm interested in that option. I actually think if you you hear about like his different ideas and stuff like that, like I actually think Jericho could do a fine job, but only if he was fully retired. Right. Which I don't think is happening for a long time, probably. So like, who does that leave Taz? Like, I don't know. Is that would Taz be any good? I don't know. Tony Schiavone.
00:40:31
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, I don't know what to say here. And I mean, with this specific thing that happened, I think us, the three of us, I don't even know if I'd trust me to do this. I'd make it fucking stupid as shit. And I'm going to. I don't think I would make it stupid. I would just say I just wouldn't write it. I would just be like, mocks, you got eight minutes, do whatever you want.
Jon Moxley's Return Excitement
00:40:57
Speaker
Okay, next up, you two are wrestling. Eddie's going over because he's got the PPV match. Just do whatever you want. And I think that these guys are good enough to just make it happen because I will also say, well, you know what? That's a different point. Let's finish this thought first.
00:41:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean in what you said about like just mocks go out there eight minutes Tonight so we you know recording this on the the 17th so we doing this right after dynamite mocks open the show and Every time he comes out. I'm just I'm happy like he cuts a promo that gets me so excited for whatever he's talking about
00:41:36
Speaker
So it seemed like we were probably going to be recording pretty much right after Dynamite. So I was even doing that thing where even though I was home, I wasn't watching because I was waiting until about 20 minutes in. That way I could just start 20 minutes in and fast forward through the commercials. And then as soon as I saw a message from you or Chris that was like, oh, Mox is opening the show, I immediately had to put it on. I'm like, I don't want to miss the second of Mox.
00:42:01
Speaker
And him coming out as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, which that's a great idea. New Japan needed something. And now I officially like care a little bit about what's going on in New Japan. Yeah, like WrestleMania got me to subscribe to Peacock and then I immediately unsubscribe.
00:42:20
Speaker
Ah, Mox winning the title is getting me to subscribe to New Japan World. And I'm certainly not unsubscribing while he's still champion. And like I haven't regularly watched New Japan in probably that two years. And since the evil stuff, basically. Yeah. Evil killed. I even made it somewhat into the evil run before I finally bailed out. And other than that, I think like in the last year, like I literally watched
00:42:47
Speaker
a couple of matches from some of the paper views, and then Wrestle Kingdom, and that's it. But I'll be watching every show, even the show's mocks, nah, I'm gonna be watching all the big shows. With him having the belt, you have to assume he's not gonna be in Japan that much, and that a lot of it is probably gonna be defended on either AEW or the strong shows they're doing over here, and just send evil over here to deal with the flight in that mocks.
00:43:17
Speaker
Yeah, and maybe because they have the what is it Dominion is a summer show, right? So you figure he'll probably go out there for Dominion. I think you can kind of pencil in him losing the title at Grand Slam or not Grand Slam. What's it called? Forbidden Door.
00:43:36
Speaker
Or maybe he loses the title at Dominion. Oh, fuck, you're right. I didn't even think about Forbidden Door, Jon Moxley. That makes the most sense. That's the money match in a Forbidden Door. That's the money match. That's the potential main event. That's interesting. The New Japan title is the main event of an AEW show.
00:44:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's pretty huge, but it's with an AEW star, right? Can we talk about my hair for us? Oh, fuck. I bet you're right. It might be. Well, he's not a heavyweight guy. There's no way they move him up to. Well, doesn't he wrestle? Does he? He doesn't wrestle lightweight, does he? New dramatic. I feel like he hasn't committed to a division, but can we talk about Mox's hair for a minute?
00:44:29
Speaker
Yeah, I was noticing. He shaved the head. He, he, and like he's had it really tight before, but this is, this is fully, fully shorn. So, I mean, he, you know, he had a receding hairline and I won't, I don't think there's a lot of guys with like preceding hairlines that like, I don't know, he looked fucking tough with his. And there's just, there's a lot of bald guys, like that receding hairline, there was something about him that just made him,
00:44:58
Speaker
He looks kind of more generic now. A little. Right? I think he looks a little more generic. I hope he does grow it out because I like the really short air, but there's still a little something, a little of those those blonde blocks, just a little peeking out. I agree. He kind of just looks like generic like general casting of like tough guy. He like he's the starting point of a creator wrestler.
00:45:23
Speaker
They just give you the bald guy and you go from there. Black pants. Yeah. Do you think he consulted with Renee before the shaved head happened? Or do you think he walked out of the bathroom with the shaved head? I want to say probably the latter. He may have informed her, but I definitely don't think he consulted her, meaning she could have a stake in his decision.
00:45:52
Speaker
I think he may have just said, oh, I think I'm going to, I think I'm going to buzz my hair and then did it like five minutes later before she's even processed what he said. Do you, do you follow Renee on Instagram? Uh, no. Well, I mean, I think I do, but like I haven't, I don't recall anything. She's supposed to, I follow a lot of people on Instagram.
00:46:13
Speaker
I follow Renee kind of for the same reason I follow Mary Steenburgen. So I can see like behind the scenes of their husbands. Like so I can just see like a little Ted Danson poking around in the backyard. Like there's just occasionally like to her story. She'll just post like a, you know, John Moxley doing something cute with his kid.
00:46:33
Speaker
And it just, it makes it, there is nothing unlikable about Jon Moxley. He, I don't know, I just, he had been gone for a little bit. Like I didn't, like, I don't think I actively realized like, oh yeah, he's been gone like this many weeks. But the second he's back, there's just like an excitement that immediately overcomes me. It's just, I don't know. Like at this point, like I might,
00:46:59
Speaker
I'm equally excited when I see Jon Moxley as I would be to see Kenny Omega. Yeah, it really is true and maybe more so because the promos are better, right? Kenny, Kenny, you're like, you hear his music and you're kind of like, who's he wrestling? Mox, you hear his music. You're like, I don't care. Whatever it is, I'm in.
00:47:21
Speaker
You know? I thought that's what's so fucking cool about his promo tonight is, yeah, there was like a little rah-rah AEW that, you know, we talked about everybody's doing right now. But to watch the IWGP heavyweight champion come out and call out a man bigger than him, like an unsolicited fight, you know, just like come out and be like, I'm fighting powerhouse Hobbs next week because I want to beat somebody's ass.
00:47:47
Speaker
I feel like that isn't a baby face champion thing you see a lot, right? Like usually somebody comes out to confront him, not the baby face coming up, being like, I am going to fuck you up next week. You had just- Your friend tried to hurt my friend, so I'm going to fight you.
00:48:07
Speaker
And I'm going to win. Yeah, I like it. And you know what? So that kind of brings me to where, as much as I think Tony's made some mistakes, the roster is so strong. And the core thesis, the core principles of AEW are so exactly what I
AEW as Casual Viewing Option
00:48:25
Speaker
want. It's actually become my favorite, what I call casual wrestling show ever.
00:48:31
Speaker
Even though you and I are what people I think would refer to as hardcore fans from the outside, we go to a lot of shows in person. We never miss a pay-per-view. The reality is you and I don't watch every AEW television show.
00:48:45
Speaker
Right. And I rarely watch collision. I watch most dynamites. I never watch Rampage unless somebody tells me there's something to do. I never watch any of the YouTube shows. But it's kind of become this thing that whatever, I just kind of sit down to my DVR. And I'm like, I want to watch something wrestling related.
00:49:03
Speaker
I'll just flip on whichever the most recent, whether it's collision or dynamite, whatever the most recent thing I haven't seen, and just all the characters are established, the storylines are pretty simple and easy to follow, and the actual in-ring storytelling is so good,
00:49:20
Speaker
And the talent is so good. It's like I missed two dynamites in a row. It's fine. I just turned into the next one. I get it. It's great. And for me, I was actually feeling a little burned out, not Chris level burnout that he's going to miss the rest of the week of work. But it's like, AEW was becoming what I always feared, which is why, as much as I might like some isolated things from WWE, I know the reality is,
00:49:47
Speaker
I'm probably never going to be a hardcore WWE fan ever again because there's just too much content and I can't keep up with it. And I feel like AEW way more so, you really don't have to. And I love that. Like you get more out of it if you do watch all of these. Although I will say that's also somewhat the detriment. Like you and I were talking the very end of Dynamite tonight was another Swerve Joe confrontation.
00:50:13
Speaker
And it's like, that's a great example of like, you literally don't need to know anything of that story. Nothing. It's just that they were both in a match with Hangman Last Paper View. Now Hangman's gone, and it's just the two of them. That's it. I'm in. But Danielson and Osprey, like, I don't need anything. Like, it's just, it's good. It is funny that they had to throw them out there at the end to remind you that Osprey isn't the main event. Right.
00:50:42
Speaker
I mean, that was truly the reason that happened. I mean, they, I don't know, talking about like wrestle
Return to AEW Quality Episodes
00:50:52
Speaker
burnout and everything. And like, I think part of why last week was such a bummer
00:50:58
Speaker
is because Dynamite had been so good, where you and I were both actively like four or five weeks, whatever, watching week to week and been like, holy shit, this is like really great television to have such a fucking stinker after like in a low level stinker. I absolutely would not have watched tonight if we weren't recording tonight. Right. Like I definitely like that window had passed where I was like Dynamite was feeling essential again.
00:51:27
Speaker
Although by the way, just a little bit of a side throw. What the fuck is Edge on, man? He's just having like one hell of a run in his fifties. Like he's just going nuts. He's just getting killed every week and in a good way.
00:51:47
Speaker
We didn't even talk about his match from like, yeah, the show last week, the TK stuff, we didn't even talk about the Osprey promo after that shit, which was God awful. I turned off dynamite, like we were all texting. I literally, after they showed the same footage, I turned it off. And then somebody, I remember somebody was like, oh, Osprey's in the ring. And I was like, oh shit, I gotta turn it on. And then somebody else on our thread was like, did he just call it Triple H? And I'm like, nope, not turning it back on.
00:52:14
Speaker
It was just leave it alone, you're one of the best wrestlers in the world. You don't need to come out and talk about how he got his job banging the boss's daughter and shut up. But before all that, Edge and Pentagon had a fucking banger that was 90% Pentagon just hitting Edge with moves.
00:52:38
Speaker
just so hard and then tonight it was supposed to be the mixed tag match and I guess it technically was a mixed tag match but it was basically it was just Brody kicking the shit out of edge for 15 minutes so it's like yeah like I'm for it but like this is a guy that like couldn't wrestle because he had a broken neck
00:53:03
Speaker
And then when he came back to WWE, it was like, okay, you'll have like one match every few months. And now it's just like, let's have another member of House of Black or Death Triangle just beat the living shit out of you for 20 minutes.
00:53:20
Speaker
weird part of a career to be in like who's I mean is this a TK thing or is this edge being like you know what TK uh my arms hurt when I have to pretend to punch but it doesn't bother me if you want to throw me into the barricade half a dozen times so uh if you know I think it's got it I think it's got to be edge right because like
00:53:40
Speaker
It's also like it's definitely like a TNT title thing like they have kind of established that on a bunch of times that like the TNT titles defended almost every week and I don't know maybe that was the thing like I don't think Edge was like oh I want that TNT title but I think they're just like he's like oh I'll take that TNT gimmick where you give me a new mystery opponent every week like I'm into that
00:54:04
Speaker
Hey, I'm here for it. I'm enjoying this era of Edge. And he gets to win the matches, right? He is winning. I mean, he didn't tonight, but it was a mixed tag. But like, he's he did win the match with Pentagon after getting his ass handed to him for, you know, 25 minutes. He's like, we're gonna go out there and you just beat my ass for about, you know, 24 and a half minutes and I'll schoolboy and you know, we'll just call it a night. Yeah. Yeah. And Penta's like, OK.
00:54:31
Speaker
see sure see yeah that's a i don't know who does edge i guess edges match at dynasties the that kind of sucks that it's a mixed tag or the six man
00:54:49
Speaker
Yeah, but I mean, again, it could be solid. It should be British. And like some you got to you got to have some multi man matches. Right. Like they've actually I remember we all reacted when we heard about this. We were like, oh, that's too soon. Like this isn't but like I'm actually pretty pretty hype for this card. And again, like.
00:55:12
Speaker
They waited a little too long with Hangman, now they're waiting a little too long. I would say that my enthusiasm for Swerve has dwindled a little bit. He still needs to be world champ. And I'm sure that I will mark out if and when he wins it this weekend. But it definitely feels like his momentum has hurt a little bit. Do you think part of that though is like they killed the momentum like his osprey got there?
00:55:39
Speaker
and like made you wait a little too long and you saw a killer osprey match and he's the one out there doing killer promos every week and
00:55:46
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's partially that. And I do think, though, it's just the Swerve Joe storyline just isn't good, right? Like, I think that the Swerve Joe hangman storyline was actually pretty good. Yeah, right. And then the Swerve hangman stuff that's going on for months was great. So it was like, every month, every pay per view, it seemed like Swerve had something of substance. And then now that it's just him and Joe, it just feels like really generic of Joe being like, I'm gonna choke you out because I'm the best world champ and say, yeah,
00:56:16
Speaker
Eh. No one thinks you're the best world champ, Joe. Come on. It's your own mother. Your own mother liked Kenny better. And it sucks because I do like Joe, but just like in this position, it's he.
00:56:32
Speaker
Well, he's kind of like him. I think the beginning in the first like month of the Joe title reign, I actually thought was pretty solid. Right. And I think that they really established him as a killer again and all this stuff. But it just nothing has evolved and Joe's kind of become just generic heel. And I think that that's the thing. And then Swerve, he's still a very interesting character, but he just doesn't have a lot to react to that we haven't seen before.
00:56:59
Speaker
Right. And I think that's the other thing, too, is all those matches with Hangman, the stakes felt so high for the character. And this just doesn't feel like that. Like the storyline is really more the meta storyline of like Swerve has been the best guy in this company for the last year. Yeah. So he deserves to be champion. Right. And like that's the real storyline. And then. Yeah. And then that's where Osprey does kind of ruin it, because now it's like
00:57:27
Speaker
but we kind of want this other guy to be champion too. And no cod is here, we gotta want that guy to be champion too. And yeah, I mean, listen, you give me any combination of those guys moving forward. I'm very happy. I love Joe to death, but at this point in his career, he shouldn't be main eventing pay-per-views with this roster. Yes, yes, they, yeah.
00:57:51
Speaker
Yeah, they just they brought in too many like legitimately top guys. Right. It's just, yeah, there's it does feel like if they're taking the title of MJF, right, which presumably they knew was the plan. Why not make it like hangman who's turning heel anyway, then he's the most logic transition to sort of ever in a satisfying and then last paper for you, they could have just done that. Like it just feels like
00:58:22
Speaker
I don't know. And the fact that Joe was so clearly a transition champion from the beginning, you know, it just lacks a little bit of tooth. It is nice that he got, you know, a little little last big run on time. Yeah, that's true. That's true. And, you know, he's the perfect guy, though, that did I like he should win the ROH title like if they are continuing ROH and they don't just end it with Mark Briscoe as forever champion, which I would be OK with.
00:58:52
Speaker
I think Joe as like doing the ROH main event, that would be perfect for him. Didn't he have that? Not in the current incarnation, right? Oh, no, he had the he had the ROH TV belt, I think he had the TV championship. And I and it's something weird, like, I think he never has won the world title. I think I remember like, Joe, it's kind of weird and random, which titles he's never won that you just assume he probably has.
00:59:20
Speaker
I'm going to double check his Wikipedia. Which is anybody the TV champ right now? Yeah, it's. Fuck. I'm blanking. There is a TV champion. Fucking dozen belt like it is getting it is getting he he did. He is a one time ring of honor world champion. Does it say who he beat?
00:59:53
Speaker
No, I'm not seeing who he beat and Ring of Honor's website goes to a 404 when I click on the reference That's okay, that's okay, but yeah was in 2010 so yeah
01:00:15
Speaker
Oh, Kyle Fletcher, that's who's the champion. So again, it's just another just AEW guy. Kyle, that's a good spot for Kyle Fletcher. Like, I think he's fine there right now. He'll grow to something bigger, but there's just some, that's the other thing that we talked about with Tony Khan. So I was watching Collision. You and I were texting. I was watching Collision. There was a commercial break. You came back from commercial break. It was the end of a match.
01:00:40
Speaker
Then they did two segments directly after the end of the match before the next commercial break. In just that period of time, there were eight title belts on screen.
Criticism of AEW's Title Belts
01:00:52
Speaker
Eight. Jesus Christ. In two of both of the segments, there were multiple champions. And none of them were tag team champions.
01:00:59
Speaker
There was one with the undisputed kingdom who have like at least three belts between them, maybe more. They've got the ROH tag belts and Roddy has the intercontinental channel. Right. International. Yes.
01:01:14
Speaker
Then they had one with the two ROH women's champions, both together. So that was two more. And then the first segment, I don't remember, but it was somebody, it was in the ring and one of the champions ran in with their belt and somebody else also had a belt.
01:01:31
Speaker
And I just was like, okay, literally, you can't have a segment on this show without running into someone with a belt. This is so meaningless and so pointless. And again, you don't need it. The matches write themselves. The in-ring stories write themselves. Like, why do you need all these belts? Because then you do get to somebody like, you know, Samoa Joe.
01:01:53
Speaker
whenever he loses the world title, it's like, oh, now I'm gonna challenge for the TNT title. Why? You were just world champion. You're better than that, right? Five minutes ago, if you had asked me to say the name of the belt Roddy Strong had and the one that Okada had, I don't know if I could have told you. Now I'm blanking. Oh, that's the continental classic.
01:02:20
Speaker
That's the AEW Continental Championship. And that match will be under Continental Rules. Do you know what that means? I don't know what that means, no. You need to be from a continent? It says Continental Rules means any outside interference is met with strict penalties. Okay. Like losing the title strict or? Who fucking knows?
01:02:50
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, I'm going to the show. I'm excited for the show. Honestly. Well, they always deliver, right? Even the Ring of Honor pay-per-views. I've been to the two of the last three and like they don't advertise a card to like a week before, but I just buy the ticket if it's somewhere I'm going to be because like all of every pay-per-view is at least solid and everyone has the potential to be great. I would say that world then when you went to was like pretty weak.
01:03:20
Speaker
I think it was pretty weak by modern AEW standards, but I think the standard that you'd measure any other era of any other wrestling company by, it was an above average show. So I'm looking at it though. I don't know if I'm going to be able to make another AEW pay-per-view this year. So this will probably be my last time seeing Danielson wrestle. Do we really think
01:03:48
Speaker
He's, like, really retiring. Like, I know he's really retiring, but, like, come on. Are you a little nervous about him and Osprey? Like, I feel like this is one that's gonna make me cringe a lot. No, Brian, for whatever reason, he's probably the person that should worry me the most, but he doesn't. And I don't know why. Maybe I just, like, I trust him, even though I really shouldn't.
01:04:17
Speaker
that he's not gonna put himself in too much danger.
01:04:21
Speaker
Cause I mean, wasn't it him that, maybe I'm thinking of this wrong, but at some point, like he just seems like the kind of guy who's going to take the move I least want to see, which is like a top rope release German suplex. And I know they're going to do some shit that is going to make me scared to watch Daniel Bryan die. And I don't want to see him take a tiger driver 91. And I know more than anything, he wants to take it.
01:04:50
Speaker
Yeah. I'm not that worried. I don't know. I think these guys are also so good that you don't really hear about Will Osprey hurting people. I'm more worried about sloppy workers. I think these guys at the top end of the spectrum, which are going to be all the guys he's going to be running through for his last run, I think they're just all so freaking good that I think that they can make it look spectacular without
01:05:20
Speaker
And by the way, I did find the Samoa Joe. I was wrong. Apparently the article they cited was from 2010. He actually won the ROH World Title in 2003. Oh, shit. He was the third ever world champion. He beat Xavier and he lost the title to Austin Aries. Oh, wow. All right. Yeah. Well, as we.
01:05:44
Speaker
are starting to run down time here. I do want to bring this up. So I feel like since WrestleMania 40 ended, the praise on this show has only gone up. Like the more people I talk to and the more articles I see,
01:06:03
Speaker
seem to really truly put this as one of the greatest Wrestlemanias of all time. And it- I don't see that at all. I think it was a solid show, but again, the greatest Wrestlemanias of all time is a really high bar. But do you think that, okay, so there's a couple movies right now that I could kind of give an example of this. I don't think overall that Sunday was a good,
01:06:30
Speaker
like a great WrestleMania, but I think it had a hot ending that people remember. Like right now, two movies in theaters, Monkey Man and Civil War. Both of those movies are fine, but they both have one thing in common, and that is really hot third acts.
01:06:50
Speaker
And I think people are really digging those movies because like Monkey Man, I was pretty fucking bored for like a full hour of no action. And then it's got a hot ending and you leave the theater with this hot ending, but I don't know. It has made me question like, were we too harsh on our criticism of it to just like be happy for them? Again, I would like to like,
01:07:18
Speaker
So just at its word of it's one of the best WrestleMania is not just a good WrestleMania, right? I don't think we're too unfair saying it's not even in the conversation. Like look at WrestleMania 10, look at WrestleMania 16, look at WrestleMania 20. Like there has been some really fucking good WrestleMania.
01:07:36
Speaker
that just look at those shows again, look at WrestleMania 16 again, and then come back and tell me that this was as good as WrestleMania 16. It was nowhere near as good as WrestleMania 16. The Rock was in that one too.
01:07:49
Speaker
You know, so I think that there's that now I do also think that I thought where you're going the movie analogy was kind of like every time like there's like a big movie that's like like every everything everywhere all at once. What was the name of that movie?
01:08:06
Speaker
Everything everywhere all at once. I think it was yeah, it's like that movie like it won the Academy Award It was one of those reasons just everybody saw like your friends that aren't as into movies even they saw this movie Yeah, totally the type of movie you and I see but not the type of movie they see and then like they would talk to you and be like Oh, that was one of the best movies I've ever seen and it's not that it wasn't a very good movie, but it's like yeah, I mean, I think that was a very good movie and
01:08:33
Speaker
It's an event of absurdist comedy. What you really mean is it's the latest really good movie I've seen. And I think that if people, if that's really what they intend about me.
01:08:49
Speaker
I don't agree.
01:09:05
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I think it was clearly the best of the two night WrestleMania era. And I think that a lot of this too is just the praise of the general direction of the product in the post Vince era, which I would agree with, right? I think that basically all of the changes have been for the better since Vince has been out. I just still don't think the show is where I need it to be for me to seriously consider watching on a regular basis.
01:09:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I don't feel bad that it's just their in-ring style isn't what I like out of wrestling. And the in-ring style I like exists elsewhere. But I don't know, just like I've had so many people come up to me and like really like talk up
01:09:55
Speaker
how good that main event was. And I don't know, it just made me feel very cynical. Like maybe I need to rewatch. I thought the main event was like aggressively mediocre. Like I didn't think it was bad per se. It was just kind of fine. I thought the ending was kind of stupid. The undertaker I thought was very stupid. Did you see why they did it? Well,
01:10:18
Speaker
I guess they didn't offer Steve enough money. I guess they were talking to Steve. He was just like, not enough. I liked that he was firm on that. Steve was probably like, not enough. And also this doesn't make sense. I retired before Roman Reigns ever started wrestling. And the Undertaker was just like, Oh yeah, I'll take a paycheck.
01:10:39
Speaker
Um, here's again, there's no storyline sense, but like, whatever. I think Cody winning is a big moment. I would say of the main events. I actually think the tag match was the better match, but even that wasn't like great. It was just kind of fine. Thought they were both a little too long, but both pleasant. Neither rush was bad. Um, I, I don't, I don't know though. There was a lot that was not very good, especially on night two of WrestleMania.
01:11:07
Speaker
I think that if you took both shows and picked matches, you could make a card that potentially was up there with the best.
01:11:26
Speaker
like the exact matches I would want to see with their roster. I still don't know that I would watch it because again, there's just so much good shit.
High Bar for Wrestling Entertainment
01:11:34
Speaker
And like I'm talking about watching less AEW. I'm not talking about watching less AEW to watch more WWE. It's more to like, I'm kind of in on New Japan now with Moxis champ. And you know, I do like to check out some of these other fits. Circle six is great. I got to watch this big Japan stuff. Apparently now that I know we're going to have limited access, I got to get on that like this weekend.
01:12:00
Speaker
It's just there's, my bar is so high, I think for just all entertainment, and then I even compartmentalize wrestling as just part of my entertainment budget. It's a big part, but it's still a part. It's like, there's just so many things competing. I just can't imagine, even the pay-per-views, there's just too much dead time for me. Now, if somebody told me six months from now that the product continued to evolve under the new management team,
01:12:21
Speaker
You know, it's...
01:12:27
Speaker
and they really started addressing that, I would absolutely give it another serious shot. And the matches were better. That's a big thing. And they signed Kenny Omega. That would change things a lot. Yeah, like I can't see scenario where I watched WWE over age.
01:12:47
Speaker
So the scenario would really mean I just don't watch any indie wrestling anymore, and all of my wrestling is WWE and AEW. And I can't see that happening either, quite frankly. I really enjoy indie wrestling. So I don't know. I'm glad WWE is making more people happy than it used to. That's a good thing for the business. It's a good thing for people, but not really my cup of Joe.
01:13:15
Speaker
And that's fair. I just wanted to talk about that. I don't know. That's just been like weighing on me a little bit. Like, fuck, am I like, was I too harsh on that? But I don't know. I think you're right. I think it's just not really our thing and that it was fine. Yeah. And I think that also like I think people are giving credit because it was so bad.
01:13:37
Speaker
for so long, so that like even just doing some course correction just feels so momentous. But again, when you look at like, again, I personally think unless I'm mixing the numbers up, I think it's WrestleMania 16 is the one I think is the best WrestleMania of all time. Like when you watch that show, that's like kind of peak slightly after the peak of the Attitude Era, it was like kind of the end of the Attitude Era.
01:14:04
Speaker
You watch that show every single match, you're like, oh, shit, this was so good. You know, and it was far enough from the actual peak of the attitude era that like it's not as cheesy with like Vince Russo stuff. It's like when you like, again, listeners, if one of you guys really feels like watch WrestleMania 16. Come back and tell me that the first TLC match. I think it's the first TLC that's the last Rock Austin. Um,
01:14:36
Speaker
It has a bunch of stuff. Let me check to make sure. I think that's the one in the Astrodome. I'm almost certain that's the one where Edge gets speared. Somebody gets speared while holding, like, hanging from the didle off the ladder. Okay, I am getting this wrong. The one I am thinking about, you are correct that that match
01:15:04
Speaker
is in WrestleMania 16. WrestleMania 16 is not actually what I'm thinking of though. Is it 17? Yeah, let me look at, yeah, it's 17. So let's just run down this card. Where's the card? All right. You got X-Pac and Justin Credible leading off the show. Yep. Against Steve Blackman and Grandmaster Sexite. Okay, whatever. It was two and a half minutes long. Then you have Jericho versus Regal in a strap match.
01:15:35
Speaker
Then you've got Taz and the Acolytes versus Right to Sensor. Then you've got, again, this one's actually kind of fun, even though it doesn't sound like it. Kane defeating Raven and the Big Show in a hardcore triple threat title match. You're right. It doesn't sound fun. It actually was kind of fun. Then you got Eddie Guerrero with Saturn against Test.
01:16:03
Speaker
Angle versus Benoit, China against Ivory, Shane O'Mac versus Vinny Mac with Trish is there, Linda and Stephanie are all in the mix.
01:16:16
Speaker
Edge and Christian versus the Dudley boys versus the Hardy boys in TLC. So I think maybe that was the first TLC in the year before was the was the tables match that essentially set the throne for TLC. I don't know they had a bunch of matches. But it was another one of them and this one's awesome too. Then you have the gimmick battle royal. Then you have Undertaker Triple H and Stone Cold versus the Rock.
01:16:42
Speaker
Like, but it's just more like, it's even better when you actually watch it from top to bottom. It's so fucking good. Just everybody's fastball is blowing up the radar charts, the radar gun. And I mean, you could say that was the height of wrestling, but also like, I don't know, right now really feels like it again. So.
01:17:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think so. And I do think that, again, WWE getting better and growing is good for the entire industry, right? Yeah. So I do see the fact that they're selling more tickets. They're PPV buy rates. I'm sure some of those people subscribe to Peacock for Mania are unsubscribing. I think that's going to be good for wrestling.
01:17:28
Speaker
Well, before we get out of here, I do want to say last night I rewatched the Arnold Schwarzenegger Danny DeVito movie, Twins. And in that movie, DeVito's job supposedly is that he's a sports agent. And one of the photos on his wall is the Road Warriors. So we're led to believe that he is the agent for the Road Warriors.
Danny DeVito Casting and Commercials
01:17:52
Speaker
And that was fun.
01:17:55
Speaker
He's Paul Ellerich. He's playing Paul Ellerich in this movie. I think in the actual movie that would work too if they did like a biopic. I'd cast DeVito and then go so far as to- I'd cast DeVito just about anything. I gotta say his Jersey Mike commercials, best commercials on TV. I'll watch anything with Danny DeVito. Those are the only ones I don't linger. I don't fast forward. I watch Danny when he's on my screen.
01:18:19
Speaker
And actually my consumption of Jersey Mike's has gone up, I would say 80% since he started being in those. Again, I live in Jersey and I can get Jersey
Unconventional Patreon Suggestions
01:18:30
Speaker
actual check, Jersey subs that are delicious anytime I want. And I still go to Jersey Mike's. That's gotta be DeVito. It's no logical sense otherwise. Gotta change it from Mike's way to DeVito's way and I'll order too. I'll eat there exclusively.
01:18:47
Speaker
All right, everybody. Thanks for listening. Join their Patreon. Yeah, join the Patreon. Send us your yen. Send it to Chris's P.O. box. Send some yen and some foot pics. We wouldn't mind some foot pics. I'm not going to turn down anything you put in the box, fluids, human or just chemicals, drugs,
Zicky Dice's Comedic Lamentations
01:19:11
Speaker
primes. I was going to ask, were you offered any drugs at the Circle Six show at the merch table?
01:19:16
Speaker
Nobody offered me drugs. I did get asked if I wanted a drink. I requested some water and never received it. Because that's just that's just a wussy boy order. They were like, I'll get you a real drink. Here's a high noon. Matt just doesn't take that drink and pour it on your face over your head. OK, before we get out, I do what I need to say this.
01:19:43
Speaker
Before the show, I'm standing there at the merch table. There's no one there yet. Zicky Dice is standing on this balcony where there's a little window and he's just staring down at the table and he goes, Garrett? And I looked up and I said, yes. And he said,
01:20:00
Speaker
Do you think if I jumped, I could clear this? Like, meaning could I go through that table? It was a very long way. And I didn't want to be the one responsible for him crashing and burning into gravel. But I did say I you know your limitations better than I do. But if you don't make it, it's still going to be spectacular. Firm but supporting. I like it.
01:20:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I felt good about that. And then he broke my table anyway. All right, everybody.
Upcoming Dynasty Event Plans
01:20:33
Speaker
I'm going to Dynasty this weekend. So that is definitely something that'll be discussed next week. We'll probably talk more about what heater did and hopefully get heater on here because he'll be back in the States by that point. Yeah. And hopefully Chris will be too.
01:20:48
Speaker
You never know what that guy's up to. He's just... He might be in Mexico, Antarctica. He's been
Speculating Chris's Location
01:20:55
Speaker
butt chugging XPW so hard that he basically has a 14 day quarantine. Well, I'm also wondering, we talked last week, and Philly, he bought a VHS tape from Sabu. I wonder if it's just the tape from the ring. It's just Sabu compilation is what killed all those people.
01:21:17
Speaker
the ring those Brian knobs his asshole. The O ring. Yeah. All
Instagram Promotion
01:21:25
Speaker
right, everybody. Thanks for listening. As always, give us a follow on Instagram at pre-determined podcast at Gartet at Chris Miggs at Jimmy facts, aka Jimmy Lloyd's IMDB page. We'll be back next week. We love you. Hit our goddamn music.