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Truth Hurts
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We discuss the show and fallout from Backlash 2025, predict how some of the big names in WWE spend the rest of 2025, take an AEW temperature check, and answer listener mail!
Use code CHICKFOLEY to save 10% at www.ringsidecollectibles.com
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Transcript
Introduction & Show Plans
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome the Chick-fil-A show. um
00:00:22
Speaker
What is up, Foley fam? We are back with a special Friday night recording of the Chick Foley show. It's to be a fun one. We're going to be running down everything that happened in Backlash and the week since in the world of wrestling.
00:00:33
Speaker
Before we get to that, let me introduce the star of the show,
Personal Life Updates
00:00:36
Speaker
Sheena. How you doing? I'm doing good. Got the kids in there, you know, peacefully watching a movie. And we have two dogs that were dog sitting behind us. So the chances for intervention here are interruption, I guess you should say. Interference. Interference.
00:00:49
Speaker
Yeah. the the We have four four beings that might run interference on us tonight. So we're just hoping for a, you know, nice, smooth episode. Yeah, it's ah it's been a busy couple of weeks around here for sure. My parents are coming in ah tomorrow morning. We got the season finale of soccer and then we get a nice you know month plus break before football starts up. So definitely looking forward to having a month with no extra activities. Yeah, it's gonna be the first time in forever because even last year when we had this little break, remember Brett was still doing karate. So we're still going to karate times a week. So yeah, it's gonna be nice.
Promotions & Community Involvement
00:01:18
Speaker
um But yeah, I want to remind you guys, the show is brought to you by Ringside Collectibles. Use code CHICKFOLLY to save 10% there. ah The blacklight Jeff Hardy just came in. like This thing looks so cool. I think ours is going to be here tomorrow. So we we will be bringing you a ah ah review of that next week. But very, very cool figure.
00:01:35
Speaker
And the Memorial Day sale is going on right there also. So an awesome chance to catch up on some figures that you may have missed through the first part of this year. and And I think it's a good time to catch up on figures. You know, we're kind of definitely in a dry spell with this terror situation. It seems like i know I know there was a main event set and ah one of the the main event two pack sets. They're both delayed right now because I think they're just wanting wait till this this terror situation cools down before we bring stuff over. So it's a good chance to kind of catch up. I don't think I think the only thing on my wish list right now is that classic like Blade Runner sting, the the chase yeah match 11. That's it. Yeah.
00:02:07
Speaker
Yeah. So hit up ringside, the Memorial Day sale again, good chance to get some stuff. Cause I think it's going to be a little bit before we see any fresh stuff hitting our shelves. My stores are the stores around here. i know always go peek in, see what they got. And it's pretty dry. Yeah.
00:02:20
Speaker
Very, very bare old mother hubbard's covered there. And then make sure you go to www.chickfoley.com to find all things chick. Most importantly, you can sign up for our Patreon exclusive Facebook group, two bucks a month. And you're part of the best wrestling community.
00:02:34
Speaker
on the internet. All right. So we got the plugs out of the way. Sheen, let us know what's new on the farm.
Gardening Joys & Challenges
00:02:39
Speaker
I don't think there's really anything new. Just, so you know, really getting the garden going. um This is my favorite time in the garden because it's, you know, nice and cool.
00:02:47
Speaker
The wet, the, the bugs haven't set in yet. We're not just battling the freaking hundred degree heat and all the squash bugs and stuff. So, Um, you know, this is, this is one of my favorite times of year in the garden, but other than that, i don't think we have anything going on. Did we, we talked about having a new chick last week, didn't we? Yeah. So you guys already know we have a new baby chick.
00:03:04
Speaker
She's still thriving. Um, and, uh, we're dog sitting some dogs. I don't remember if we had the dogs last episode, but for two weeks we have two of, uh, one of Seth's coworkers were dog sitting his dog. So, um, it's been nice, but it's, you forget, you know, it's been a while since we've had dogs in the house. You forget it. So it's a lot of, They bring a lot of energy. They bring a lot of energy. And yeah, it's just, you know, got to stay on top, especially small dogs. You know, you always got to let them out like every couple of hours. It's a,
00:03:31
Speaker
I don't think it would be don't know, taxing is not the right word. think it be as tiresome if ah we didn't also have the kids because know they're kind of similar to the kids. that you know It's just two more people that you have to basically monitor their every need. you know Yeah, exactly. But the kids love it. you know They've been putting a hard sell on us to to get a dog, and we're not ready to commit to ah a dog ah just yet you know We 17 years of, uh, being dog, dog parents. So, you know, we're, we're taking a nice little break and, um, we want to make sure when we do commit to a dog, it's one that, you know, we're, we're ready to commit to for life, you know? So this buys us a little time. The kids get their, their dog itch scratched and, um, you know, we don't have to make any commitments or feel bad.
00:04:10
Speaker
Do you want to tell them I turned heel and mowed over your squash? Oh, yeah. squashed your squash. Yeah. So, you know, we've only lived here for three years and I've only grown squash in this, you know, like this one little part of the yard for the three years that we've lived here.
00:04:24
Speaker
And then Seth was like, you know, i but I went last night because I had to go pick up some plant starts and Seth mowing the yard when I leave. I didn't think anything about it. And then I came home, you know, and I do my little walk around the backyard before bedtime. And I just see like, you know, all these squash just like cut off at the freaking soil. there They were like the younglings in ah Star Wars Episode 3.
00:04:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's exactly. Yeah. I just come and they're just all like, you know, just still twitching. They're just like, oh, God, you know. And I'm like, Seth, you know, i said, why did you mow over my squash? And he's like, oh, they just look like weeds, you know. So, you know, thanks a lot, Seth, for for that. I really appreciate it. Thanks for bringing up that painful memory for me. So now I got to start from scratch on that side. It's not a huge deal because it's not like...
00:05:06
Speaker
you know But our poor chickens, we use those those squash leaves to cover our chickens in the summertime so that they don't just like sit out there and roast and turn into like lava chicken from Minecraft. um So you know say your apologies to them. I mean, they weren't that high up. So I mean, it's not like you know they're at the two yard line and fumbled and got ran back for a touchdown. Sure. True, but the germinating, like the the especially like the loofah squash, they they're just they're slow growers, dude. You know what mean? So it takes a long time. Once they get once they take off, they're pretty good, but that like you know first three feet of loofah squash is like, takes for freaking ever.
00:05:41
Speaker
First three feet's the hardest, is what i've always said. Yep. All right, you ready to get into backlash? Let's go.
WWE Backlash Recap
00:05:48
Speaker
All right, so we've had a couple days to digest what was, don't I would say it wasn't a bad show. I don't think it was the best show that WWE's put on in the last year. I'll leave it at that, and we'll save the final thoughts for the end of it. I say we go match by match first, and then we'll give you overall analysis. So we started off with... Jacob Fatu. He defeated L.A. Knight, Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre in the Fatal 4-Way for the U.S. title. Yeah, the match was kind of your standard WWE Fatal 4-Way. All four these guys are super talented, so it was kind of just as expected.
00:06:19
Speaker
The big angle on here was that we finally see Jeff Cobb, the the big Pacific Islander, come in and make his debut as part of the bloodline, a aligning with Solo Sokoa to help Jacob Fatu, who was you know seemed to be caught by surprise by the whole thing, but helped deliver a victory to Jacob Fatu.
00:06:35
Speaker
What did you think of Jeff Cobb finally showing up on WWE? Yeah. I mean, um i was, I guess, fine with it. I don't know. wasn't really expecting it. You know what i mean? I wasn't like I was like counting down the days until Jeff Cobb showed up. you know I think he's a solid addition, dude. he's He's no Jacob Fatu. But you know if you would have asked me before WrestleMania 40 who was a bigger deal coming in, Jeff Cobb or Jacob Fatu, I would have said Jeff Cobb. I was way more familiar with him than I was with Jacob Fatu before before Jacob got to WWE. He's been doing it for a long time. Really big star. Coming out of Hawaii.
00:07:08
Speaker
Um, so I thought it was cool He's definitely cooled down in the last year or so. Like i actually think if they would have somehow brought him, found a way to bring him in the same time they brought in Jacob Fatu, I think it would have been cool, but I don't think he was necessarily setting the world on fire in, uh,
00:07:22
Speaker
In New Japan. So again, he shows up, he's aligned with Solo. And then he also got hit with another, another gut shot tonight on SmackDown. It was revealed that his WWE name, it's he's not going to be Jeff Cobb.
00:07:32
Speaker
He's going to be JC Mateo. No, God. Where where do you, where does that rank for you in the, the WWE rename Hall of Fame? I mean there's definitely been worse, but I mean, JC Mateo, that I mean, that sounds like a boy band. Like, it sounds like he's going to go on tour with freaking NSYNC, You know i mean? Like, I don't know. was back Bring back three count from WCW.
00:07:52
Speaker
Yeah. um i I don't know. I can't make heads or tails of it. i Like, again... Jacob Fatu obviously has been incredible the last year, but dude, Jeff Cobb was every bit the same level of him. I would argue was a slightly bigger star than him prior to this time last year. So I don't know why Jacob got to keep his name and Jeff Cobb did it. mean, that's ah that's think that's that's even better better than Mateo.
00:08:17
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know what the deal is with that, man. JC Mateo sounds soft, dude. It sounds like a in a sounds he should be like a high flyer in NXT. Yeah. yeah i just ah two a five That's a 205 live name, dude. yeah i could Again, if somebody out there is listening and can break this down, let us know. I just do not know the rhyme or reason why some guys keep their name and some don't.
00:08:37
Speaker
Jacob Fatu is you know actually a legit part of the Anawaii dynasty, so maybe you know Roman was able to pull some strings for to keep his name, and that that's it was as simple as that. ah Definitely weird. i don't think it's going to be... a I think he's still going to be able to get over it, because there's I'd say the vast majority of WWE fans probably weren't that familiar with Jeff jeff Cobb anyway, so they're only going to know him as JC Mateo, and maybe that's... ah maybe that was the, the big thing, you know, it just, it reeks of Vince McMahon, like, isn't to me that I could see Vince being like, you know, Jeff Cobb, that doesn't sound like an Islander, know, they got, they got to Island up, you know, Pacific up his name. yeah And they get the JC Mateo somehow.
00:09:12
Speaker
Um, But we'll see, dude. Where do you think of the the current bloodline, man, with the drama between Solo and and and Jacob? i I think we're going to keep getting the story just like a drip at a time. Yeah, it's inevitable, dude. I mean, we're going to get Solo and Jacob at some point. I don't know when they're going pull the trigger on that, but, you feels like SummerSlam at this point, man, as long as they're running. We saw...
00:09:30
Speaker
They had added animosity tonight. you know they were definitely They were about to... seem like they were getting close to to coming to blows in the middle of the ring. And then LA Knight shows up to kind of diffuse the situation. And then Solo went on to qualify for Money in the Bank tonight. So Solo's doing some things.
00:09:45
Speaker
We'll see how that goes, dude. Jacob Fatu continues to have an awesome year. He's just... So over with the crowd. I really feel like if they want to pull the trigger on him, he could. I don't think he could get quite to the WWE championship, but I think he could totally be in the mix to be fighting for the the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. what I mean? I could totally see him get into that level. I mean, he's kind of already at that level. I could see him being the guy going for that belt as a baby face at ah WrestleMania next year because the crowd just absolutely loves everything he's doing.
00:10:12
Speaker
true but you know how you know how wwe is they'll they'll stretch it out until it's like you know like six months too late and then they'll be like oh yeah now now's the time and it'll be like all right dude we we were waiting for that a year ago so yeah yeah that's uh you know that that was vince dude i think triple is doing a little bit better job he just likes to have the storylines going so freaking slow we'll get we'll get to another one here in a little bit uh let's move to the women's side we lyra valkyria actually pulled off the win on becky you know i was I was surprised. Going our Foley Picks League, I was one of the few that ah that picked this one. i just It didn't really make storyline sense for for Becky to win. Like we mentioned on the show last week, you still couldn't rule it out because you the Becky Hogan stuff, maybe she just goes over to go over. But ah what did you think of this one, Shane?
00:10:52
Speaker
I thought it was a good match, but yeah, I was i was shocked. When Lyra got the pin, I was just like, what? like I was not expecting that at all. I picked Becky in in the Picks League, so... Yeah, definitely. so They did do the thing that always annoys me where she got the pin and immediately after getting the pin, she just got her ass kicked by Becky. Yeah. or I hate the wishy-washy, dude. Like, I'm cool with getting the surprise, like kind of sneak victory like that, but let her get the pin and roll out the ring and celebrate while Becky's looking pissed off. I don't think we needed, you said the beat down for Raw the next night. gively Give Lira the win. Let her walk out on her own two feet holding the belt up. Because I feel like nobody gets over on that. you know it's like it it really makes It really accentuates that she was just lucky to get the win when you do that. It makes Becky look like a badass.
00:11:32
Speaker
um But then at the same time, it's like, well, gee, if you could beat her ass that bad, why didn't you do that before you got rolled up and pinned? um Do you think this is it for Becky and the Intercontinental belt? Or do we see her kind of move up and start to go for for for eo and take the the big belt on Raw?
00:11:48
Speaker
I don't know. I don't think, i don't know if Lyra and Becky's done yet, dude. I think there's, and think there's still more gas in the tank. I can't believe we didn't see Bailey come back yet, man. With all this shit, Becky has been talking about Bailey, dude. Like, what?
00:11:59
Speaker
Is Bailey off filming a movie, or what's the deal? Where Bailey What's up with Bailey? You know, she had that interview with Chris Van Vliet where she was, like, you know, talking about how she's never the one and, like, all this stuff. And just kind of, it was kind of like a, you know, shoot. Work shoot type deal. Yeah, work shoot thing with Becky, or with Bailey. So, don't know, dude. do think that was all work. Because the way Becky's leaned into, like, talking about it on screen. Yeah. heard her going boo-hoo. I think they're doing, like...
00:12:22
Speaker
I call it like kayfabe 2.0, right? Where they do these interviews that are like shoot interviews, you know, they're not, WWE really doesn't go out of their way to kind of promote it or share it, but it still And they're breaking down the fourth wall where it's like, you you feel like it's for real. Yeah, she talks about not getting opportunities and stuff backstage. And not being on the trailers and stuff. Yeah, in a lot of ways, it was the same kind of thing when Becky just took off and caught fire in 2018. It was kind of similar deal. So I think Bayley's definitely set up for a really, really big year when she comes back. We just got to see when it's going to be. You know, I don't want to see her do money in the bank. I don't want to see her with a briefcase. I want to see Bayley really get big push and
00:12:57
Speaker
and take the belt like she's supposed to. But in the meantime, I think we could end up seeing Becky take that belt from Eos. That way, Bayley can get it from Becky. But yeah, I see very, very big things for Bayley in 2025. For sure, and she deserves it. All right, so we saw Dom beat Penta, kind of standard issue. This definitely felt more like a Raw main event match with the run-ins like Dom did really good, though, dude. I feel like Dom had like a really great match. Yeah, I don't say that as an in insult. I just say, like, this, it never, i don't think there was ever any doubt that Penta had a chance at taking the belt off of him. And we just got, you know, schmazi interference, man.
00:13:30
Speaker
With ah Judgment Day coming in for Dom, and then you ultimately had Grande Americano come in and really cost him, the cost Penta the victory at the end. and So I mentioned, you know, we talked about Bloodline. They're kind of giving us this this breakdown of Jacob and Solo one drip at a time.
00:13:46
Speaker
The Judgment Day is just as bad, man. Like, we, this I feel like Finn and Dom have been building towards ah ah conflict for the last like five years of my life. It really does feel that long. since the moment Dom wrestled his first match at SummerSlam 2020, him and Finn joined the Judgment Day that night and and have been slowly working their way towards this feud.
00:14:08
Speaker
Yeah. Finn lost again on ah on Monday night, man. Like, dude, it's just it's depressing to me, man, how much Finn gets beat. Like, du dude can just not buy a freaking victory, like, for anything, man. Like, I don't know i don't know who he pissed off, dude, because I used to think that he was like – I thought it was just a Vince thing when Finn wasn't really getting any shine.
00:14:28
Speaker
I feel like Triple H just soured on him too, man. Or, like, i don't know Finn just said, like, dude, I'm – could get you know hand me all the lc i'll hold him i can take him because like the dude loses so much man i feel like i never see finn baller win a match and he's he's such a freaking i still think he could be like the guy i still think he could be the top guy on raw if they pushed him for that so um you know we talked it's kind of one of my things that's been one of my staples since i've been doing this podcast i can't stand it when people say oh someone's misused or oh they're you know they're
00:14:58
Speaker
They're underutilizing them because I feel like that that phrase gets so overused by internet wrestling fans. But Finn is like the dude. and If you told me one guy across the entire American wrestling scene that's underused, I'd say Finn Dyer. I know. And, you know, I've never heard anybody say anything like bad about Finn. Like he's like an asshole. He's got the cool factor. The crowd stays with him. Even with all the losses. Looks like a million bucks. Like, yeah, I don't know what is keeping WWE from pulling the trigger and really sending that guy up the card.
00:15:27
Speaker
I don't know. It's been a thing that's, I mean, it's years in the making at this point. so I mean, we've just come to expect it. i don't think it's going to change anytime soon. Dom continue to get some love from the crowd. Like, do you think we end up seeing Dom as ah as a baby face or what what what do you kind of lay out from now to WrestleMania 42 for Dom? Like, where yeah how do you see his trajectory going?
00:15:48
Speaker
I think he's just gonna stay the same like kind of like snarky little heel, dude. I can't imagine him being a baby face and being like a good guy. you know like i I don't know, it just it just doesn't fit.
00:16:00
Speaker
So you think the moment at Mania, that was just that was a one night only? think it's a one night only i think the crowd can really enjoy i think he can be like a tweener right like i don't think he's gonna be like full like you know baby face like you know kissing kids and like you know um but you know signing autographs and stuff on on the way down to the the ring but Handing out weight belts. Handing out weight belts, yeah. Do you think he stays kind of right at the IC title level, you think he moves up the cards? No, don't think he's like world title material. No offense. No offense to Dom.
00:16:32
Speaker
um but and I saw a connection with the people there at Mania, dude. I'm not booking him to you know when have Jey Uso's run and win the Rumble and go to Mania 42, but I think there's something there, man. i think he's I think they're going to do slow and steady because he's still so young, man. Dom is still so young.
00:16:49
Speaker
so freaking fresh in the game. He could win money in the bank. Yeah. I mean, it would be a great Mr. Money in the Yeah. He would, money in the bank would be perfect for him. Yeah. He could carry around like a little, like a happy meal box, like attendees box, you know, and, uh, put the contract in it. Yeah. And you know, money in the banks kind of, you it's the judgment days kind of revolved around that the last couple of years, you know, Damien priest won it and then he got cashed in on by drew.
00:17:12
Speaker
ah so yeah, I think that'd kind of be a nice tie in with, with Dom getting it now. Um, But yeah, fun match, though. Let's just see what happens with Penta, man. I feel like he could probably start counting down the days on your calendar between before they link up him and Ray Phoenix. Because I feel he's still over with the crowd, but I feel like he's lost a ton of momentum the last couple months. Just ah still still a really cool part of the show, but it seemed like they were potentially making him like a main eventer, the way he was coming in that first month or so. Yeah.
00:17:39
Speaker
The fans love him though, dude. I mean, he's like interacting with them on the way down to the ring. You know what i mean? Like, Oh yeah. He's still very, very over, man. As long as he's got those cool masks and they got those available at every single show, like right wait, wait till the action figures start rolling out. Yeah. People love Pinta and it's well-deserved because he's a hell of a performer, but I definitely feel like he's cooled off a little bit. So and And it seems like they've been heating the tag team scene up, especially on SmackDown. I think if they if they're going to do it, I want to see these guys on SmackDown where they can wrestle DIY, Fraction, the Street Profits. Yeah, those are all like solid gold matches.
00:18:08
Speaker
Waiting to see. What did you think of Gunther's beatdown on Pat McAfee? You know... Pat McAfee got in a lot more offense than what I expected, dude. I was expecting like a straight squash, but dude, Pat McAfee went out there and just took a straight beating, dude, and like, you know, kept standing up, and I was just like, damn, dude. I didn't i did not expect it to last that long.
00:18:29
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was much less of a squash as i was expecting. And dude, the crazy thing is, Pat was back on Raw Monday. Like we said it last week. I thought this was a way they were going write Pat off TV. I thought they were going to get get brutal with it, man. But they kind of, you know, they had a regular match and then Gunther even showed him respect afterwards. Yeah. I, uh, and listen, last, I think the last time we were talking about this, I said, does Michael Cole get involved? And you were like, eh, and guess what?
00:18:51
Speaker
Michael Cole got up there and got involved. Yeah. Pretty, yeah pretty comical, man. What'd you think of the the performance by Michael Cole? I mean, i love Michael Cole, dude. You're a coal miner. I'm a coal miner. He can do no wrong in in my eyes. So with the moment he stood up and took the headset off, I was like, oh, yeah. Business is picking up, dude.
00:19:09
Speaker
So loved it. What do think is next for Gunther, man? So he came out on Raw, confronted Jay. looks like he's trying to get his name back in the mix for the World Heavyweight Championship. But there's still... all the fantasy booking and the ru the rumor, the the rumbles of rumors out there is that he's going to be the guy to face ah Goldberg and Goldberg's farewell match. We know that would make sense. Yeah. I mean the, they have it already pre-written for, you know, him and Goldberg. They have the little, the little interactions that they've had over the past, like, you know, year or so.
00:19:37
Speaker
um I can see that being a SummerSlam match. You know, we got two nights of SummerSlam this year, you know, first time ever, two nights in New York and Cardi B hosting. Dude, honestly, If they heat that thing up just right, i think you could and you could get Goldberg and Gunther for the main event on night one, man. I think that could totally that could totally close night one of SummerSlam, pitching it as you know Goldberg's last match, right? I think that'd be pretty cool.
00:19:58
Speaker
um what if they put goldberg over gunther dude what if he just like jackknifes goldberg did a lot of job's on his way out that last round he lost clean to to braun strowman lost clean to roman and uh drew mcintyre man so i don't i don't really think that's and he had uh he it wasn't clean but he took an l to bobby lashley as well so i think gold goldberg being uh you know he's he's off that thing where he felt like you know he needed to be a superhero for the kids like when he squashed the fiend Yeah, I definitely think Gunther needs to stay away from from Jay for a little bit, dude. I think that's that's a little bit played out. And I don't think he needs to be, um you know, he's Gunther, dude. He doesn't have to be in the title picture right now. At any point in time, they can break the glass on Gunther whenever they need him to get back into the you know world title picture. So I think heating him up, if if they are going to do Goldberg, I think heating him up for that um would be the way to go, dude. Yeah, definitely. um Let's go main event.
00:20:53
Speaker
We got John Cena and Ray D'Orton. I thought this match was way better than it had any right to be, man. We had 28 minutes. I was sports entertained the entire time. I thought it was better than Cena and Cody at WrestleMania. Um, yeah, I would, I would, I don't think that's a, i don't think that's a hot take. I think it was better than Sina Cody, but Sina and Cody was, it kind of dropped the ball for me. Yeah. But you thought you still thought they, Cody would be able to drag Sina. I didn don't know if, I think they had some lessons learned for mania for sure.
00:21:19
Speaker
so I, I think they benefited from that. This being John Cena's, you know, his, his second kind of high profile one-on-one match on this, this final run. So I think they learned from WrestleMania. They went all Gaga, all shenanigans on this, Saw some really cool moves. That AA to the RKO counter, that was freaking sweet.
00:21:35
Speaker
like yeah idea It was so smooth that you almost didn't even notice what happened at first. you know like They had to kind of run it back. Even on the the announcers at first, they thought it was just the AA. Then they had to do a replay to see what happened. yeah um Randy's always smooth with it, dude. Randy had that run where you know he RKO's freaking Jamie Noble, Hurricane, Nick Aldis. He the entire... How do you even do that, dude? i mean like He's like...
00:21:59
Speaker
I mean... He had to be worn out, don't know. Think about the athleticism, dude. Like, jeez. Yeah. I was waiting for a comedy bit, you know, and he took out, like, five straight, and Jamie Noble was in the corner. I was hoping Jamie Noble would just jump and, like, take the bump. Yeah. Just fake the RKO. Yeah.
00:22:14
Speaker
I thought that would have been a nice comedy bit since they were already just going over the top with the stuff. um But, yeah, I thought Randy Orton kicked ass. Dude, I think another match that we would be able to for SummerSlam is Randy Orton and Nick Aldis, man. Like...
00:22:26
Speaker
That's got to be a thing, dude. Because this is, I think he it's three RKOs now that Randy Orton's hitting Nick Aldis with, dude. Nick Aldis has got to get his leg back, dude. Nick Aldis a hell of a wrestler, man. i've Had an awesome run with the NWA Championship. there but He basically carried that brand from like 2017 to Dude, he's he seems like old and sophisticated because he's British. He's younger than Cody.
00:22:46
Speaker
Nick Aldis is younger than Cody Rhodes, man. Wow. but They chose to put him in this commission. but I think him coming out for a match would be great. and Him and Orton would perfectly complement each other, dude. Nick Aldis is just smooth, technical wrestler. like I think him and Randy Orton would really put on something great.
00:23:02
Speaker
but yeah so Again, we got all the Gaga, just a classic, classic sports entertainment main event. And then it ends with RKO, or RKO with Randy, or excuse me, with R-Truth. Yeah. Too many R's and stuff. Yeah. R-Truth saving the day for John Cena. What'd you think of R-Truth having a hand in the finish to the main event? I'm just very glad that we're finally getting R-Truth in the mix for real. You know what I mean? Obviously, he's always been in John Cena's corner and been a vehement defender of John Cena, but...
00:23:29
Speaker
Yeah, seeing him get involved. um I always pop for truth, dude. I love i love that dude. um I know he's not your cup of tea, but I think he's- No, I mean, I like i like comedy and wrestling, just not in the main event. This, though, I think they stumbled.
00:23:41
Speaker
They needed to do this R-Truth, John Cena card. This needed to happen on the road to WrestleMania, right? Cena was still getting too much love. Yeah. He needed to beat the shit- I thought he was going to. Remember, I called that. was like, dude, he needs to beat up R-Truth really wants to heat. Yeah, you definitely called it. They've been building this, planting the seeds.
00:23:59
Speaker
They should have done this on their you know to help Cody out, man, to really make sure Cody stays 100% approval rating, like the you know the white meat babyface going into the match.
00:24:10
Speaker
They needed to have Cena beat the shit out of R-Truth on the way to it, man, because R-Truth's got so much goodwill, and people just love it. He's hater-proof, man. You can't not like R-Truth. And I think that really would have just solidified the heel turn. I know, but I'm a little bit confused because tonight on SmackDown, he sat down for an interview and he was still, even after getting through the table at the post, at the post show, dude, he was like, you know, just defending John Cena and, you know, quoting John Cena. And I was like, dude, come on. This is the guy who brought a ladder down to climb in, in the Royal world. You can't apply any type of logic him. They were, but they announced tonight that they're going be fighting at a Saturday night's main event. So that'll be cool.
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah, fun match. It's cool to see R-Truth get a big high-profile match like that, too, because that guy definitely deserves it, man. He's another those ones who just, whatever they give him, he makes the freaking most of it and makes it entertaining. He's never had a bad segment, or it's not something that at least makes you smile when he comes out there.
00:25:03
Speaker
ah know I know. I would love to see you know him beat Truth up and then just R-Truth become like a little like a minion for him, like a you know like a what you call him a lackey you know where like he has been yeah well mean but like a bad guy R-Truth you know what i mean like he's like a bad guy or maybe he's a good guy that thinks he's doing the right thing just because it's John Cena you know what I mean yeah I'm thinking like like James Ellsworth with Carmella style like that kind of guy yeah like just a goof goofy sidekick yeah yeah that would be uh that could be fun um but yeah R-Truth and freaking John Cena on Saturday night's main event I know who would have thought dude yeah
00:25:39
Speaker
um so that's it for backlash again i thought the main event really helped out but for the most part i was not super impressed with the show it kind of just came and went and um i i felt like we just you know i think they need they should have went ahead and had logan paul and jay uso on this one i don't know why they put it on that one but i was this was like a probably a b minus for me nothing that was there was that bad but there wasn't anything that great either until we got to the main event how how about you what's your overall backlash takes Yeah, when, you know, just to like, because it's been, what, a week since we watched the
Event Impressions & Wrestling Industry Insights
00:26:11
Speaker
backlash. I had to go back and like watch some highlights because I was like, what really happened on the show? Kind of just went in one ear and out the other.
00:26:16
Speaker
Exactly. Like, I mean, I remember who all was in the matches, but it was like, wow really what really went down? So I did go back and watch some of the highlights. um And yeah, it was just nothing super memorable. You know, again, not offensive, not bad, just nothing that I'm like, i be nobody's going to be like, oh, man, you need to go back and watch this match from backlash 2025, you know?
00:26:36
Speaker
we And I think the card we got for some two of these matches especially, dude. So the Jey Uso and Logan Paul. You could have that one on there. I get saving that one for Saturday night's main event just because you want to have something big for network TV. And Logan Paul is obviously a huge star.
00:26:52
Speaker
CM Punk and Sammy against ah Seth and Braun Breaker. That definitely should have been on the show because Seth and Braun are there. You know, no offense to Jay, but Seth and Braun are like the top story, the top stars on Raw right now.
00:27:04
Speaker
And not having them have anything to do at all on the show was really just kind of I think that took it down a notch as well. It took it down a notch, but I think they were still in kind of like the building phase whenever backlight. You know what i mean? Like they weren't they weren't really solidified yet. You know what i mean? And I feel like that, like they needed to give them just a little bit more time to cook before they put them together in a match. Yeah, I feel you. But I just, you know, with those those two, no CM Punk.
00:27:26
Speaker
No Cody. I just feel like there the show is a little bit lacking on the star power, man, with all due respect. I get it. that It's in St. Louis. It was really a one-match show with Cena and Orton, but I would like Cena a little bit more star power. So I give it a B minus mobile letter grade. How about you?
00:27:41
Speaker
ah ah give it a B. Okay. Yeah. um aew this week we saw mox and beat successfully retain the aw championship in a steel cage against samoa joe with an assist from gabe kid uh let's let's do our our weekly mox watch man will he keep the belt past all in texas no
00:28:04
Speaker
hu no I'm saying yes. I think we keep it rolling, man. Like despite the internet hate, the Deathrider storyline is definitely working. AEW actually beat NXT in their ratings this week. It's the first time first time all year. So the first time in 2025 that they beat them, it was their highest rated episode of 2025. I think, you know, people want to see what this Mox Reigns is going to do, man. I think it's, it's I wouldn't even say it's a poor person's Roman Reigns title run.
00:28:30
Speaker
I'd say it's like a homeless person's Roman Reigns title run, but they got something going where you got this interest every time he's defending this belt because people just, they want to see this guy lose and he keeps finding a way ah either by hook or by crook to keep that belt. And I still think that Tony Khan is going to stick with a storyline to the bitter end. Once he has an idea in his head, I think Darby is the one taking that belt, man. I think whether it's Ospreay or Hangman, I think they are going to lose to him at all end. And maybe we see, you know, Darby come back at the end, dude, but I think Darby is going to be the one to ultimately. You can't have Ospreay lose to Moxley, dude. Like, that's just going to be chaos, dude. I mean, maybe Hangman, maybe it doesn't happen. Maybe Hangman takes out Ospreay first. i true
00:29:10
Speaker
That's true. There's plenty people that could mess with Will Ospreay to, you know... cause him to lose against hangman. If you don't want to have him lose clean or hangman could beat him clean. Oh, there's no shame in losing the hangman clean, but yeah, my box beating him would, would be bad. So I think Moxley and hangman to me, that sounds like the main event at all in. And I think Mox wins. So that's my pick.
00:29:30
Speaker
All right. She, do we have listener mill? Yeah.
00:29:39
Speaker
All right. We have a a small mailbag this evening. Tyson Neal Trevino, how predictable was Backlash? And he also wants to let everybody know that he is a two-time Rawdown champion. So congrats, Tyson. Yeah, definitely check out the Rawdown over on the feed for our buddies at the Turbocle Tavern. ah I mean, i ah for Foley Pixley, I picked every single match right. So i would say it was pretty predictable. Yeah, there I think that wasn't there are a few people a perfect cards, right? was a handful, yeah. So yeah, very, very predictable. um I think we knew that thing.
00:30:07
Speaker
Nothing insane was going to happen on that show. but um Obviously, wasn't as predict i mean it wasn't so predictable for me. I thought well ah Becky was going to beat Lyra, so I effed up there. um Zach Herzler, random pay-per-view recommendation. That's a good one for you. go...
00:30:23
Speaker
Let's keep the Backlash team going. We'll go Backlash 2005. um There's a random Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan tag team match on there, which is pretty fun. You got Chris Jericho and Shelton Benjamin got just a banger of a match in the opener. And then you got a pretty good main event. You got a rematch of Triple H and Batista from WrestleMania 21 the month prior. So we'll go back. like we'll take We'll take it back 20 years ago.
00:30:45
Speaker
Backlash 2005. Did you just watch this recently or something? Is i why that why? I've been watching all the backlashes. Okay. I was like, why is that... on the tip of your tongue do backlash 20 or 2005 like yeah i was just trying to think of a backlash card i know but that was just yeah pretty good all right zach hurtzler what's your thoughts on carrying cross um he it's been very intriguing the like the promos and the stuff he's been doing backstage right like very it's been entertaining He's definitely starting to get a little bit of juice with the fans. But as our buddy ah Bruce Prichard likes to say, at some point the bell's got to ring. And it seems like, for whatever reason, the dude's in-ring style just sucks.
00:31:20
Speaker
It sucks all the life out of the crowd. And he does not have like the physical charisma when he performs. right like As good easy as he is backstage, his matches seem like just they're just lifeless, man. like Something about his flow, his style, it just does not translate. in I think ultimately he's doomed, dude. They've is as good if he does. I think if he, if it doesn't work this time, they might well cut bait because they've tried multiple different things with him. They've had him in factions, had him being super serious, have him being like semi comedy act and it just hasn't worked. Right. So again, he's like the opposite of Finn Balor, right? Like Triple H keeps rolling the dice on this guy to try to make it happen.
00:31:58
Speaker
Um, I'm skeptical though, man, I'm i'm rooting for him because he's definitely the efforts there and he seems like a really, ah really, really cool dude. Um, But yeah, I don't, I just don't think the actual, it's not even like in ring ability. It's not like he's a bad wrestler. It's just the very, very boring wrestler, man. And I just think it's going to fail to really get over with the crowd. I mean, Adam Cole said it best, dude.
00:32:19
Speaker
You know, he said, yeah you need you need all the lights. You need Scarlett. You need the smoke and the, you know, the girl and everything. He said all they had to do for Adam Cole is ring the freaking bell. He nailed it, dude. So, uh, carrying hasn't been the same since then. he He's just now, he's just now recovering from that Adam Cole verbal, act verbal assault. It was straight facts. Yeah.
00:32:39
Speaker
So, uh, that wraps up listener mail for, for tonight. All right. So that's a wrap for this episode. want to remind you guys use code chick Foley to save 10% at ringside collectibles and visit www.chickfoley.com. We get signed up for our exclusive Facebook group. Sheena hit us with some closing thoughts and we'll get out of here. Since I missed Mother's Day here on the show, want to wish all the mothers that listen to this show a happy Mother's Day. you know there's a Most of the people who listen to this show are are dudes, but we do have a small, passionate ah female fan base. So I want to wish you know all those mamas out there a happy Mother's Day.