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Episode 71: Dave Meltzer's Office
56 Plays6 years ago
This week we're chatting Money In The Bank, a Freelance Wrestling show Derrick attended in Chicago over the weekend, the Von Erick Viceland doc, Dave Meltzer's office and more!
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Transcript
Derek's CM Punk Encounters
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined, a Pro Wrestling Hangout. I'm your host, Garrett Callender, and with me, as always, a man who is CM Punk's neighbor, Derek Halpin. I think neighbor is a bit of a stretch. I live in the same neighborhood technically, but it's not like we're on the same block. But lately you've been running into the guy more and more.
00:00:24
Speaker
Yeah, honestly, I've tried not to bring it up on the podcast because I haven't wanted to come across as too much of a creep. But I noticed when I moved into the neighborhood back in 2012 that, you know, every now and then I would see Phil out and about in the Wicker Park area of Chicago. And I don't know exactly where he lives, but I've seen him quite a few times while I've been out.
00:00:48
Speaker
And then when he got into UFC, I haven't seen him around as much. Quite frankly, I don't know how many times I've seen him in the last three or four years, maybe none. But yeah, in the last couple of weeks, I can report to everybody that Punk is back in Chicago.
00:01:06
Speaker
AW confirmed. What has stopped you from talking to him? Fear. Is he just one guy that you don't see yourself ever being able to approach?
00:01:20
Speaker
I think maybe in the right setting like I think that if if we if we had an opportunity to talk about the Blackhawks then maybe if we had an opportunity to talk about comic book stuff then maybe but I think I at least in 50 percent of the times I saw him in the last couple weeks I was wearing our podcast shirt
00:01:49
Speaker
which has a wrestling ring on it. And he was with his wife, obviously, AJ Lee. And as I walked past, I'm like, God, I hope he didn't see my shirt. And if he did, he probably thought, fuck, don't talk to me. Needless to say, I did not talk to him. I don't know if it's at the point where he has recognized me like this guy. I've seen this guy around a few times, but.
00:02:12
Speaker
Every time I see him I have no intention of saying anything to me or sorry I have no intention of saying anything to him unless he says something to me in which case I will engage him What situation do you think he's gonna be like hey Derek and you look and he's like holy fuck It's like I'm a big fan of the show man, and then he's like just kidding. I hate wrestling
00:02:35
Speaker
I'm more concerned, see my biggest fear is, didn't I block your ass on Twitter for being a dick? And me being like, well I thought you were being kind of a dick to Colt Cabana, that's why I said mean shit to you, that's why you think I'm a dick. Wait, are you also blocked by CM Punk? What do you mean?
00:02:54
Speaker
Has CM Punk blocked you on Twitter? Yeah, that was the thing months back. I don't even remember that. I guess I could lose track of who you've wronged in the pro wrestling community. Well, it's important to understand that as far as I know, Punk is currently the only wrestler who has me blocked now.
00:03:12
Speaker
Well, let's take care of that. And I think that if I continually ran into CM Punk, you would eventually give me shit for not approaching him or give me weekly shit until then. So I feel like for the sake of the podcast and for the sake of experiment, just so others know what it's like if you do approach him in public, maybe you should go say hi and just see what happens. I'm still too afraid to do it. He doesn't seem like a very approachable guy. And he's made it known that he doesn't want to be approached.
00:03:42
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I'm giving you a task I don't want, but I also don't have access. Though I did find it. If you were in my spot, would you willingly approach CM Punk? Walk up and just be like, hey, man, I loved your run on Thor. Just tell him you like that Thor comic and just see. Phil Brooks, author of Thor.
00:04:03
Speaker
So basically what we're getting out of the intro of this podcast is, yes, I do live near CM Punk and I'm too afraid to approach him because he may realize that I'm a pro wrestling fan and treat me with, I don't know, ire or disdain. I don't know if you want me annoyed. I don't know if you want me saying this, but I'm gonna.
00:04:23
Speaker
Derek will occasionally be like, he'll send me a text that says, ran into Phil again or punk again. And he'll send me like a paparazzi photo of seeing punk doing something. My favorite was the day that he was picking up his dry cleaning.
00:04:39
Speaker
It's just, I feel like- I think paparazzi's a stretch. It's not. It's a far away photo of seeing punk on a cell phone holding, like walking his dog. I've gotten a couple. I love this, Derek, and this is one of my favorite things. So please keep giving me Phil's updates. But yeah, I think for the sake of the show, next time you see him, just walk over.
WWE Show Critiques
00:05:00
Speaker
Don't even mention wrestling. Mention something else. Just see what happens. And how would I begin that conversation?
00:05:08
Speaker
I told you, just tell him you liked his run on Thor. You haven't read, it doesn't matter. I can't say anything about the Hawks. I can't be like, look, I know who you are. I'm not here to talk to you about that. I want to talk to you about our top line. I think that's weirder. I think that's weird. If you're like, is it? Hey, I want to talk to you about hockey right now. And he'll be like, what the fuck out of everyone around this? You want to do this with me? Well, because I know you don't want to talk about the other thing, but here's the thing I know you do like.
00:05:37
Speaker
By the way, are you going to double or nothing? In our goddamn music.
00:06:17
Speaker
That was a fun intro.
00:06:19
Speaker
Thanks for exposing me as something of a creep, I guess. I don't think it's that creepy. You're not seeking the man out. You're just walking around the same neighborhood. Like, you both go to the same Taco Bell cantina. I'm assuming Phil goes there. I don't think he goes there. You don't think he's ever gone there for a Crunch Wrap late at night? I doubt it. I know that I saw him rant on Twitter one time shortly after it opened. He was mad that they didn't open up a Tim Hortons in the neighborhood and he was mad that they had a boozy Taco Bell.
00:06:49
Speaker
He specifically said this.
00:06:52
Speaker
I think, I think the, I, one of the things I want to clarify, it's not like every time I see Phil out and about, I'm trying to snap a picture of him and you make it seem like I do it weekly, but like I said, I haven't seen him in a long time and I've only taken like maybe three pictures just to prove to people like, yeah, it's motherfucker. I'm not crazy is over here. I like it. I like it. That's, that's what you got to say, man. As you pass him next time, be like, fuck Taco Bell Cantina, Tim Horton's all the way buddy. And then maybe, maybe that I want those 10 bits.
00:07:23
Speaker
You know what I want? You know what I want, Garrett? What do you want, Derek? I want a better WWE. Oh, that choked us both up.
00:07:35
Speaker
Yeah, they, uh, so, okay. Without just, I'm very excited. Derek and I usually don't text or really talk about pay-per-views and stuff until he now. And this was one of the first times in a while that we were kind of texting throughout, but we both occasionally exchange messages during a show. We were pretty consistent on this one. And then we went radio silent during the last couple matches. And I'm so happy we did because I am itching to talk about it, my friend. Well,
00:08:05
Speaker
I mean, we're currently recording this podcast while Monday Night Raw is airing, so by the time you listen to this, there could be a bunch of stuff that's happened that makes you feel differently. Probably not, based on what we already know, but we are missing Raw and SmackDown while recording this podcast, so keep that in mind as we go forward with our compliments and our complaints.
00:08:29
Speaker
Yeah, money in the bank happened. And there was some good stuff that you can take away from that show and some not so good stuff to take away from that show. And when you put it all together, I think as soon as that show ended, I don't think WWE is in a better place than they were before. What's crazy is before the first five, before the final five minutes, they were in a better place. I wouldn't even go that far.
00:08:57
Speaker
Really? I really would, and I'll go on to explain why I think that. But where would you like to begin in talking about Money in the Bank? Would you like to talk about how great the women's Money in the Bank match was? Full disclosure, Derek. I didn't know the show started at seven. I turned it on as Bayley was climbing that ladder.
00:09:17
Speaker
God damn it, you are an amateur. You have a phone that has internet. Look it up. I just assumed, Derek. How do I know? Are these shows that aren't the same? Were you busy celebrating your St. Louis Blues going up 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals? God damn you know I was, my friend.
00:09:33
Speaker
You know I was losing my mind and I, you know, I just got to keep my head about me right now. I got to try and not be if you remember in a I was really shit talking the sharks throughout that game. And at the end, I had to remember what Seth Rogen said. And this is the end when James Franco thinks he's getting raptured and then gets killed. He's like, well, he was being a sore winner is what that was.
00:10:02
Speaker
You're just mad about the previous game and you wanted to talk a little shit to feel better. And I don't know if you're taking it out on the right people. It was the refs that fucked you, not the sharks. I will say this, though. The NBC announcers are heel commentators and have never liked us. Can I just go on record? I only hear this from Blues fans. I think you guys are full of shit. And I'm wondering if your broadcasters, when you listen to them, all they do is suck off your team. And then when you go watch other announcers, you're like, well, how come they're not so nice?
00:10:31
Speaker
Put it this way. Going into the second period, they said we were winning 1-0 and the three things they talked about during the intermission were not us. They were about how good the other team was. They lost 5-0, Derek.
00:10:49
Speaker
after going into the first intermission and then the game ends 5-0 and you want to know why they weren't sucking you guys off? I want a little suck. You can't just be happy. You didn't even fucking remember that you were in the Western Conference Finals a few years ago. Maybe you don't deserve this. Did you ever think about that? Talk about wrestling, Derek. Don't piss me off. In the words of Jeff Jarrett, don't piss me off.
00:11:18
Speaker
Um, yeah, you should have started the show on time, but I digress, you got there in time to see Bailey.
00:11:25
Speaker
have her what would you call it her first really nice big moment I guess winning the tag titles was a big moment but I guess as a solo performer this was her first big moment since winning the raw title and then all of her momentum was kind of halted when Alexa Bliss beat the shit out of her with a kendo sticker still my favorite match of the last five years
00:11:48
Speaker
Bailey is born again and I don't know it felt right it felt so right to have her win it made sense I was happy okay but is this match like good job Bailey or is this match fuck you Sasha I think it's both
00:12:10
Speaker
I mean, but I honestly, you know, I haven't really thought about it that way. I know that every time Sasha's name gets brought up, there's a negative response. But I don't know if I want that following Bailey around her whole career. I don't want that haunting her. Because that was Sasha's decision to leave and walk away.
00:12:30
Speaker
Bailey's still there. She may have her issues with with the company or whatever, but she's still there and Is this a reward for her sticking around? I don't know But if Becky's gonna be going over to raw full-time Charlotte's gonna need somebody to work with Bailey's a good hand and this brings her back up to that level and
00:12:52
Speaker
and uh I don't know to me it felt like the right decision. I agree with you though I do agree with you it's just having not seen the match and just turning it on my immediate thought was this is a way to show Sasha this could have been you I could be wrong that was the vibe I got I'm still happy for Bailey I love Bailey and I'm ready for her to
00:13:14
Speaker
you know, hopefully get a good run out of this. Or at least get a cool storyline with Charlotte. Yeah. And it looks like Sasha was happy for Bailey on Twitter, so read into that what you will.
00:13:25
Speaker
But there were ways they could have gone with this. They could have given that spot to Nikki Cross since she was replacing Alexa. I don't know. I thought that Bailey was the right choice and obviously it paid off later. We'll get into that. What else do you want to talk about? You want to talk Ms. and Shane?
00:13:46
Speaker
Okay, there was a weird story going on through Money in the Bank that I don't know if this bled into Raw, I mean obviously we don't know if it bleeds into this week's Raw cause it's Monday and we normally record on Wednesdays, but
WWE Storyline Analysis
00:13:59
Speaker
Prior to this, had they been doing storylines about the refs fucking a finish over and over again?
00:14:17
Speaker
Do you remember when we were hit star cast for all in and Cody was trying to go to what we were at the bachamania thing and Cody was trying to say your refs are always right like you like the refs are the ones officiating the match I guess Vince put out the memo or gave the advice that when their shoulders are down you count if their shoulders are not down you don't count and You put it on it's on the performer to get like the shoulder up or you know stay down and
00:14:47
Speaker
So I don't know if this was just somebody thinking too hard or auto-correcting, but pretty sure that there's some shoddy refereeing going on lately. Okay. With the Miz Shane match, are they, I guess, I don't know. It was a weird finish. The match was fine prior to that, but it did. You're asking about Shane getting his foot on the ropes, correct? Yes, correct. This happens all the time.
00:15:16
Speaker
This happens I feel like at least once every three months in WWE where there is a no disqualification match of some sort. And yet somebody gets out of a pinfall by getting their foot on the ropes. Except I don't know if there's ever been a time where they so blatantly like addressed it on commentary.
00:15:37
Speaker
Three times throughout the show, they had to be like, I don't know the ref fucked that. What a dipshit. You know, it felt like there was, but weren't there a couple different reps that ended up having shitty things happen? Weren't there? Did it happen during Samoa Joe as well? Yeah, maybe, maybe during Samoa Joe, definitely during Becky's match against Lacey Evans.
00:16:03
Speaker
I don't know, I know a bunch of people really wanted to see Miz go over in this match. I think people are kind of over the Shane-Miz thing. I think actually a lot of people are even more over Shane being involved in storylines as a wrestler, period. What's your take on that?
00:16:23
Speaker
Do you feel like you have a roster that's way too loaded to be relying on Shane McMahon this much? Well, as he was coming in, I remember, I started thinking to myself, wait, at what point did he become full time? Cause I just realized it is, I don't remember what happened where we just started seeing Shane McMahon every week and then started wondering, what the fuck is Shane still here? I thought he was here to like fill in some places when we were, a bunch of guys were out hurt and he just sort of stuck around.
00:16:53
Speaker
Well, the story was after, um, God, after his match with styles at mania a couple of years ago, that Vince views Shane as a superstar that people care about and is paying him to stick around and perform at least a few matches a year. So, I mean,
00:17:15
Speaker
I mean, we can talk more about this later on because it's actually gonna come full, this is gonna come back when we talk about, you know, how the show ended too, so. I guess I'm happy for Miz because Vent is looking at Miz as being in a big spot with Shane. Like he looks at, he looks at that as a big spot on the card.
00:17:34
Speaker
So it, anytime I see somebody with Shane, I at least think, okay, Vince likes Miz too at least. Right. So happy there. I was happy to see Miz show some intensity and get the chair and beat the shit out of Shane. That was fun. Do you like babyface Miz?
00:17:52
Speaker
Um, baby face miss takes more chances than heal miss, but baby frog splash Derek Derek I'm would you say it's the worst splash you've ever seen? Yeah, dude flails he flails hesitation he
00:18:12
Speaker
and I miss I love you to death bud and I know like you're trying some new things hit the performance center and try that frog splash a couple times before you got to do it in a on a pay-per-view because goddamn it's awkward it's all I'll go out on the limb and I'll say I am NOT a professional wrestler by any means I'm not an athlete I swear to god I could hit a better frog splash than he hit
00:18:36
Speaker
Yeah, like, you know, I swear to God, you and I might kill the person under us because we know nothing of the landing, but I know what it's supposed to look like while I'm in the air. Well, I know that I'm supposed to make chest and stomach contact to chest to stomach. I'm not supposed to drive my knees and elbows into them, but I'm also going to make damn sure I'm not like landing on my knees first and then kind of just falling on them.
00:19:02
Speaker
It was not a good splash. I've seen some bad splashes. That's probably top of the list, but this match ends with Shane trying to escape and then Miz grabbing him by his jersey and Shane slipping out of his jersey and he wins. Was this the first time we'd seen Shane McMahon's nipples? I think so. And the reason being, I have witnesses who can vouch to this,
00:19:29
Speaker
I said out loud when he hit the floor and he was shirtless, I said, wow, Shane's got a hairy chest. I wouldn't have expected him to have a hairy chest. And then I corrected myself and I was like, but I don't know why I would expect him to not have a hairy chest.
00:19:45
Speaker
I don't know, I didn't have any reason to think that Shane was a guy who shaved his chest and his abdomen. And yeah, so I'm gonna assume I've always seen Shane in jerseys of some sort and never shirtless. Well, every, for the last couple of years, anytime he's in the jersey and he has to like lay on a table to get ready to take a hit, he's always fucking with it and pulling it down over his belly. Like he does, like he's hiding something. He didn't want us to see him shirtless. I don't think he has anything to be ashamed of.
00:20:17
Speaker
No, I agree. I mean, it was a great chest. I just thought maybe he has a weird tattoo or something and he didn't want his dad to see. But he has apparently had that lasered off and it's ready to be a shirt off wrestler. Were you surprised that they took the US title off Samoa Joe and gave it to Mysterio and kind of a pretty quick match?
00:20:37
Speaker
It's a match fitting for what their first match was. It went from 60 seconds to two minutes. Next time, maybe three. We'll see. How did Samoa Joe break his nose? Where did that happen?
00:20:52
Speaker
You and I had the exact same experience where I was watching the match. And I, again, if I had known it was going to be so short, I probably would have paid a lot closer to attention to everything that was going to happen. But next thing I'm watching and everything's fine. They're having their moment and then Mysterio rolls them up and they count the fall. And then when he pops back up, his face is bloody. And I'm like, when the fuck did that happen?
00:21:16
Speaker
And in the replay when they showed it, Mysterio went up on his shoulders like they were getting ready to do a power bomb. And then he flips him over. When he went up, his nose was not bleeding. So he broke it somewhere in that, but I didn't see, I don't know if it was when Mysterio landed on him or what, but yeah. So what is this? Is Samoa Joe like the kid collector? He's just going around yelling at everybody's children that he's their new daddy?
00:21:46
Speaker
that's his gimmick he he goes after the kids he's like captain hook hit next he's like randy orton i hear you got a couple step kids uh and orton's like you want me to show show you where they came from here shake my hand
00:22:04
Speaker
God, let's talk about, I want to get into this because we got a couple of positive things to talk about here. I thought that the Lacey Evans Becky Lynch match was not very long. Um, I don't think it was bad. It seemed clunky at times. And Becky, this is, this is where we talk about the referee spot. Becky, the match ends with Becky kind of getting put into a pin situation that the ref just for whatever reason refuses to count at all.
00:22:34
Speaker
with Becky shoulders down and then she rolls over into the disarmor on Lacey and Lacey taps out pretty quick. This obviously sets up, uh, you know, you're thinking like, okay, cool. Now Becky's going to go to the back. She's going to get some time to rest. Surprise. He'll move Charlotte's there. She's ready to have her match now and she's ready to take advantage of a winded Becky.
00:22:59
Speaker
What did you think about, at least up to this point in the story, were you enjoying the direction this was headed before they got to the finish of the Charlotte Becky match?
00:23:11
Speaker
Yeah, I really liked the, you know, having them back to back. I thought that made it a lot more fun. And I didn't know, honestly, what was going to happen. I felt like it would be shitty to have so many women on the roster and keep both belts on Becky just for the sake of the other ladies. But there are two touring brands, you know, so.
00:23:30
Speaker
It's nice to have one woman's title on each brand touring And I don't know I I've also thought of my you know what if they had her retain two belts for another pay-per-view That would just you know sink in even further that she is the man
00:23:46
Speaker
You know, I watched after the pay-per-view got off the air, I watched a review of it with the guys from WrestleTalk. I don't know if you ever watch any of those guys. They do good work. They were saying that if they kind of did this, they got the Becky two belts thing out of the way pretty quick because they would have done it.
00:24:04
Speaker
where they had her one month at one pay-per-view to defend the Raw title, the next month Smackdown title, and build to a show where they finally say, no, no, no, at this show, you're gonna have to defend too. Well, they made her defend both belts up front, like basically right after Mania. And I'm assuming it's for the reasons we listed, which is they need to have, you know, the two women's titles with their separate brands.
00:24:29
Speaker
Lacey Evans interferes in the Charlotte Becky match and costs her the SmackDown title. Charlotte is now on what, her ninth?
00:24:37
Speaker
Yeah. Women's title reign. Yep. So they get to send. Obviously, since Lacey cost for the title, now they have a built in continuation to the feud over on Raw with Becky and Lacey. Charlotte gets the title. However, she doesn't hold it very long because as Lacey Evans and Charlotte team up to attack Becky, crowds chanting for Bailey to come out. And guess what? Bailey comes out. What can you why? What was it about this moment that made both of us so happy?
00:25:08
Speaker
Cause as I'm sitting here talking to you about it now, we're talking about Bailey coming out and cashing in the briefcase on Charlotte and winning the title as after Charlotte's held it for what, two minutes.
00:25:24
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't know if I was expecting that since especially last year with Money in the Bank, the women, I guess Alexa Bliss cashed it in that night and won. So I didn't think we were gonna do that two years in a row, so it did actually catch me off guard. I figured it was gonna be like a roll out and she runs away and it doesn't happen. Right. Was there any part of you that thought she would grab Becky and throw her in the ring?
00:25:51
Speaker
Oh, the whole time I was perked up ready for a Bailey heel turn. I figured we were gonna just get it all out of the way in one night. Her triumphant return and then immediately turning into a heel. Yeah, part of me didn't know which way this was gonna go. I didn't know if she was gonna go after Charlotte or go after Becky and hop back to Raw.
00:26:14
Speaker
or if she was going to cash in on Charlotte. She ultimately cashed in on Charlotte. She won the title, ran around in the crowd. It was kind of an awesome moment. And like you said, I wasn't expecting them to do this two years in a row with the women's money in the bank. But here we are. It was a good moment. I texted you. I said that that whole thing was fun.
00:26:31
Speaker
from Bayley winning in the opening segment or the opening match to the back to back matches with Becky ending with the cash in.
Match Highlights and Reactions
00:26:39
Speaker
The women had a nice long block of time to call their own and they owned it. And you could argue that it was maybe the best stuff on the show.
00:26:47
Speaker
Yeah, I really liked that this was the first pay-per-view since the all-women's pay-per-view that it felt like the ladies actually got enough time. Or got, you know, a substantial time on the card. Loved the shit out of that. I loved having the two matches back to back. I thought that made for a fun story. Yeah, overall, I thought as far as the women go on the show, nailed it.
00:27:11
Speaker
You were pretty excited to talk about Styles and Rollins. I had mentioned to you months ago, looking forward to the possibility of Styles and Rollins, and you said you really didn't care. And then you text me right as the match is getting ready to start, and you're like, I'm suddenly really excited for this. What changed? As it was getting ready to happen, I felt like I was in for a good match.
00:27:34
Speaker
I know that I was hoping for that in his series with Nakamura, but it just seems like Seth Rollins is out there trying to work harder. It seemed like he was gonna make sure they had a good match. You know, I think he wants to prove that he's a good champion, and I was hoping we were gonna get, you know, a very memorable match out of the two, and I have no fucking idea. Even after seeing the replay,
00:28:01
Speaker
how Stiles turned a curb stop into a Stiles clash. Well, he dodged, grabbed his leg, picked him up kind of in a power bomb position, threw him down, hooked the legs, and hit it. And I won't say it was the prettiest Stiles clash, but it was the most incredible counter into a Stiles clash that you just didn't... I don't know how you do that. You're right. I don't even know how you discussed that beforehand. Be like, okay, so here's what I was thinking.
00:28:32
Speaker
I mean, the only other time we'd seen that move really reversed was when Orton did it to Seth and popped him up in the air and caught him in that RKO. And it turns out that's just a really fun move to watch be reversed.
00:28:46
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. But overall, love the shit out of this one. I don't know what else I really need to say. Match of the night, as far as pure matches go. As far as a pure match goes, I thought that was match of the night. Probably the most fun I had watching a match. I did enjoy the shit out of the men's ladder match. Yeah, me too.
00:29:08
Speaker
Me too. I mean, I even, Derek, you're not going to hear me say this a lot. I loved Randy Orton in this match. What about Orton did you love in this match?
00:29:22
Speaker
Well, it was him and Drew McIntyre versus a bunch of little guys. So they were really, so they were being bullies. So the match starts and Orton just powders and he sets up camp right in front of the announcers table. And he's decided that his role in this match at the beginning is to catch every small man that comes near him and just throw him back first onto the announcers table. That's what he's known for at this point.
00:29:49
Speaker
He's like, you thought I got the Seng brothers high, let's see how high I throw Finn Balor in the air. And Ricochet. And just every time he was interacting with the indie guys, I was having so much fun. By the end of that, I was at a point where I'm like, you know what, if Randy wins this, I'm not mad about it.
00:30:12
Speaker
What changed? Was it just because when you see a guy own what he is that makes you like him? I think so. Like he wasn't trying to do anything. He's like, no, you guys are going to flip off this shit. I'm going to stand over here and kick your ass when you're done because what you're doing is unnecessary.
00:30:29
Speaker
You know what I do? I fucking throw you on the announce table. Same thing. Except I didn't have to flip off of anything. What the fuck was Finn Balor thinking in this match, Derek? What the fuck was he thinking? His back is not the same today as it was yesterday. He...
00:30:46
Speaker
took a bump from everyone on that ladder and god damn it Baron Corbin got to give him the most just oh it was nasty no the one that got me was the one from Andrade the flip over power bomb the sunset flip onto the ladder yes god because the ladder gave out under when Andrade landed on it and he had to like hit that thing at an angle uh and it bounced him like a basketball in the air it was yeah
00:31:16
Speaker
God, the little guys showed up. Ali looked great. Ricochet was awesome. It was just, these guys put in so much work to make this one of the best Money in the Bank ladder matches I can remember from the last several years.
00:31:32
Speaker
What happened next? Okay, so Mustafa Ali climbs up, has the case in his hands, and some real loud violin music hits. Is that what the beginning of that song is? What is the... Basically, Brock Lesnar's music hits. You're trying to describe the noises at the beginning of Brock Lesnar's music and you say violin? Well, isn't it just like...
00:31:56
Speaker
Isn't there like a screech sound before guitars hit? Well most people will associate the violin with Nakamura, but you know. But either way, just so you know. Brock Lesnar's music. Brock Lesnar has already been removed from my mind. He's gone. I didn't even remember what his entrance music was.
00:32:16
Speaker
Like, he was gone. So when that music hits, I thought, who the fuck? And then when I see him running there, I'm pretty sure that I was just looking confused. And I started questioning like, am I high right now? What is happening? And it's like, yeah, I am. But like, this is still happening. What the fuck?
00:32:36
Speaker
I guess it's important to note that the storyline throughout the night was that Sammy Zane had replaced Braun Strowman in the men's match but earlier in the night he had been attacked by a mystery opponent and Triple H assumed it was Braun Strowman so Braun Strowman was asked to leave the building and it wasn't Braun they're insinuating it was Brock. Because Braun still got a ticket to the like a plane ticket and flew
00:33:02
Speaker
Where were they last night? Were they in Hartford, Connecticut? Oh yeah, they were in Hartford. So he flew to Hartford. He got there, went to a building he wasn't supposed to be in, gets caught and is like, it wasn't me. I said, then what the fuck are you doing here? Then go home. And he's like, okay, geez. He leaves.
00:33:19
Speaker
Turns out Brock Lesnar crucified Sami Zayn upside down I assume unless tonight we find out it actually was Alistair Black and that yeah, whatever the fuck I Honestly, I started laughing. I started laughing when you heard when you saw Brock Yeah, because it was like what can you do besides laugh?
00:33:39
Speaker
Because it was so WWE. It was just like, I didn't, I still can't really wrap my head around why that happened. I mean, I know why it happened because what was it last week that he took his MMA drug test without the results ever being released, he announced his retirement, which to me says, you know, Brock has some dirty urine with some extra things in it.
00:34:01
Speaker
And he's like, well, I guess I'll just go back here. And they're like, sure, win the fucking ladder match. All these little guys killed themselves to give me the best match I've ever seen. Mustafa Ali has to stand up there way too long while a sound cue is late. And Brock Lesnar runs at a million miles an hour, throws a ladder on top of a cameraman. And I loved when he sat at the top though and laughed and said, I'm back. I was like, you fucking heal.
00:34:30
Speaker
Oh, boy did that problem.
00:34:48
Speaker
I, I, they, they, they suck you in. You think that they're going to start pushing and establishing new guys, giving them opportunities and the name of the game for WWE the last five years. And this is really the only thing you really have to talk about when you talk about what the issues are.
00:35:06
Speaker
they haven't been beyond Roman Reigns which they have gone full Boron not so much since he's been back from you know recovering from leukemia but before that he was really the only guy they were fully behind at all times other than that there have been so many opportunities for them to use a spot to elevate a guy to give a guy a big win to try to make somebody a star we're talking about
00:35:34
Speaker
God, how many different, I just posted a list the other day, like they had, they brought Goldberg back and had him in Kevin Owens' universal title run. They had Brock end the streak. I mean, I could just, I could probably, if I just sat here, I could come up with like 10, 15 moments that could have gone to somebody else and helped put them over the edge and make them into a star. And they just always give that spot to a veteran.
00:36:05
Speaker
And this was a match loaded with guys that they could've really used that Money in the Bank briefcase to be an interesting character on television for months. Nevermind the fact that the briefcase is an amazing storyline tool for anyone.
00:36:22
Speaker
That's the part that sucks. It's a fantastic tool that you can stretch out over a year. Every night, there's a possibility that this briefcase will come into play. It's great television. It was a fantastic idea. It's not supposed to be the number one contender's briefcase.
00:36:44
Speaker
They hand out title opportunities like it's nobody's business. There was a pay-per-view just two months ago at Fastlane where you went into the pay-per-view and you had no idea that by the end of the night, Mustafa Ali was gonna be fighting for the WWE Championship, and yet it happened. What in the fuck?
00:37:09
Speaker
Okay, so here's the other story that needs to be talked about. Did you hear the report about the meeting that they had backstage before the show? That they actually said AEW by name for the first time to them?
00:37:22
Speaker
Yes, and said that they are a direct competition and that we are in a competition for people's attention with video games, their phones, streaming services. We have to address getting the attention of all these different people and taking it away from whatever it is they're trying to focus their attention on.
00:37:43
Speaker
And they're less than a week away from AEW opening with Double or Nothing. And they close Money in the Bank by going back to the same well they've been going back to for four or five years, which is, hey, I think people care about Brock Lesnar, except I don't know any wrestling fans that care about Brock Lesnar. It kind of feels like they don't want us to watch. Yeah.
00:38:10
Speaker
But the thing is, it depends on who you talk to. I think the people who are the worst pro wrestling fans right now love Brock Lesnar.
00:38:24
Speaker
I mean, I'll go out on a limb and say it. I'm talking like 40, 50-year-old guys who pop in every now and then to bitch about how small the wrestlers are now and how Hogan's three moves, you know, 30 years ago were the shit. And those people look at Brock Lesnar and go, he's big, he's legit, and just look at him. I mean, they have the Vince McMahon mentality down. Look at all that beef. Right?
00:38:50
Speaker
But you don't see anybody who's like a fan of modern day pro wrestling, which is basically all that's left. That's 90% of the market.
00:39:01
Speaker
Nobody's sitting there gushing over Lesnar, and why are they complaining about their inability to make stars when they don't give these kind of opportunities to guys that could become stars? So what I'm assuming is happening as we speak while Ra is going on, I have to assume that this was all to set up for Super Showdown to get Brock Lesnar back to do a match in Saudi Arabia.
00:39:27
Speaker
I think they threw away, I mean, the entire show, they're showing commercials for Super Showdown and they kept saying, this is bigger than WrestleMania. Like, it really feels like they threw away money in the bank to get Brock Lesnar to come back and do another match. I mean, maybe they have him lose and he fucks off, but either way, they still did it. And there's gonna, he's gonna be in Saudi Arabia.
00:39:56
Speaker
which they could have just done as a WrestleMania rematch. If they wanted to do Lesnar and Raw, I guess I saw the opening to Raw. So I know that Kofi and Seth Rollins were in the ring with Lesnar. And I know that they were having a moment where Lesnar was treating the money in the bank briefcase like a boom box on his shoulder and he was bobbing his head and
00:40:18
Speaker
The threat was that he could cash in on them at any time and they were performing later tonight. So again, we're recording this on a Monday evening while raw is going on. I don't know how the show is going to end. I don't know what this has to, I don't understand why super showdown is such a fucking priority. I'm kind of annoyed by these overseas shows now.
00:40:37
Speaker
the point if that's if that's where we're at if we have to use the money in the bank briefcase which is a fantastic storyline tool for months on end to essentially just be like well we need to give this guy something as an excuse so he can have a match it's Brock fucking Lesnar if you really want to do the old-timers world tour over there in Saudi Arabia by all means
00:40:57
Speaker
have your Goldberg versus Undertaker fucking have Triple H versus giant Gonzales or whoever the fuck you want to put these guys in a match in over there so the people in Saudi Arabia can feel like they're watching
00:41:10
Speaker
a WrestleMania level show, but for the love of fuck, leave the money in the bank briefcase alone because there is no, here's the thing, there is no good outcome for this now because either he cashes in the briefcase and he wins and he has the title again and nobody's happy. And again, the program is held hostage as Seth Rollins has said, or he cashes in the briefcase and it doesn't work. And then you just wasted the briefcase like they did with Strowman last year.
00:41:39
Speaker
Hey, he doesn't have to take it away from Seth. He could take it away from Kofi and piss off everyone. He could. He could very well do that. And there's been a lot of people who think that Brock is going to end up on SmackDown when they move to Fox this coming fall.
00:41:56
Speaker
Well, you know, or we can do this. You know, people are saying WWE has too many titles right now. I mean, tonight on Monday Night Raw, they're supposed to be debuting a new one. Maybe we can do this. Maybe, you know, he didn't earn the money in the bank briefcase anyway. What if he does it say anywhere that he can't cash in on a triple threat and win everybody's belts so that he's Brock two belts because there are two belts. There have been rumors that that's actually going to happen. Oh, my God.
00:42:22
Speaker
Oh my god. Yeah, get both belts on him so that neither belt are on either show very often. I don't give a shit anymore. Do whatever you want over there. Fuck you. Well, I'm just gonna let you know that... I mean, if this ends with Brock being WWE Champion and Universal Champion, there's gonna be a lot of pissed off people. And Vince is just gonna continue to be confused as to why people are turning into AEW then. And uh...
00:42:49
Speaker
I don't know, I guess we're just gonna leave off Kofi and Owens and then Reigns and Elias.
Freelance Wrestling Event Recap
00:42:55
Speaker
I thought there was stuff to take away from those segments, but we've gone almost 45 minutes into this podcast talking about Money in the Bank. And hey, fuck Money in the Bank. You went to a show this weekend.
00:43:10
Speaker
I did. I went to Freelance Wrestling Battle Royale at Logan Square Auditorium. And I had a good time. I went with my roommate, Chris. And it's been a while since I've been to a freelance show. So I had a free night. Paid my general admission to get in. And honestly, there's not a bad place in that entire room. And you've been there before, so you know. What was the crowd like? How are they doing? Do they sell pretty well there?
00:43:36
Speaker
It was a I wouldn't say it was a sellout crowd but there was quite a few people on hand and I had a good time. The show started around nine and I don't think I got home until like one thirty I want to say. Oh damn. So it was late. You got a good long show. I did. It went it went past midnight I can tell you that.
00:43:59
Speaker
And there were a bunch of good matches on here. Uh, we had, they, the show opened with the women's fatal four way match with Jody threat versus Shazza McKenzie, solo, darling, and Laney luck. And, uh, these ladies killed it.
00:44:15
Speaker
I'm a big fan of Laney Luck now. She comes out to the ring in a unicorn mascot helmet mask. And she ended up winning. Here's the most important story to take away from this entire freelance experience. I got to finally see and have interaction with our boy Craig Mitchell. You sent me a video. It really seemed like the crowd still loving the shit out of Craig Mitchell up there.
00:44:45
Speaker
Craig Mitchell is super over here in Chicago. Lots of Craig fans, lots of Craig chants. Craig was defending the freelance underground championship against GPA on this night. And I can tell you that when we were hanging out before the show started, I saw Craig up on the balcony talking with some of the other guys. And I pointed at him, and he pointed back. And yeah, it looked like a friendly dude.
00:45:14
Speaker
What's the GPAs deal? I'm not familiar with that guy. He's pretentious. Like his whole thing is that he's a scholarly type, you know, smarter than you smug piece of shit. He's just been feuding with Kylie Rae for a really long time. And yeah.
00:45:33
Speaker
Craig came out to a huge pop. I sent you the video of his entrance. Wasn't expecting him to find me in the in the audience as he was up on the ring apron, getting ready to get in the ring. But he did pointed hit big smile on his face. I cheered like crazy for Craig. Unfortunately, it was not Craig's night. GPA fucked him out of the title. Use that belt as a weapon multiple times. And Craig lost the freelance underground championship. Do you think Craig looks at you as his bad luck charm? See, I don't know.
00:46:04
Speaker
I don't know if Craig's gonna want me to come to any more of his shows. So, I mean, it's predetermined, Garrett. It wasn't like, you know, I was the reason he lost. Maybe you were. Maybe the Booker's like, fuck that guy. Maybe the Booker saw my interaction with him before the show and said, you know what? Craig's going down the night. Fuck that guy. Were there any other standouts on the show? Like anybody that you hadn't seen prior that you're like, this dude, you got to check out or this lady got to check out? I will say that, uh,
00:46:34
Speaker
The show was called Battle Royale. That was the final match of the night. And I'll get the negative out of the way earlier, or early, I guess, which is that the Battle Royale that closed the show kind of drug out really long. The interval, it was like a Royal Rumble. Not everyone started in the ring. They did like the intervals, a new person would come out and the intervals were not evenly timed. So sometimes it would be like 30 seconds after a guy came out, somebody else would come out. Sometimes it felt like five minutes.
00:47:03
Speaker
And that was nuts. Oligo Ethan Page fought Ricky Shane Page, who's a death match king. That's his bro, right? No, not, no. But they're not related? No, they're not. And you could just tell that by looking at him.
00:47:24
Speaker
Hey, I mean, you made me watch that Von Erich thing, and some of the Von Erichs don't look like other Von Erichs. Some of the Von Erichs weren't even Von Erichs. So was that Lance Von Page? I don't know. I do know that Ethan Page... Isn't he basically like on every indie show ever? It feels like it. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I love seeing Ethan Page, so anytime he shows up... I'm saying that's a great thing. I'm saying he's out there making towns and working.
00:47:52
Speaker
Guy cuts a killer promo, but he beats Ricky Shame page pretty easily. I'm not saying it was a bad match, I'm saying it was a match where it was never in doubt, and he grabs the mic after the match and says, you wouldn't know why this match wasn't the main event is because nobody believed that you could beat me for this title.
00:48:09
Speaker
And he basically runs down Ricky Shane Page and says he's a piece of shit and that his career's abounded to nothing. Well, Ricky Shane Page is the one that ends up winning that battle royal at the end of the night, so he gets another shot at Ethan Page down the road. I would say one of the matches of the night was definitely the fatal four-way match for the World Tag Team Championships between the workhorsemen, the hooligans, the ugly ducklings, and the gym nasty boys.
00:48:39
Speaker
This was fun. Lots of good spots in here. This one lasted a while. A lot of stuff took place on the outside of the ring. Lots of high spots. I think the work horsemen ended up walking out with the tag titles again. They retained them, I should say. And got to see another indie regular, which is Eric Cannon. Have you seen Eric Cannon? We just watched him last week on The Family Reunion Show.
00:49:05
Speaker
And I'm actually I've never seen him in person and I actually last week while I was watching family reunion made a note like Like this guy like I and I forgot to talk about him last time and I was happy when you posted that picture That would get a chance to bring him up
00:49:20
Speaker
Yeah, he wrestled like a luchadore called Ophidian. Eric's kind of a regular. He's been wrestling in this area for like four or five years at the least. I saw him at the last Freelance show I went to, and my first Freelance show. Eric's a regular. This was a good show. I had fun. Again, I can't say enough good things about going to see shows at Logan Square Auditorium. It's a great atmosphere in there.
00:49:49
Speaker
What was general admission? What's that, like 20 bucks for the show you went to? 20 bucks to get in general admission. You're just as close as the people who are like, it's basically two rows of chairs and then the GA standing room. So you're as close to the ring as you need to be. So if you're in the area, we've got freelance. We've got AEW. We've got warrior wrestling. The Chicagoland area has plenty of pro wrestling on the on the independent circuit just for you. Get out there. The guys at freelance do a good job.
00:50:19
Speaker
And I don't know, I had a lot of fun at the show. I'm gonna keep trying to go to more as I get opportunities to. I wanna go back to another AAW show sometime soon as well, so.
Dark Side of the Ring Reflections
00:50:31
Speaker
Yeah, I got out there. I had fun. And then I was really, really tired, because I got home super late. I'm hoping that when they have all in too, that maybe freelance runs a show that weekend, because I would love to check one of those out while I'm up there. Yeah, you absolutely should.
00:50:49
Speaker
You absolutely should. I had you finally get caught up at least a little bit with the Dark Side of the Ring series. There's still I think a couple of you still haven't watched. But the one with the Gino Hernandez and the one with the fabulous Mula.
00:51:07
Speaker
I've watched those and that's pretty much I think the end of the series. Unless there's another one coming out, I don't know. But you happen to finally get caught up and watch the Dark Side of the Ring documentary on Viceland about the Von Erics.
00:51:22
Speaker
thoughts? I watched that directly before we record before we started recording and that is not the right mood you need to get into if I've seen seemed sad at all it's because I've witnessed a lot of death in my day
00:51:40
Speaker
in the last 45 minutes leading up to this. Jesus Christ, Derek. I knew that there was a lot of death in the Von Erich family. I didn't know the details to a lot of it. Good fucking Lord. I was gonna say, how much? Because the Von Erichs are a name that come up a lot in pro wrestling history. You hear about them, you hear about the free birds.
00:52:10
Speaker
I mean, I knew what I knew about the wrestling part, but I didn't know about, you know, bringing in the other brothers essentially as replaced, like, basically as one dies, another one steps in.
00:52:22
Speaker
Yeah. And that's so fucked up. That's so fucked up. And just the line of deaths. I'm sorry, I'm stuck on death. It's gonna be really hard to talk about wrestling because this was barely about wrestling.
00:52:36
Speaker
It definitely, I mean, if the goal of the documentary was to show you how much tragedy the Von Erics faced. Yeah. A lot of unfortunate circumstances between, you know, drug overdoses and suicides and electrocution. That's where it basically started and it caused the downward spiral. And that family was dedicated to wrestling and now that what we're down to won,
00:53:03
Speaker
One of the original Von Erich brothers, Kevin, living in Hawaii, telling the story. And he's raising his family there. And it sounds like there's an interest in that family to get into the pro wrestling business. How come we haven't heard anything about this? Well, apparently him and his kids had a fucking match. They said that he just retired in 2017. Right. What the fuck? And it shows- How does this not on anybody's radar? I don't know. Well, they said it was, what did they say? It was in like Tel Aviv or somewhere like that? Yeah.
00:53:33
Speaker
Man, the one that fucked me up the most of the deaths was probably, what was his name? Mike? The brother that was kind of scrawny and just wasn't as athletically gifted as the rest of them?
00:53:49
Speaker
Yeah, the one that took it really hard that he couldn't fill the shoes of his other brother. And then he, what, dislocates his shoulder, goes to the hospital, gets surgery, gets staph infection from it. They're trying to basically get him back in the ring a lot sooner than they should. And during that press conference, he looked like a fucking corpse, Derek. Yeah. That was probably the worst part to watch for me is just how fucked up that guy looked. And basically the crowd just didn't really care.
00:54:19
Speaker
He wasn't the favorite. It sounded like he was having pretty mediocre matches with Ric Flair and some of the bigger names. I felt terrible for that guy.
00:54:31
Speaker
Yeah, he had shoes to fill that he was literally never going to be able to and based on like what also loved seeing Meltzer's office Or it's just papers and bullshit everywhere like where I'm sitting right now I finally got a desk and a podcast set up for this, but there is just good for you There is yeah, I'm not standing anymore the last two episodes This is the first time in the last like
00:54:56
Speaker
Eight that I haven't been standing so sitting in a chair feeling good But yeah, my room right now kind of looks a lot like the melts is a lot of shit a lot of shit on the floor Did it make you feel better? I thought like me and Dave have something to talk about how neither of us seem very tidy He's probably got pages from wrestling observers from like 20 years ago in a stack like five feet from his desk That's not containing shit
00:55:25
Speaker
That's your takeaway from the dark. I got to see Dave Meltzer's shitty office. Yeah. I mean, you can't tell me you didn't see that office and think I'd like to rummage around in there for an hour. I was just surprised that he let them show it. Like, come on in. Look at where I do my work. You didn't have to tidy up on our account. Fuck you. I did tidy up. See this walkway? This wasn't here before.
00:55:54
Speaker
You know, honest to God, they draw with this Dark Side of the Rings series on Viceland. If you guys haven't seen it, check it out. I don't know how you... Do most people have Viceland, Garrett? I doubt it. But you know what you do? I said this last time. You know, a lot of us, we don't have cable. Find your parents' cable password. Go to the Viceland.com website. Log in using your parents' cable password, and that's how you see it. That's what I did.
00:56:25
Speaker
That's one way of going about doing whatever. Not everyone's that privileged. I will say that I'm a little disappointed because I haven't heard anything about us getting the erotic fan fiction. Yeah, no one seems to be wanting to write about us fucking.
00:56:44
Speaker
That's fair.
Listener Engagement and Feedback
00:56:45
Speaker
I wouldn't want to write about us fucking, but no one really even responded to it. So, oh, one thing that has been pushed on us, though, is, uh, Jeffy has really been pushing a movement trying to get Scott Steiner to be my new dad.
00:57:01
Speaker
I think your dad does a fine job being your dad. Yeah, but for whatever reason, Jeffy has decided that Scott Steiner needs to be my dad. And, you know, if Scott's willing to have a catch with me, I will drive to wherever he is and have that catch. I can already tell you this. He's going to throw the ball way too hard. It's going to hurt my hand through the glove and he will not love me. And he might make me try and take over the shownies.
00:57:29
Speaker
So you're going on record and saying that you are willing to go drive wherever you need to, to have a father son moment with the big bad booty daddy.
00:57:40
Speaker
I hope I don't have to call him that, but yeah. I mean, he's your daddy. So you gotta call him the big bad booty daddy. See, you don't want to say hey to see him punk on the street. I don't want to have to look Scott Steiner through his sunglasses and call him daddy. No, I wouldn't want to either. If I have the
00:58:05
Speaker
If I have the opportunity to avoid wrestlers that I'm afraid of, I'm going to take that at every turn. But I don't know why Jeffy wants this for you. Does he want our listeners turning on you? I mean, we know how Lowell feels. I think everybody's starting to to realize that that I'm the heel here and treat me as such.
00:58:28
Speaker
We gotta do a double turn here sometime soon. That's true, they'll never see it coming. Can I tell you something really fun that I forgot to mention about the freelance show? Yeah. Do you remember this past summer, like, God, how many is like 10 months it's been? When I went to that baseball game to meet Scott Hall, and then there was like a local indie promotion doing a show there, and I saw some not so great pro wrestling, but pro wrestling nonetheless.
00:58:58
Speaker
Do you remember that, Garrett? I do remember that, oh no, who'd you see? Garrett, do you remember any specific wrestlers that I put over from that show? No. You don't remember, you don't remember Hunk Cassidy, the Chief of Beef? Oh my god, maybe. Garrett, Garrett, the Chief of Beef was in the Battle Royal on Friday, and he was super fucking over.
00:59:26
Speaker
That crowd was so mad when he got eliminated out of that battle royal. I swear to God, 10 minutes later, a chief of beef chant broke out from the crowd, despite the fact that he had been gone for a long time. Were you involved in the chief of beef? No. He just has the it factor, Garrett. No, I'm saying, did you chant along with everybody? Were you like, you know what? I mean, I did, but I didn't start it.
00:59:56
Speaker
I chanted Craig a whole bunch, I chanted Chief of Beef, Frank the Clown was there being a fucking asshole. I had so much fun at that show, I'm realizing I need to go back. That's one of the fun things about the wrestling shows is you go back and just start saying things about it. You realize, fuck, I wish I was there again right now. How are we going to be able to plug
01:00:24
Speaker
people giving us reviews and five star ratings to end this show. Be creative, Garrett. Come up with something fun. Wait, aren't we going to talk about? I have to bring up AEW. I mean, double or nothing's this weekend and I'm going. Nobody cares about that show. Did you see that awesome WWE pay-per-view yesterday?
01:00:43
Speaker
Well, what's funny is before that happened at the WWE pay-per-view, the big news out of AEW was that Hangman Page versus Pac wasn't happening anymore.
AEW Double or Nothing Changes
01:00:55
Speaker
Right. But did you hear the story with that? OK, so I don't know what's going on. OK, so Pac is this would have been over the weekend he was in. They were I don't remember. They're somewhere in England at a show and whoever his opponent was was supposedly late. Then Hangman Page's music hit. At this small indie show.
01:01:18
Speaker
And from what I am told, this is actually, they announced today, so as you're listening to this, this came out on Tuesday, and it is available. Those two had their Double or Nothing match at an indie show in a small town in England. And from all the reports I'm hearing, it was fucking awesome.
01:01:38
Speaker
Like they full on had that match that they were supposed to have. Why didn't they have it at double or nothing then? So what they're saying is that Pac had to drop out due to creative differences. And my immediate thought is, Oh, this guy sounds like an asshole. It makes me think he's doing to them what he did to WWE. What it sounds like is he has been, what did they say? He's had the dragon gate belt for 20 months or something like that.
01:02:03
Speaker
and he's undefeated there, and it sounds like it was probably more along the lines of Dragon Gate didn't want him to lose. I don't really think, because obviously there's no bad blood because they still had the match and are airing it on AEW's YouTube, but it sounds like Dragon Gate wasn't cool with their champ losing because they've got a story they're working on themselves that would look bad if he lost.
01:02:32
Speaker
But is Pac part of AEW? I guess after that show, what I'm understanding, I guess, you know, by the time this is out, we've already all seen the match. But what I was told is that at the end of the match, he basically said, I only wanted to be an AEW to fight this man. I've done it. We're done. I'm not an AEW. Is he out of his fucking mind?
01:02:58
Speaker
I think he's got loyalty to Dragon Gate. I mean, that's where he started. That's where he went after WWE. And I mean, if the guy's digging what he's doing down there, fuck it. Let him. He seems happy. I get it. I get giving him a pat on the back for the loyalty thing. Most people don't know what the fuck Dragon Gate is.
01:03:20
Speaker
I mean he can be as loyal I mean I don't know whatever I'm not gonna get worked up about it but I don't know it's it's it's crazy to me to show that kind of loyalty to Dragon Gate when there's a revolution going on that's gonna be broadcast on TNT this coming fall
01:03:40
Speaker
I mean, again, kudos, but still facing Hangman at the inaugural pay-per-view for a new promotion that's going to catch fire. Seems like a weird decision to make, but to each their own, I guess. So what's Hangman doing now? So the initial reports were that whatever is going to happen, he's still going to have his match and that whatever they're replacing it with is going to be a bigger match than this was.
01:04:05
Speaker
So that, you know, they might have to, I don't know. I mean, is, does he fight John Moxley? Does he have, do they pull somebody out of the battle Royal to fight him? I don't know. It's honestly, at this point, the tech, you know, the tickets have been bought. The venue sold out. Everyone's going to be there. This was a big draw for this show, but.
01:04:27
Speaker
I think whatever they put in its place is going to be fine. Like I was disappointed, but I don't think this is a reason to be down on AEW yet. It's a little reason to be down. Like if they're already having issues getting talent to agree to, cause wasn't one of the big selling points with AEW that some of these guys are going to be able to work other places too.
01:04:55
Speaker
I guess when there's a title involved in another promotion, maybe that gets messy. I don't know. It obviously gets fucking messy when a guy comes back and says, Hey, that match that you really were promoting for this big show that you're doing, it's off. I know it's like a week and a half away, but fuck it. What are you going to do? Like they're going to run into the logistic privacy. This is the thing. Say what you will about WWE, but they're really big on getting exclusivity rights. If they're going to push you and put you on their show.
01:05:22
Speaker
they don't have these issues. And if the Bucks and Cody and Khan all think that it's like they're not gonna, they're not gonna, for magical reasons, they're not gonna run into those issues. That seems a little naive, because they're already running into those issues.
01:05:40
Speaker
Again, maybe it'll be fine. I think the show you're gonna see is gonna be fine. I don't think that's ultimately gonna be the issue, but they did put a lot of time and build into this match for a show. Eh, yeah. I'm excited that we still get to see it. I'm sad I don't get to be there for it. I'm happy that, you know, to me, the fact that they did the match at all shows that, you know, they're on good terms. I'm assuming Pac went over then.
01:06:07
Speaker
I don't know the end. I just know that after the match was over, he attacked Hangman with chairs. What a dick. So we'll see tomorrow when it comes out. Maybe you'll get Hangman versus Enzo and Cass. You never know. It's a brand new company.
01:06:26
Speaker
Hey, I, in addition to going to Double or Nothing, I did go ahead and get a ticket to Suburban Fight Pro, so I am going to a late night, you know, a late night death match somewhere in Vegas, but in between, I'm gonna go record an episode with the curtain jerks.
01:06:44
Speaker
So I'm going to hang out with those guys. Best there ever was podcast. Yeah, I'm excited to see those guys. And then Sunday morning before I leave Las Vegas. This is the most important part. This is the part that I think people need to know the steel that you got on this opportunity.
01:07:00
Speaker
I had no plans of going to Starcast this year. Maybe I'm bitter that we don't get to be a part of it. I don't know. I'm a little bitter. But they were having a flash sale and it was like 30 minutes only flash sale, everything half off. And when this had been announced, they were having something called Joey Janela's spring breakfast.
01:07:22
Speaker
And it was going to be some of the GCW guys and you could pay $40 and go eat a breakfast buffet with them. And when this was, at first I was like, I don't know, that's kind of steep, 40 bucks. Once it came down to 20 and I realized that my breakfast is included in that $20 and that means I can eat breakfast with Nicholas Gage and Joey Janela.
01:07:45
Speaker
I knew there was no way I wasn't going to spend that $20. So Sunday morning, I have to wake up early to get to the MGM Grand to go eat breakfast with Joey Janela and Nick Gage. Absolutely worth the trip to Vegas on its own. Oh, if this is all I was going for, I'd say that's fucking awesome. And you know what I've decided to do Friday night? Because I don't have anything. I'm there Thursday and Friday with nothing to do. I think Friday night I'm going to go see Pitbull, Derek.
01:08:11
Speaker
God damn it, Garrett. Hey, what am I gonna do? Just sit around and not go to a show? He's got a Vegas show. What's Mr. Worldwide doing, Derek? I'll let you know next week's episode.
01:08:25
Speaker
Well, I hope you have a good trip. I hope you have fun. I hope you have good stories to tell us next week. Thanks for working around my schedule, experience the death in the family. That's why we're recording this podcast a little earlier than we normally do. But, uh, yeah, you've been you've been good. You've been good to me.
01:08:42
Speaker
Hey, are you talking to them or me? I'm talking to you. You've been good to me. I love you. Hey, see this moment we're having, guys? Write a moment like this, a really tender moment where we're saying something nice to each other, but then maybe our penises come out. Who knows?
01:09:00
Speaker
We're still pushing that erotic fan fiction. Actually, just any kind of fan fiction at all would be fantastic. Actually, any kind of review at all on iTunes would be amazing. Give us the five star. Give us the five stars. Give us the review. Tell us what you like about the show. Recommend something for us to watch and we'll watch it. Talk about it on the podcast.
01:09:20
Speaker
Garrett, we have social media. What's our social media stuff so they can talk to us about wrestling and other things? Talk about other erotic fan fiction that they're into. Maybe it's Harry Potter. Maybe it's Game of Thrones.
01:09:32
Speaker
We're at Predetermined Podcast on Instagram. We're at Wrestle Hangout on Facebook and Twitter. I am at Gartet on social media. Derek is at Halloween Halpin. Hey, real quick before we get out of here, we a while back had said to take suggestions for something to do an audio commentary on. And Noah suggested that we should go back since it's been about a year at this point and rewatch all in and do a commentary and just see how the show holds up.
01:10:02
Speaker
I think that's a great idea. I like that idea too. I would love to do that. We'll work on that. We'll work on that. We'll make that happen. And before we go, this is the last thing. One, John Wick 3. Holy fuck. Get out there and watch those John Wick movies, guys. Don't fuck around and miss it. They're too much fun. Also, before we go, this is important to me. I don't argue about movies anymore. That's my past life. But I am willing to pick my battles, and this is a battle I've chosen, Derek. Rob Pattinson was cast as Batman.
01:10:34
Speaker
You know Twilight Rob Pattinson? Mm-hmm. I fucking love Rob Pattinson, Derek, and people are being too hard on him. Last several years, the guy's been making really good indie movies. I think he's one movie away from being like the next like Brad Pitt or Matt Damon. You guys need to hop on the Pattinson train, because you're gonna bitch about it, and then it's gonna be awesome, and I'm gonna be standing there telling I told you so.
01:10:58
Speaker
You looking for an endorsement from me? No, I figured you would fight me on this and I'm okay with that because it is Rob Pattinson and I'm defending the Twilight guy, but fuck you guys, he's awesome. You know what? Here's what I will say. I will go to bat for you in this sense.
01:11:13
Speaker
When Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker, I was super skeptical. And look at how wrong we all were. I'm just saying. Give Rob Pattinson a chance. Guys, go out there. Watch the movie Good Times. It's on Amazon Prime. You'll change your mind about Rob. You'll come back and thank me. Hey, Derek, let's get the fuck out of here. Hit her goddamn music.