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#58: And In This Corner
31 Plays8 months ago
The boys are talking Pro Wrestling. Julian has a guest on today who shares his passion for the WWE Universe. We chat about how we got into the sport and how much we love the story lines. WrestleMania is right around corner and we cannot wait to see how it goes.
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Transcript
Introduction and Wrestling Passion
00:00:39
Julian Contreras Jr
Oh, hello listeners. Welcome into this great special mini episode. It's obviously called and in this corner. This one is specifically about my love and my guest love for wrestling.
00:00:54
Julian Contreras Jr
Anything pro wrestling is what's going to happen here. If you don't hear Kendall's voice, it's because he's just not into it. Like we are. He's mentioned that a few times and I didn't want to make him do a whole episode.
00:01:08
Julian Contreras Jr
where he didn't really know anything. So this guy over here that I'm gonna introduce right now is ah good friend of mine. He goes to all the shows with me and we have a good time.
00:01:20
Julian Contreras Jr
ah take my son and he shares the passion for the luchador style, I would say, of pro wrestling.
00:01:27
matias
I do.
00:01:28
Julian Contreras Jr
So yeah, so this is my buddy Matias right here. Matias, say hi to everyone.
00:01:33
matias
Hi everybody.
00:01:34
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, short and sweet, I love it. Good job.
00:01:39
Julian Contreras Jr
This, ah so usually Kendall and I can see each other. some reason we have technical difficulties right now. Matias can't see me. So if we sound a little off, just roll with it. We're going to get through and we'll just have a little conversation here.
00:01:54
matias
Yeah, I'm so sorry about that. Something's wrong with my...
00:01:56
Julian Contreras Jr
Oh, you're fine. No, you're good, man. I'm just happy you're here. And I just want to get into this subject of pro wrestling.
Matias' Wrestling Journey
00:02:06
Julian Contreras Jr
Like...
00:02:06
matias
Let's do it. I'm excited.
00:02:09
Julian Contreras Jr
I know you're a lot younger than I am, but we still hang out. We still go to these shows. what
00:02:14
matias
Right.
00:02:15
Julian Contreras Jr
When did you get into wrestling?
00:02:19
matias
When I was a little kid, I used to watch it all the time, like back in like the at the the attitude era. What was it called?
00:02:26
Julian Contreras Jr
Okay. Yeah, yeah.
00:02:28
matias
um And then i stopped watching it like in junior high, I think. And then I didn't watch it for years until I met you and you got me into it. i remember I remember you would tell me about like Roman Reigns and all that. And I didn't know who those were who he was or anything.
00:02:44
matias
But then I would start to get like little clips on TikTok about WWE w right now. And I started watching it back when it was like the beginning of the bloodline, like with was when Sammy was just starting to join them.
00:02:56
matias
And that just got me hooked. The whole bloodline story with the Usos and just Roman Reigns like aura itself was just so cool to like watch on TV. And especially when we went and when I saw him live, it was just it was so cool.
00:03:10
matias
And anyways, yeah, just like getting into it through just watching little clips of it. And then now watching it like on TV whenever it's on, I'll watch clips. I will say like, yes, I am a big fan. um I'm not too invested into like every story, but I definitely follow up on it. And I have my my opinions on what what could happen, what's going to happen and the characters and so on. And I have my favorite wrestlers.
00:03:32
matias
And yes, but like it's been like what, like, I think three years now.
00:03:36
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, since I pulled you back in.
00:03:38
matias
Yeah. When did we go to our first show?
00:03:40
Julian Contreras Jr
I had to go like three or four years ago. i think it was the first one was that Smackdown we went to.
00:03:46
matias
was that Was that, yeah, was it 2023 or 2022? ah twenty twenty two i think it was 2022. Yeah,
00:03:52
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. When I actually got you agreed to go with me, you were like, yeah, I'll go.
00:03:56
matias
yeah, yeah that was that was awesome. Like, I didn't think I was going to like as much as I like it now. But going going live, seeing it in person is just different. youre You're there with the crowd, the atmosphere.
00:04:10
matias
And it's in every single song pop when ah when a wrestler comes out, it's electrifying. um
Wrestling Characters and Storylines
00:04:17
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah.
00:04:17
matias
And oh yeah, dude, I freaking, it's just such a cool thing. um I try to even get like my other friends who like, like will like, like it, you know, they'll see little clips here of it then.
00:04:27
matias
And I tell them about it. Oh yeah, this is what's going on. Like I have, I have a buddy who's, who was intrigued into like the whole Rey Mysterio and Dominic Mysterio a drama that was going on like ah ah so long ago.
00:04:40
Julian Contreras Jr
Oh, when, uh, Dominic was, uh, being first introduced and he was supposed to turn on his dad that time.
00:04:40
matias
And
00:04:46
matias
So no, this was like when this was literally a couple months ago. He's like, what's the whole thing with Rey and his son? And I'm like, oh yeah, so pretty much all this happened long ago, and now we're here.
00:04:58
matias
And Dominik is just the the best. In my opinion, i think he's the best heel. he He does so good at the heel position, and and he kills it, yeah.
00:05:06
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, and and for the listeners here, if you if you're not an avid fan, we're going to say heel and babyface or face. So a heel is a bad guy. Some people are just born to be bad guys on the show.
00:05:22
Julian Contreras Jr
It's just how it is. And then the babyfaces, those are your quote-unquote good guys that we want to cheer for and we want to succeed. That's our Cody Rhodes right now.
00:05:35
Julian Contreras Jr
So when he's talking about that, yeah, Dominic does a great, great job at being a heel. Everyone hates him. takes the booze very well. i mean, he almost encourages them, I think, at some shows.
00:05:49
matias
Dude, yeah, when we first saw him, so when I was watching him live and I heard all the boos, I thought maybe, like, they just, like, turned down his mic so we couldn't hear him. But seeing all the, hearing all the boos live, it's loud.
00:06:02
matias
Like, I'm like, oh, wow, this is real.
00:06:03
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah.
00:06:06
Julian Contreras Jr
It is really loud. and it is You're completely right. It is 100% a hundred percent a different different atmosphere once you go to the show. like You don't have to deal with the commercials. Stuff's happening during the show. you get a little pre-show to warm you up for the actual show to start. So those are kind of fun to watch.
00:06:25
matias
um I have a question for you now that I'm thinking of but i don't want to forget.
00:06:28
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, go ahead.
00:06:29
matias
um How do you feel about Cody as the champion?
00:06:33
Julian Contreras Jr
Oh, we're going right there, huh? Okay, put me on the spot.
00:06:36
matias
i just i just know I'm going to forget about it.
00:06:36
Julian Contreras Jr
right, so Cody's been champion since last WrestleMania, right? I mean, that's not spoiler alert for anybody.
00:06:45
matias
Mm-hmm.
00:06:46
Julian Contreras Jr
I feel like he is he himself is a great person and a great champion. I think the buildup to his story because of the injuries that had happened and who he was supposed to fight, those have let us down.
00:07:02
Julian Contreras Jr
So CM Punk getting his tricep torn at the Royal Rumble last year, that put a huge damper into what was supposed to happen.
00:07:09
matias
Mm-hmm.
00:07:13
Julian Contreras Jr
And some people say it was supposed to be him and Drew, but I mean, you never know what they were going to actually do. But these injuries pop up and it just, it hurts the story. And so I think we ran into a few roadblocks on Cody's side.
00:07:26
Julian Contreras Jr
Cody's still there doing his thing, but his storyline where it was supposed to go had hiccups so i know i know how you feel about it so so why are you going
00:07:39
matias
do you want me to okay okay i i like him i like him ah he's a he's a good baby face but i at first when he became champion it was super exciting because i i feel like everybody could agree that everybody was just tired of roman being champion for i think four years at that point three years four years exactly and like that's that's super cool
00:07:56
Julian Contreras Jr
it was a thousand and something days yeah
00:08:02
matias
But yeah, there needed to be some change, something new. And I think Cody was the guy for it. As just now watching it, I just feel like he's very like animated when he he when he's on the mic. I don't feel that like.
00:08:17
matias
like ruthless champion mentality from him. Like you do with John Cena or Roman Reigns when they're on the mic, you just don't feel it yet. He's got a good pop. He's got a good um fan base and everything. And like, he's, he's a good wrestler, but I don't know. I just, I don't feel like that's like, it almost feels like he's not the champion.
00:08:37
Julian Contreras Jr
Kind of like he's a placeholder for something that's going to happen.
00:08:40
matias
Exactly, exactly, yes. like when When Roman was champion, you could feel the aura, the energy, you know especially watching him live. You could feel it with Cody. and even even I don't even like how he carries the belt around.
00:08:53
matias
It's almost like if it's like ah if it's just like a dirty rag that's just like, oh, I got to go put this away somewhere. like Do you know what I mean? Am I the only one?
00:09:00
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. i
00:09:00
matias
Exactly.
00:09:01
Julian Contreras Jr
I can see that. I mean, Roman would come out wearing it and it would be his and then he'd hand it off and hold it up.
00:09:07
matias
Exactly.
00:09:08
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, Cody comes out. It's draped over his shoulder. i mean, he's dressed in the 90s. He's always got his cool suit on.
00:09:14
matias
Yeah, I know. He's always looking good. Those suits are really cool.
00:09:16
Julian Contreras Jr
And...
00:09:19
matias
um But yeah, it'd be cool if he like put it put it on like his waist. you know like Make it a part of him.
00:09:25
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. I don't know how I feel. I mean, you know how I feel about the Tribal Chief. I even told you during the show, yeah, put the ones up every time.
00:09:35
matias
The one's up.
00:09:37
Julian Contreras Jr
It... Even at the end of his reign where it was like he's barely there, he's fighting like two or three times a year. Every time you hear those drums, it's I'll be the first one to stand up and throw my arm in the air. And I even told you at one of the shows, I'm like, dude, what?
00:09:54
Julian Contreras Jr
i say I don't like him, but I'm the first one to stand up and jump and scream.
00:09:59
matias
No, yeah, same. when When we saw him live, I was like, oh, I can't wait till he loses. But you hear those drums, you get up from your seat, you put the ones up, you're just, you're, that's the tribal chief.
00:10:06
Julian Contreras Jr
but You have to acknowledge. Yeah, OTC. So, I don't know.
00:10:13
matias
Um.
00:10:15
Julian Contreras Jr
i I like where it's going, and that's kind of where this episode is going into. I want to get some excitement in for WrestleMania. It's coming up in less than 20 days now.
00:10:27
Julian Contreras Jr
Oh, man, is it less than 20?
00:10:27
matias
Mm-hmm.
00:10:30
Julian Contreras Jr
Jeez.
00:10:32
Julian Contreras Jr
Are you...
00:10:32
matias
Oh my gosh, yeah, that's literally the next, oh my god, the 19th and the 20th of April, right?
00:10:37
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah.
00:10:38
matias
Oh my gosh, dude, that's, yeah, like 20-something days.
00:10:44
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. I think you have your you have your work timeline and then there's wrestling timeline, which is completely
Wrestling as Entertainment and Art
00:10:50
Julian Contreras Jr
different. You feel like, okay, I work this Monday through Friday, so that's five days. But wrestling, we only get Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. If you watch NXT, that's on Tuesdays.
00:11:03
Julian Contreras Jr
So if you're just going from Monday to Friday, time flies.
00:11:04
matias
i
00:11:09
Julian Contreras Jr
So
00:11:09
matias
um are you Are you excited? Mm-hmm.
00:11:13
Julian Contreras Jr
I'm getting more excited. I'll tell you what, when I was watching on Netflix this last time and they said it was 26 days away. Like I got so excited. i'm like, Oh, are you serious? It's that short.
00:11:26
Julian Contreras Jr
Cause if we started at like 90 something days, 120 days, now it's down to small numbers.
00:11:34
matias
So what do you think is going to happen? Like, where do you think the story is going? What do you think is going to be the big pop?
00:11:42
Julian Contreras Jr
I am hoping for a Stone Cold Shatter glass break.
00:11:45
matias
Ooh.
00:11:47
Julian Contreras Jr
Anybody that's my age knows that pop. You know that pop from the Attitude Era.
00:11:51
matias
Yeah.
00:11:52
Julian Contreras Jr
It's going to be insane. If that glass breaks and it's during Cody's match and he comes out and either helps or hurts, I don't know how I want it to go yet because I am fully enjoying the heel Cena.
00:12:08
matias
Dude, Cena is so good no matter what position, what character he plays. He's just great at it. He's so good at it. Dude, like did you watch the one episode where he's like, that little kid over there, you're you're a toxic relationship.
00:12:24
matias
And then they put the camera on the little kid.
00:12:25
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah.
00:12:27
matias
I'm like, I was i was dying. That was hilarious.
00:12:29
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. It was. And he had just said, i don't know if you saw the reel on TikTok or Instagram or whatever, but just before he said that, the camera was on that kid and he had just yelled, i love you.
00:12:43
Julian Contreras Jr
and then he said, but I mean, that kid's forever.
00:12:43
matias
Oh, man, that's so sad.
00:12:49
Julian Contreras Jr
ah One thing about wrestling is these us as fans, if you're in the audience, And you're so involved in this story, which it is. It's a story. Let's be honest.
00:13:00
matias
it's It's like I used to like. be a hater towards it's like oh it's fake blah blah but now when you get it's it's just like any play any movie you know that has a story and it's good there's drama there's twists and turns and you get hooked to it and ah again it's these guys and and like people will say wrestling is fake you know but these guys are still putting their bodies on the line throwing themselves off the top rope catching each other getting hurt injured they're putting on a show of their entertainment that's what they do and they're good at it
00:13:29
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. Jumping off a cage, breaking both ankles.
00:13:34
matias
Oh man, that's crazy.
00:13:36
Julian Contreras Jr
Of course, we're talking about, there's a wrestler called Bronson Reed, and he did that exact thing in a War Games match in a steel cage, and he snapped both ankles on landing.
00:13:48
matias
Is he supposed to come back?
00:13:48
Julian Contreras Jr
Still finished the match. ah Yeah, he's supposed to come back at some point, but...
00:13:53
matias
Whatever happened to, man, Tangaloa?
00:13:57
Julian Contreras Jr
I think he injured his shoulder, I want to say. Don't quote me on that, but he did hurt himself in one of the matches and he hasn't been able to do anything.
00:14:04
matias
I just thought maybe like, yeah, because I know he got injured, but I just thought maybe like they cut him because let's be honest, he wasn't all that good.
00:14:12
Julian Contreras Jr
The charisma wasn't there.
00:14:13
matias
So maybe.
00:14:15
Julian Contreras Jr
Not as much as his brother, Tama.
00:14:18
matias
Tom was good.
00:14:19
Julian Contreras Jr
And Jacob Fatu is the next... In two years, he's going to be champion and it's going to be insane.
00:14:26
matias
Tama, dude, he's insane. So good.
00:14:29
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah.
00:14:30
matias
i' I'm i'm like baffled that he just like didn't show up in the w w years ago.
00:14:36
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. He's really good at wrestling, all the moves that he can do. And just the way he can say one word. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy to watch.
00:14:48
Julian Contreras Jr
But that's why we love these characters. And I can't, I honestly can't wait.
00:14:50
matias
yeah
00:14:52
Julian Contreras Jr
I haven't told you how many meet and greets are scheduled for my son and I when we go to WrestleMania. cause I kind of want to surprise you with some of those pictures.
00:15:01
matias
Oh, dude. Dude, you know, if you meet the ones that I tell you about all the time, going to be so jealous.
00:15:10
Julian Contreras Jr
all I'll try to get a photo.
00:15:11
matias
if
00:15:12
Julian Contreras Jr
I will tell you those ones that are are your favorite were sold out so fast, ae I couldn't get to them.
00:15:16
matias
ah If... you can get If you can get a recording of them just saying, hey, Matias, that'd be so cool.
00:15:23
Julian Contreras Jr
but
00:15:24
matias
Ha ha ha.
00:15:24
Julian Contreras Jr
You're just, you're done.
00:15:26
matias
um I'll be happy. I can die happy there.
00:15:31
Julian Contreras Jr
So ah you go to a ton of live shows with me, the Raws and the Smackdowns. They haven't had so much of the, yeah what they call house shows lately where it's non-televised.
00:15:42
Julian Contreras Jr
And it's basically like a practice warmup round where the wrestlers can more interact with the fans without the fear of being televised. Right? You've been to those ones.
00:15:52
matias
Yeah, that's those aren't like part of the storyline or anything, right?
00:15:54
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah.
00:15:55
matias
They're just like practice.
00:15:55
Julian Contreras Jr
It's more of like a warmup. Some of the moves can be a little bit different. They can be more funny because they don't have to worry about it.
00:16:03
matias
Right. Like, have you seen the clips of those? They're hilarious.
00:16:06
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, there was one that was just recently out from where they're at now on the other side of the world. ah Did you see Gunther versus CM Punk?
00:16:15
matias
No.
00:16:16
Julian Contreras Jr
all right, so Gunther, you know, i mean, Matthias knows Gunther. Believe me, he's got his opinion on this guy. But his chops are insane. And by chops, I mean slaps to the chest.
00:16:30
Julian Contreras Jr
he slapped CM Punk so hard that when CM Punk fell down, his face, ah you just have to see the clip. He laughs, looks at the crowd, and then taps out.
00:16:42
Julian Contreras Jr
Like, not...
00:16:42
matias
Oh, I did see this. I did see this. That's so funny.
00:16:45
Julian Contreras Jr
He... and They're so loud. And you think that sound is just like a pop that's built into your show you're watching. But being live, you can hear those.
00:16:56
matias
You can hear it.
00:16:58
Julian Contreras Jr
i mean... You just have to be crazy to take those chops every single night from this guy.
00:17:04
matias
And that's what I'm saying, dude. It's the commitment these wrestlers, these people put in. like it's not It's not just a You toss each other around. No, it's like commitment. It's passion. They they love it.
00:17:15
matias
It's a sport.
00:17:15
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. Exactly. And that brings me to one of our new favorite wrestlers that's out there right now.
Luchador Style and Women's Wrestling Evolution
00:17:24
Julian Contreras Jr
Penta. He's obviously from...
00:17:26
matias
Cero miedo.
00:17:28
Julian Contreras Jr
He's from the the Mexican side of wrestling, which is called Lucha Libre, where they seem to take it to the next level down there. Right? I've never seen an actual luchador fight except for what's on WWE.
00:17:44
Julian Contreras Jr
Their moves that they can do and the way it's choreographed is crazy.
00:17:50
matias
They're just high flyers. they They don't care what they do as long as it look good it looks good.
00:17:57
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, you can see him jumping off the ropes to the outside of the ring, which is like, what, four four feet longer, I guess. And jumping right over through the ropes, over the ropes, off tables, off ladders.
00:18:14
Julian Contreras Jr
Penta's just great at it He's great charisma. I'm glad he's in the WWE again. and just, I can't.
00:18:21
matias
And he's got ah he's got a good fan base already. Everybody loves him.
00:18:25
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, I think it's that metal song.
00:18:25
matias
I can't wait till we go and I can see them. Huh?
00:18:28
Julian Contreras Jr
His intro is insane.
00:18:30
matias
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:18:30
Julian Contreras Jr
As soon as you hear that metal, I mean, that's that's my favorite type of music anyway, but you hear it and you know it's coming out and you can just see him and then he does the the fingers up and the fingers down.
00:18:43
Julian Contreras Jr
and It's awesome.
00:18:45
matias
When it was the Royal Rumble and they had a Rey Mysterio and Penta go out there for the first two. I thought that was really cool. that You know, two Mexican luchadors going out there and they were great. And dude, Rey Mysterio, he's like 51, I think. And he's still doing the things he does.
00:19:02
matias
How? I can't even do that.
00:19:04
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, it's insane. It's like ah like you said earlier, it's a commitment to the craft. This is what I'm going to do. I mean, look at Dominic. He's quote-unquote super young, but he was doing this back when he was a child.
00:19:20
Julian Contreras Jr
When they were super old, they had a ladder match for the rights to... As stupid as it sounds, it is. The rights to adopt him.
00:19:30
Julian Contreras Jr
like it was either going to Eddie Guerrero or... And he's going to stay with his dad, Rey Mysterio.
00:19:35
matias
That wouldn't, I don't think that would work nowadays, that that style of a match.
00:19:40
Julian Contreras Jr
You don't think so?
00:19:42
matias
I don't think they would do that. Back in the day, it was something different to do that.
00:19:45
Julian Contreras Jr
i
00:19:47
matias
Like, now, I don't i don't know, but it was it was a funny, like, thing.
00:19:52
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, there was a lot of matches that were back in the day that you could absolutely not have anymore. i think some of the women's fight... Some of these women are great, great athletes.
00:20:06
Julian Contreras Jr
And before, in the Attitude Era, what did we have when the women wrestlers would come out? Broad panties matches.
00:20:13
matias
yeah
00:20:14
Julian Contreras Jr
It was the first one to get the other girl out of their regular clothes, and that was the winner. But you know, when that started to turn, if you can remember back, I know you're a lot younger, but when Lita and Trish Stratus
00:20:32
Julian Contreras Jr
Those two women could wrestle and high fly.
00:20:38
Julian Contreras Jr
They kind of changed the entire way that we saw women's wrestling. Before it was just like, oh, here comes the eye candy part. So as my dad used to say, well, we can go get popcorn now because it doesn't really matter.
00:20:52
Julian Contreras Jr
But now it does.
00:20:53
matias
Oh, it does, yeah. No, the women's stories now, they're they're good. Everything about it. The whole thing with Bianca Belair, Naomi, and, oh, man, and Jade Cargo.
00:21:04
Julian Contreras Jr
Jade? How do you forget Jade? That's like your favorite.
00:21:07
matias
i No, no, no. I was just...
00:21:08
Julian Contreras Jr
Oh,
00:21:09
matias
i was I was thinking about her so much, I just...
00:21:12
Julian Contreras Jr
I lost the train.
00:21:12
matias
Forgot.
00:21:13
Julian Contreras Jr
Okay, I got you.
00:21:13
matias
Exactly. And no, yeah, I could never forget about Jade. She's my favorite. Right now, she's she's definitely my favorite. um But that whole storyline right now, it's so, dude, oh man, dude.
00:21:25
matias
I can go on about Naomi and um Bianca's... ah promo a few weeks ago when they just sold it, dude. like The passion, the emotion, the fake crying. I don't even think it was fake. It had to be real.
00:21:39
matias
because like the the Just the feelings they were putting theyre putting in. and I remember I texted you and you were you said you were like, I had to watch that again. Yeah, it was really good. and dode Do you know do remember what I'm talking about?
00:21:52
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, I remember, of course.
00:21:54
matias
Yeah, that was insane. Just the whole storyline now with ah Naomi and and Jade. No, but that was that was sick. like i feel like I feel like just going back to like back in the day, they didn't really make the women do those type of stories, and now they do, and they're so good at it.
00:22:14
Julian Contreras Jr
Right. And speaking along those lines, I wonder of the i love that match. Believe me, um i love the way Naomi is doing the heel turn. I was personally getting a little, I don't want to say tired because it sounds mean, but of the whole glow thing.
00:22:32
Julian Contreras Jr
And now, did if did you see her the last, when she came and attacked Jade, wearing all black with a little bit of neon and just vicious?
00:22:40
matias
Yeah. Yeah, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah. The glow, like she would just glow in the dark and everything. She had a lot of pup and popping colors.
00:22:49
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:51
matias
Yeah, it's interesting where they're taking her now. I'm excited to see it.
00:22:54
Julian Contreras Jr
So being that, I love that match. What needs a little bit more pizzazz is Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair.
00:23:06
matias
Dude, i have like my opinions about this.
00:23:09
Julian Contreras Jr
It's, it's new school versus old school. If you want to put it in those terms, I, I highly don't think that in my opinion, this is what we say a lot on this show.
00:23:22
Julian Contreras Jr
is I don't think Charlotte should have won the Royal Rumble.
00:23:26
matias
Nope.
00:23:27
Julian Contreras Jr
I feel like she should have come in second or third, got eliminated by somebody, had a match to get to the number one contender, and we would be behind her more as a comeback story.
00:23:40
Julian Contreras Jr
But the way they did it, they did those promos where the queen is here, she's on the boat, she's coming back. and to automat she didn't come in number did she?
00:23:53
matias
No, she was I think she was the lot one of the last five. She wasn't 30, though.
00:23:58
Julian Contreras Jr
Okay.
00:23:59
matias
I can't remember. but
00:24:02
Julian Contreras Jr
But I think...
00:24:02
matias
No, yeah, i just they just threw her back in. There there wasn't like any work done. you know She didn't put in the work to get there. For example, John Cena, he's slowly been coming back, and I feel like he's put in the work to be in the main event of WrestleMania.
00:24:19
matias
Yeah. And Charlotte, i that's I remember also, I started watching WWE right when she got injured. No, no. Right before, yeah, i a little bit before she got injured. So I didn't really remember her all too much. I just know her Ric Flair's daughter.
00:24:36
matias
um But yeah, I just, I don't know. there Like, she's great. She's got the the pop to her, you know. she can She's good at wrestling.
00:24:44
Julian Contreras Jr
yeah
00:24:45
matias
But she just didn't, in my opinion, put in the work. It was given to her.
00:24:49
Julian Contreras Jr
This time, she has put in work in the past, and I feel like the injury came out ah on a freak accident where she fell off the top rope and she got her knee caught up in it and it just tore, tore I think everything in that knee.
00:24:52
matias
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
00:25:04
Julian Contreras Jr
So she did put in the work to get back, but yeah, I feel the same way. it was just basically handed back. Okay, this is where you were when you got hurt. This is immediately where we're going to put you as soon as you come back.
00:25:18
matias
Exactly, and like I feel like there was other women that have been working overtime that could probably deserve that that ah main event spot.
00:25:27
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. And the way it's going right now with their promos together, Charlotte is great at a promo. Tiffany is learning. Obviously she's been through NXT. She had good promos there, but when you go up against the likes of a legend, I'm going to call her a legend.
00:25:44
matias
Mm-hmm.
00:25:44
Julian Contreras Jr
that she already is, yeah, that's gonna be nerve wracking. And you're gonna feel like you have to do over what she's doing and try to top her.
00:25:55
Julian Contreras Jr
i don't know, did you feel that way during their promo?
00:25:59
matias
See, this is what I say when I'm not too invested in every story. I have watched their matches because I was just about to ask, what's Trish Stratus doing? Why are her and Tiffany teaming?
00:26:11
matias
I've like, I haven't been following up too much on that.
00:26:14
Julian Contreras Jr
All right, so I feel like they had Trish Stratus with Tiffany during that tag match because the show was in Canada and Trish is Canadian.
00:26:22
matias
Okay.
00:26:23
Julian Contreras Jr
So that would obviously give Tiffany that huge babyface push as the champion where everyone's going to cheer her because they're obviously going to cheer Trish Stratus.
00:26:27
matias
Thank you.
00:26:34
Julian Contreras Jr
And it worked. It did. They got a huge pop. They won the match. But now that Tiffany's by herself going into this, and she's great. She...
00:26:45
Julian Contreras Jr
ah like a former Olympic gold medal ah gymnast. I think I said that right. She's got the stunts. She's got the flying. She's not afraid to do a crazy moonsault off the top and just blindly do it.
00:26:59
Julian Contreras Jr
She's one of the most not-catched. No, not-caught. They don't like to catch her when she does moonsaults. know if you've noticed that.
00:27:10
matias
Yeah, no, she kind of just falls on them.
00:27:12
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, I don't know if they're scared of catching her or if it's like she jumps too far or too short sometimes. But the one to her finishing move, the prettiest world's prettiest moonsault, that she hits every time.
WrestleMania Speculations and Star Stories
00:27:27
Julian Contreras Jr
It's insane.
00:27:27
matias
It's so good. And seeing it seeing it in person is even better.
00:27:32
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, exactly. So idea I wish there was a little more to that story. They still have a couple weeks to get it done. We'll see. I mean, in our time, SmackDown's already happened. It's not going to play till tonight for us, but I i haven't looked into it to see what's going on.
00:27:48
Julian Contreras Jr
But something's got to happen on this SmackDown. There's only, what, four or five shows left?
00:27:56
Julian Contreras Jr
Before Mania and that SmackDown?
00:27:56
matias
Yeah. are they Are they back from Europe? Are they still in Europe today?
00:28:02
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, they're still in Europe.
00:28:04
matias
When do they come back?
00:28:05
Julian Contreras Jr
I don't think they come back until the week right before Mania.
00:28:05
matias
because it's
00:28:10
matias
Really? i thought they were going to do at least two shows before Mania.
00:28:13
Julian Contreras Jr
Well, SmackDown is in Las Vegas the day the two days before. No, it's the day before. And then NXT is that morning.
00:28:24
matias
Okay.
00:28:25
Julian Contreras Jr
But i think I think Raw is still over there that Monday beforehand. So, all right. How many more matches are there that we need to talk about? We already talked about we're loving in the John Cena heel turn. We've talked about Cody.
00:28:41
Julian Contreras Jr
I want to dive a little bit more back into the tribal chief CM Punk and Drew Seth Rollins.
00:28:50
matias
sir Seth Rollins.
00:28:52
Julian Contreras Jr
Thank you.
00:28:53
matias
um Yeah. um I'm liking that. It's going to be a good... It's going to be a WrestleMania match for sure. ah Triple threat.
00:29:03
Julian Contreras Jr
But here's what I'm saying.
00:29:03
matias
um um
00:29:04
Julian Contreras Jr
I don't want to cut you off, but I am going to.
00:29:06
matias
can
00:29:06
Julian Contreras Jr
What is it for?
00:29:09
matias
Yeah. I don't know. It's confusing.
00:29:10
Julian Contreras Jr
It, Cannot just be bragging rights with those three names.
00:29:16
Julian Contreras Jr
CM Punk has that favor from Paul Heyman. just I've heard this on a lot of wrestling shows that I listen to. Does Paul Heyman have the power to make this a number one contenders match to then be in the Cody Cena fight?
00:29:37
Julian Contreras Jr
Or maybe on Monday night?
00:29:39
matias
Ooh.
00:29:41
Julian Contreras Jr
the day after Mania for a title defense right away.
00:29:50
Julian Contreras Jr
Because honestly, I feel like, I don't know anything, obviously. i in my hardest of hearts, feel like John Cena is going to win this match.
00:29:58
matias
So wait, you think you think that yeah Cody's and John's match is going to be on the first night, John wins, and there's three this triple threat could be like, what's it called? First contenders to face John Cena the next day?
00:30:13
Julian Contreras Jr
i would I wouldn't put it past it because the Raw after Mania is always insane. People come back, crazy stuff happens. I mean, it's been done before where somebody's won the night before. It's been a huge pop and then they immediately lose.
00:30:29
matias
Dude, because that would be insane. The day after. like Because, I mean, it would give John Cena the status, I've won this 17 times. And then to lose it right away?
00:30:41
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, in his promos, he sounds like he's just going to retire the belt and go away with it.
00:30:42
matias
why not?
00:30:47
Julian Contreras Jr
But I think he's supposed to finish out the year. So I don't i don't know if it's if it is a number number one contenders match. Maybe they'll wait for SummerSlam.
00:30:57
Julian Contreras Jr
But it'll be announced on Raw that, guess what, the winner of that match was the number one contender. We just didn't say it. But that match has to be for something.
00:31:08
matias
It does, yeah. But what?
00:31:11
Julian Contreras Jr
It's too big. It's almost bigger than the title fight.
00:31:14
matias
Both of them.
00:31:16
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, exactly.
00:31:17
matias
Honestly.
00:31:18
Julian Contreras Jr
Oh, but let's... I see what you're getting at. Jey Uso.
00:31:26
Julian Contreras Jr
In one word, yeet.
00:31:26
matias
Yeet.
00:31:29
Julian Contreras Jr
Exactly.
00:31:30
matias
Yeet.
00:31:32
Julian Contreras Jr
I... When that...
00:31:33
matias
I hope he wins. I hope he wins. He's my favorite, dude. The guy is so cool. i hope he wins. A lot of people weren't happy about him winning the Royal the royal Rumble. But in my opinion, he deserves it. He's been working so hard. He's been um putting that overtime.
00:31:48
matias
he he's He's in every fight. he In my opinion, he deserves it. and And yeah, I hope he wins it. I'm tired of Gunther. I'm tired of Gunther. He's so boring. Yeah.
00:31:58
Julian Contreras Jr
yeah I told you guys he had an opinion on it.
00:31:59
matias
yeah
00:32:01
Julian Contreras Jr
I also feel like Jay is going to win this one. i really hope he does. I really, really want to be there when that happens. I want to be yelling. I want to be screaming. I want to be hands up and down, yeeting with him as he holds up that belt for his very first World Heavyweight Championship.
00:32:22
Julian Contreras Jr
I'm going to get goosebumps. It's crazy.
00:32:24
matias
Dude, you're going to be right there in that stadium. That many people yeeting. It's going to be so cool, dude.
00:32:31
Julian Contreras Jr
It's going to be loud.
00:32:34
matias
I'm so jealous.
00:32:36
Julian Contreras Jr
I'll get it on video. I plan on getting a lot of video for you and sending You you might have to come and hang out to watch it all because I don't think I'm gonna text it all or everything to you. but
00:32:44
matias
Yeah.
00:32:45
Julian Contreras Jr
yeah I really hope Jey Uso does it. absolutely love He and his twin brother, Jimmy, just a little backstory for the listeners, they have been a tag team for years.
00:32:56
Julian Contreras Jr
Absolutely together. They're actually twins. and Some people say they're twins and they they aren't. Undertaker, K, i'm looking at you, brothers. But these guys are actually brothers.
00:33:08
Julian Contreras Jr
And they broke up during the whole Bloodline storyline. And Jay went one way and went to Raw. Cody brought him over there and he just blew up.
00:33:21
Julian Contreras Jr
Jimmy disappeared for a little while and didn't quite get that push.
00:33:27
Julian Contreras Jr
And some some people say that has to do with the theme song he got. And just that it's so upbeat. don't know. How do you feel about the brothers?
00:33:40
matias
Um, I like them both. I think, I think, like I said, Jay is just more of a workhorse. He's put in the work. Jimmy, i feel like, I think there was, cause I heard, I heard he, he had a kid or something outside of the WWE, obviously like his personal life. So I think that's what kind of took him out for a little bit.
00:34:01
matias
Um, but, um, I think it was just all due to like their personal lives and time. Jay just had obviously the crowd with him, everybody loved him, he had the the crash out Jay, you know, and he was just crazy all the time, everybody liked that, and then obviously when Jimmy went heel, nobody liked that, like, he betrayed, yeah the whole thing was so confusing, it's like, you betrayed Roman, then you betrayed Jay, like, dude, what are you doing, um so nobody liked that, and then that pushed Jay up more, and then Jay, again, he's just so good, he just put in that work, and
00:34:13
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah.
00:34:35
matias
Now he's at where he's at. Jimmy didn't get that push. I think he will eventually. Because even now, he's kind of just like ah even now he's just kind of like a mid-card wrestler. He doesn't really doing anything crazy. the the They had a ah tag team match. Was it last week? The Usos? Against Thunder... I'm sorry.
00:34:53
matias
I'm thinking of Vegas.
00:34:56
Julian Contreras Jr
Thunder Down Under. No, it's a different show you were watching, bud.
00:34:59
matias
but
00:34:59
Julian Contreras Jr
ah A-Town Down.
00:35:01
matias
i'm sorry i'm thinking of vegas
00:35:03
Julian Contreras Jr
but
00:35:04
matias
A-town down under.
00:35:06
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, and they won that one. And that led to, you saw the Stirlwell interaction where on Monday Night Raw it's going to be Jimmy versus Gunther.
00:35:08
matias
Yeah.
00:35:16
matias
Oh, okay.
00:35:17
Julian Contreras Jr
And I feel like Jimmy is going to get worked and Jay is going to have to come out and he'll probably snap and be more aggressive.
00:35:17
matias
Okay.
00:35:27
Julian Contreras Jr
And I feel like this is where this part of the storyline comes in that I want to bring up real quick. Do you feel like they're having Jay botch these moves as a lead up to thinking Gunther's too much in his head and he can't focus?
00:35:42
Julian Contreras Jr
It started with that jump over the ropes that he missed.
00:35:45
matias
Oh, okay.
00:35:46
Julian Contreras Jr
That may or may not have been real. Okay. But that slip when he was going to spear him, that one, if you watch in slow motion, He didn't slip.
00:35:57
Julian Contreras Jr
He purposely picked his foot up and kicked off of nothing and kind of tripped himself to where he got caught.
00:36:04
matias
Okay, that's interesting. I didn't i genuinely thought, I'm like, dude, why is he botching things right now?
00:36:11
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, because then...
00:36:11
matias
Like, it's just gonna it's going to ruin his case. Everybody already is, like, mad that he's in the and ah ah main event. But ah that's interesting. that's a good That's a good story. Like, just Gunther getting in his head.
00:36:24
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah, because you can see it in the stairwell where his brother's talking to him and he's like, hey, man, you got to focus up.
00:36:24
matias
That's interesting.
00:36:28
Julian Contreras Jr
like He's like, I can't. This guy's just – he's in there and I can't beat him. i I'm 3-0 and 3 against him. And some people say I can't do it. Am I wasting my shot? Should I have picked Cody and had a better shot?
00:36:45
Julian Contreras Jr
But that's the whole lead-up to the whole underdog story for Jay.
00:36:49
matias
Yeah. I mean, that's good, too. unless Unless maybe he did botch it and they used that as an excuse for him botching it.
00:36:59
Julian Contreras Jr
I mean, yeah, writers are clever. They work quick. So if he did somehow miss that jump over to A-Town down a couple weeks back and it wasn't on purpose, then they fixed it right away.
00:37:13
Julian Contreras Jr
You know?
00:37:13
matias
but and And it is interesting because he usually doesn't botch things. He never messes up. He's he's very like accurate on all his moves.
00:37:22
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. So that's Jay. That's their story. ah Is there anything left to talk about? We've talked about pretty much everything. And I and love the banter back and forth on this subject with you.
00:37:37
Julian Contreras Jr
ah do ah do want to talk about ah
Wrestling in Pop Culture and Community Appreciation
00:37:40
Julian Contreras Jr
movie real quick. cause Because I can't. I mean, we're an inter ten entertainment podcast. And I know, Matthias, you are an avid listener all the time. You know how this goes.
00:37:48
matias
Right. Yeah.
00:37:50
Julian Contreras Jr
But I want to talk about the movie Ready to Rumble from the year 2000. It's rated PG-13. it's sp braided pg thirteen Only has a 52% Rotten Tomatoes. It had a lot to do with WCW at the time.
00:38:03
Julian Contreras Jr
And obviously we're talking about the w WWE. So 25 years ago, that you know there was two companies, right?
00:38:10
matias
yeah
00:38:10
Julian Contreras Jr
And they were fighting back and forth for ratings. And at the time, WCW was huge. So this whole movie, Ready to Rumble, that stars David Arquette and Scott Kahn and Oliver Platt,
00:38:25
Julian Contreras Jr
takes place in WCW.
00:38:29
Julian Contreras Jr
Oliver Platt plays a champion in that league. And David Arquette and Scott Kahn are really huge fans, kind of like we are, that try to go pick him up when he's down and try to get him back fighting.
00:38:44
Julian Contreras Jr
It's a comedy. It's kind of... It's not great. But if you love wrestling, you'll kind of like it. There's plenty of cameos from a ton of WCW stars.
00:38:56
Julian Contreras Jr
And David Arquette actually during the promotion of this movie, he became the world heavyweight champion of WCW for 12 days. Did you know that?
00:39:05
matias
No, I didn't.
00:39:06
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. So some people say that happened to be one of the final nails in the coffin to the ultimate demise of WCW where it kind of went out of business because they were reaching for stars and anything they could get headliners to be on the show.
00:39:24
Julian Contreras Jr
But if you want to watch this movie, it's from the year 2000. Like I said, it's going to be not the greatest, especially if you're not a wrestling fan at all. So I encourage you, Matias, to give that a shot.
00:39:39
matias
I'll watch it. um i swear I watched it like years ago, maybe when I was a little kid. i just know that had to they have the done the boxing announcer. um That's all I know.
00:39:51
matias
But maybe I haven't seen it.
00:39:51
Julian Contreras Jr
Michael, I think.
00:39:53
matias
Yeah. But I'll definitely give that a watch.
00:39:57
Julian Contreras Jr
All right. Awesome. As for coming up WrestleMania, this will be probably our only show that takes place on wrestling. I hope you guys stuck with us, enjoyed our banter back and forth, heard the passion that is behind our voices in this quote unquote male soap opera, as my other friend calls it.
00:40:15
Julian Contreras Jr
And I agree with him. i'm like, it is dude.
00:40:17
matias
Yeah, it is.
00:40:17
Julian Contreras Jr
That's what it is. But we love it. We immerse ourselves in that world. And that's exactly what this podcast is. Shut off, turn on, Put yourself in the WWE w universe and look at it as a fan, not a critic.
00:40:32
Julian Contreras Jr
You will enjoy yourself. It's a lot of fun.
00:40:38
matias
ah really is.
00:40:38
Julian Contreras Jr
But
00:40:38
matias
It really is. like I used to be like that, dude. And you got me into it. it's And now love it.
00:40:43
Julian Contreras Jr
yeah, don't be scared. Wear your wrestling shirt around. i can tell I wore wrestling shirts all the way up through, i think junior high. And then I took so much crap for it that I stopped.
00:40:56
Julian Contreras Jr
I was still watching it and me and my buddy, we didn't have DVR at the time. So one of us would have to record one of the shows and the other one recorded the other. And at the end at nine o'clock, we rode our bikes to each other's house. We switched VHS tapes and we watched the other show.
00:41:14
matias
That's cool.
00:41:16
Julian Contreras Jr
That's a core memory that, I mean, DVR, you won't have to do that anymore, but it was so much fun to actually do that. So you didn't have to miss anything like switching channels back and forth.
00:41:29
Julian Contreras Jr
But thank you, Matias, for being on the show. As always, I appreciate it.
00:41:33
matias
Thank you for having me.
00:41:34
Julian Contreras Jr
We will hit up a show as soon as they come back. I will send you pictures from WrestleMania. ah just want to say a huge thank you for being here and doing this with me.
00:41:45
matias
Yeah, no, thanks for the invite, dude. um This was fun.
00:41:48
Julian Contreras Jr
Yeah. All right. Take a holders out there. and Until next time, I will rule you. And remember to turn on something good.