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April 13, 2026 40 mins

WrestleMania 42 is finally here, and Battle, Eli, and Josh are breaking down all 13 matches across both nights at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, including their picks, predictions, and honest takes on a WrestleMania season that has had the IWC fired up. From Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton and CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns, to whether Oba vs. Brock steals the show, to the celebrity controversy surrounding Pat McAfee, Jelly Roll, and IShowSpeed, no match goes unexamined. Plus, the guys preview Trick Williams vs. Sami Zayn, Gunther vs. Seth Rollins, Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley, and why the Demon Finn Bálor reveal may have spoiled its own magic.

Don't miss our exclusive WrestleMania week interview with WWE Superstar Je'Von Evans dropping this Wednesday, hit subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode of the Battleground Podcast!

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the battle Ground. Battle let
the hold what's up you guys?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome back into the Battleground Podcast and it is a
big time for the show this weekend.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Wrestle Mania forty two.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Going down at the Legion Stadium in Las Vegas this Saturday,
this Sunday, and you look at the stacked card, thirteen
matches across both nights. My name is Battle, I've got
my tag team partners here with me. I've got Eli,
I've got Josh, and we are super excited that you
are here with us as we give you our preview
and predictions of wrestle Mania.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
So, without further ado, listen, Showcase.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Of the Immortals. Guys, come on, Showcase of the Immortals.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Showcase of the Immortals.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yes, we're in it. We're in it, guys, we are
all in it now.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Here's the thing is, we've we've kind of talked about
this off the air between all three of us in
our little group chat about how WrestleMania has been shaping
up over the past couple of weeks. Obviously you could
see everything on social media. The IWC isn't too thrill
with how things have been playing out this WrestleMania season
leading up to it. I know that, you know, everybody is,

(01:21):
you know, reaffirming you on TV. Just wait till the
finished product, wait till we get to the finish line.
But also like as wrestling fans, we don't want to
kind of wait till the finish line. We kind of
want something to happen now.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
Correct, Well, that's because of instagratification problems throughout the IWC.
Come on, like we have zero patients, let's be honest exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
And it's you know, you sit here and you look
at the card, and you know the history was there.
The story wrote itself between Cody and Randy. You've got
this this back and forth between c and Punk and
Roman reigns going back and forth. You've got the great
storytelling without even having to actually talk. Between Ova and Brock,
they just come out and beat the crap out of

(02:04):
each other. And then you've got some other things here
and there. You know, you've got Jade and you've got Rhea.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
I think it it just goes back a lot to
the old adage of either life is not the destination,
it's the journey, or happiness isn't the destination. It's the journey,
like the end results like the ribbon on top, you
know what I mean. Like that's not the like the

(02:33):
steps there is, like that's what we want, you know
what I mean. Like it's like they're glossing over everything
that makes the ending, you know what I mean. So,
like I think we have every right to you know,
question and ridicule and moan and whatever you want to
say it. So anyways, just spend some head scratching behavior

(02:56):
on this road to wrestle.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
You know, we'll go ahead and just call out the
elephant in the room. I think the one head scratching
thing that a lot of people have talked about on
social media is why are we adding Pat McAfee and
Jelly Roll to Randy and Cody?

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Like I get it. There's all the reports out.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
There that's saying that it's gonna be at Payback and
you're gonna have Cody and Jelly Roll versus Randy and Pat,
Which okay, cool, whatever, But like I said earlier, you
have twenty years of story to tell between Randy and Cody.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Like the story is there.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
You don't need to interject Pat and Jelly Roll into this.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Do you think that today's current audience cares about that
twenty years. Like I remember in the nineties and there
was a storyline and like we take the mcmah for example,
and you had Briscoe and Patterson with him and me
in my you know, early twenties. I'm like, I don't
I don't give a fly. And you know what about
Risco and pat don't even know who they are. I

(03:56):
mean I knew their names obviously, and I knew how
they were famous, but like it meant nothing.

Speaker 5 (04:00):
So those do you think that the.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
Today's viewers just don't care about a twenty year story,
Like you tell them about legacy, They're gonna.

Speaker 5 (04:08):
Be like, huh, what are you talking about?

Speaker 3 (04:10):
I mean I think the CEOs, I think that they
don't care, and I think the CEOs think it don't matter.
Obviously it does matter. I mean, you know, if you
do a you know, I mean, how many how many
times do people you know ask when you know they're

(04:32):
gonna do someone's old theme song, you know, like a
callback like oh man, why can't you do that? As
a little wink, and like people want that stuff. I mean,
that's why people are calling for a live, real Hall
of fame. You know, we've talked about it. You know,
I think it has evolved, and I think since they've moved,

(04:53):
especially WW, more and more away from the sport aspect
of it and just more of the entertainment aspect of it,
and uh, you know, exposing kfabe as it were. You know,
I think it probably has become less important for them,
But I think there's obviously a large portion of the

(05:15):
audience where it matters, and you know, history and title
changes and title reigns and belt designs. I mean, a
lot of that stuff does matter for a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
And here's the thing is, like WW, when it comes
to WrestleMania, there's always been celebrities involved. So I understand
having celebrities there, But when you sit here and you
look at the card and it's like, Okay, you've inserted
Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll into the main event. You've
thrown I Show Speed into a six man tag match, Like,

(05:46):
at what point are you who are you trying to
cater to bringing the celebrities in? Are you trying to
cater to the wrestling fan and giving them something, or
are you trying to cater to the non wrestling fan
that is a Pat McAfee fan, or that is a
Jelly Roll fan, or is an I Show Speed fan.
So you could bring new eyes to this which maybe

(06:08):
that's the game plan that they're trying to do.

Speaker 5 (06:09):
I think the answer is all the above.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
You want to get as many eyes on this product
as possible, especially your biggest show of the air, especially
with your first WrestleMania on ESPN. Like that's a huge deal. Listen,
if that was our company, that'd be a huge deal
to us. I mean it's a big deal.

Speaker 5 (06:25):
It's ESPN.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
Yeah, I know ESPN is not what it used to be,
but still a big deal. You know, it's on ESPN,
It's on Disney Plus, it's on Hulu. It's like it's
on all these platforms that are owned by ESPN. You
want to get every eye possible on that. You know,
people like you and I maybe we don't care about
I Show Speed, but we care about Pat McAfee. Maybe
there's someone that doesn't care about Pat McAfee, but they
care about Lil Yati or you know, there's all those

(06:47):
entertainment Listen, Lil YACHTI super popular, and I think he's
the one that gets it more than anybody else that
they're involving into this to this event. But you know,
I'll give Speed a little, a little, a little leeway.
You know, he was in the Royal Rumble last year
in twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Five, which you didn't get filmed by the way.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
The Breaker and it was awesome and I gave the
dude credit. You know, he took a he took a
good bump, right, and that's great. I'm not angry that
they brought them in. I'm angry on how they're portraying
them on it, you know what I mean. Like McAfee
worked for the company. He was a he was a comedy,
he was an NXT. Like, he's not some just random

(07:29):
dude that works. They're not throwing you know, Scott van
Pelton there, it's somebody that people associate.

Speaker 5 (07:35):
With the company already.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
Is a year ago, we were all cheering for him
because Gus was about to kill him at the Ray
after WrestleMania.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
I mean, just for the record, I was not cheering
for Pat.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
Mcafe There was a big there was a big McAfee
chant and at t Mobill Arena last year there was
whether you did or not, I mean there was.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah, I'm I'm just stating. Mind.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
But here's the thing though, is like you know, you
look around and you see on social media that people
are not happy about it, the fact that here. Recently
on Friend of the Show Gabby or her podcast Gabby
af Damian Priest said he does not like the fact
the pack McAfee's there, Like he said people backstage were
not happy in the locker room that he showed up,

(08:18):
and he's now inserted himself into this. Yeah, and I mean,
how much of this is a work and how much
of this is real emotion coming out because it seems
like now they're just letting everybody shoot from the hip.
I mean with Pat doing his thing of like you
shouldn't be here for the second night and you know
I'm gonna give you twenty five percent off. Well actually no,
Ram Trucks is now sponsoring the twenty five percent off

(08:39):
discounted ticket price. And you come out here and you
play the heel, but you're like bashing the product and
you're bashing this. And I think somebody showed a video
comparison when like the Rock told somebody in the front row,
he's like, shut up fat so far, come knock the
herpes off of you or something, and everybody's started giving

(08:59):
like nuclear heat towards the rock or like started laughing
and going for it and got a big pop, and
then Pat turns around and does it, and it's just
like crickets.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, I think, and I think, I think bat and
I've talked about this off off air a lot or
in the past, but I think that not everyone, you know,
lands the role that they're handed. You know, I think

(09:30):
there's people in wrestling right now who are not very
good at being a heel. Just not believable. It's kind
of eye rolling. It's not just WW either that I
have a lot of examples in WW. But you know,
I just think that, like, not everyone is going to

(09:53):
be a killer bad guy. Not everyone's gonna be super
scene and all this stuff. And I just don't I
don't see Pat McAfee is this Hollywood entertainment dude. I mean,
has he created you know, a popcorn lava machine out
of one single corner? Absolutely? I mean his empire is incredible,

(10:17):
and he does those live shows and brought out Michael
Cole when he was hammered and stuff, and you know,
I mean, he he's really fun.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
You know what I mean, And he prints money too,
like he does.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Obviously he's doing something because everybody in their mom has
been talking about bat backafee and I mean we're talking
about him right now.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
And as a person, I respect what he's done.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
I mean, he's taken his name from being just a
you know, retired punter that kicked footballs to building an empire,
you know.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
But then I don't see him as this like monster
killer or this like or you know, they're like he's
the next Sylvester Sloan, Like what is that implying? Like
are you saying that he's gonna be shirtless and doing
actually movies and stuff Like I don't want to see
that at all, Like I have no interest in seeing
Pat McAfee like that. Yeah, So it's like I don't know,

(11:08):
it's like that. But then it's then he's like, do
you know, going back to the Friday thing, he's bashing
the second night, which is kind of a I guess
an f you to punk again, But then he's given
a discount. But he's also the heel, so it's like,
what are you doing?

Speaker 1 (11:27):
Which which part are you going to play here?

Speaker 3 (11:29):
But I just don't get it. Yeah, and so yeah,
you know, I hope this leads to some deep re
evaluation after after Mania. Too many cooks in the chicken
in the cooks in the chicken, too many cooks in
the kitchen, too many chickens in the Yeah. So I

(11:59):
think that, you know, right now, this is I think
going to be the lowest tickets sold them ount for
their two day well except for that COVID one, which
I think they purposely had less people. But anyways, as
far as like the two day events, I think this
is going to be one of the lowest or one
of the lowest. So I'm hoping that like it's a
wake up call they're like, holy crap, you know, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (12:19):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
I don't think it'll be the lowest. I think it'll
be lower than their expectations. But I think a lot
of people might do walk ups because I mean, listen,
I've done it before. You you wait till day off.
It's a big thing with concerts these days. If they
whether they lower them or resell, lowers them by Saturday,
people will buy them, you know, well or they got
to do stadium just buy them because there's no fees.

(12:43):
And it could probably be two hundred bucks and that's
worth it, you know.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
I mean, I'm not going to discount that, but I
mean they need to move like twenty to twenty five
K for each day in the next week, and that's
just my I mean, that's a lot. That's big uphill.
So if they don't, I mean, I still think they're
going to lower than expectations. Is not even that's obvious,
but I mean they're they're already trending pretty low.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
So I will say this, as of we're recording this today,
I'm looking on x right now from wrestle Tics, and
as of April tenth, at eight twenty one, they had
posted that for Saturday WrestleMania there was three thousand, eight
hundred and fifty available tickets one thousand, three hundred and

(13:28):
seven available combo tickets. The current setup is forty five thousand,
seven hundred and sixty seven and tickets distributed forty thousand,
six hundred and ten and that is for Saturday show.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
See, I think they did like sixty one or like
sixty five last year on both nights. So yeah, forty
to sixty five. I mean that's a that's a that's
a gap. I mean, even if they fill up that configuration,
that's still twenty less than last year.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah, and they've also got for Sunday for the night
two one thousand, six hundred ninety one tickets still available.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
There is a bail doing better than Saturday is.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah, current set up for Sunday again, this was from
April tenth.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Current set up forty five, seven hundred and sixty seven
tickets distributed forty two thousand, seven hundred and sixty nine
and they said as of three days ago there was
a one four hundred and fifty two tickets sold.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, I mean the hope is, you know, they would
have hit that forty five open up ten thousand more
hit that, you know, but because they I don't think
they hit those levels yet. So now, yeah, there's.

Speaker 5 (14:37):
A last minute people are gonna get last And.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
There's also they have fifteen hundred tickets on the resale
market as well, so that resale market might I mean
it could hinder you know, a little bit of dimenop
i Ma, did you just say fifteen hundred fifteen hundred,
that's a that's a sliver of but if you put
fifteen hundred in like a section though, Like I'm just

(15:00):
saying fifteen hundred on a resale that may or may
not get sold because somebody I'm gonna buy them.

Speaker 5 (15:06):
Then.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
I think there was probably fifteen hundred seats missing last
night at the TNA thing, and it was noticeable. So
now not as noticeable as in a giant stadium, of course,
but still.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
But it Uh, and it's gonna be interesting.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Of course, Josh is gonna be at WrestleMania this weekend,
so make sure you're following us on social media Battleground podcast.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
But you look at the.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Card, is there any match that stands out to you
outside of obviously Roman and Sea and Punk Cody and Randy, Uh,
that has the potential to steal the show? If it's
me picking right now, I'm gonna say it's gonna be
Oba and Brock. I think that that has the potential
to be the match stealer of the weekend because you

(15:48):
look at how they have done this story. Neither one
of them have talked on a microphone. They just stare
each other down and beat the hell out of each
other and then here we are, We're gonna get it
this again.

Speaker 5 (16:01):
That is absolutely what I'm looking forward to do.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
I think it's going to steal the show possibly, but
it's got very good competition with the ladder Match, yes,
and with Demon Film, Finn Balor and Domsterio, because I
know the two of them are going to put on
a very decent end. Now, whether it's Super you know,
Demon Finn and who's all into it, or if it's
you know, if they're just doing this to advance to

(16:25):
something else in Backlash, I don't know, but I can
see the two of them wanting to put on a
really good match, because that's that's Finn Balor and Domina Stereo.

Speaker 5 (16:32):
They're not They're no slouches.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
Which, by the way, real quick before before you finish
that thought, we will have Javon Evans on the.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Show this week on Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
He is going to be talking about being involved in
that ladder match and how have a cool moment.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
It's going to be with him and Raymond Stereo.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
So that episode will come out on Wednesday with Javon
Evans talking about WrestleMania, So be looking forward to that
interview this Wednesday.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Back to what you're saying, John, I just want to
let everybody know.

Speaker 4 (16:55):
The ladder match is they're always decent ladder matches. I
don't understand why j D McDonald's in it. That's an
odd choice to put in there when they were the.

Speaker 3 (17:05):
Logic behind it. If you won't they say they had
these qualified matches and no one who.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
They announced him before the match is actually aired.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
Yeah, I mean I ended up watching him later that week,
but you know, but what I mean is that's not
someone I would expect in that match on a WrestleMania
card if this was maybe money in the bank possibly yeah,
not on WrestleMania. Like I would have rather have one
of the Americanos there, the Americano in there. I would
rather it be somebody who legitimately we think is going

(17:39):
to move into that next phase of Intercontinental champion. Why
Russeph is in there and a ladder match makes no
sense to me? Why did they put a ladder match?
It should not be a guy who's the size of Russev.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
You know what I like, Don't get me wrong, I
love him, And maybe you put a ladder match.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
Of all these high flyers in here, why not throw
in I don't know, Ray Phoenix right, or you have
the partnership, why not throwing Leon Slater in there?

Speaker 1 (18:10):
From TNA or yeah, you know, put it, put in
Vikingo in there. You know how awesome that would have been.
But then again, Vikingo.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
Just wrestled Pinta for the title, so I don't think
they would have done it back.

Speaker 4 (18:22):
To back unless they didn't have that match on Saturday
night exactly, sorry, or or even just somebody that fits
into that.

Speaker 5 (18:30):
I mean, we've seen Javon Evans and and Leon put Zach.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
Rider in there, Mac Cardona whatever.

Speaker 5 (18:36):
Why not?

Speaker 3 (18:37):
Why not?

Speaker 5 (18:37):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
And Ray Mysterio w in there just also seems an
odd choice other than just some spot that he's going
to do before he kills himself or something.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
It's like we talked about this here recently, like there
was the whole talks and rumors of supposed to be
Gonter versus Ray Mysterio career versus whatever, And I think
this is one of those things. And I I correct
me if I'm wrong, Internet that's listening to this, But
I think Ray recently said an interview like he came
back sooner than expected, and they just kind of threw
him in there as just a hey, this is what's

(19:07):
gonna happen. But also you got to think Ray's not
gonna have to really do much in this ladder match,
to be completely honest with you, And.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
I mean, like I'm okay with Russo just because you know,
like there's there's all kinds of ladder matches. I mean
kind of the one that put the concept on the
map was you know, Razor Ramone and Sean Michaels. Razormone
is huge, dude. He was like six six two fifty
to eighty. So, you know, I think the high flyers

(19:37):
are kind of taking it over. But even you know
Dudley boys, you know, those were bigger boys. You know,
Edge was a big dude. Christian was surprisingly big so.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
But I mean just compared to everyone else in it,
he seems like the odd man out, you know. I
mean they're all high flyer little guys.

Speaker 5 (19:55):
He's not.

Speaker 4 (19:56):
And if there was another big guy like him in there, sure,
but you see, is the odd man out.

Speaker 5 (20:02):
Gonna win?

Speaker 3 (20:04):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (20:04):
Some other matches to look forward to, obviously, you've got
both of the women's matches. You've got to Live Morgan
versus Stephanie Veck.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Here, you've got Ria versus Jade.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
I'm intrigued to see how the the Live and Stephanie
match is gonna go, especially after the injury that Live
had last week where she had that big old goose
egg on her head, and you know, there was reports
about her being in concussion protocol. But I mean, things
seem to look fine because according to social media, she
was hanging out at.

Speaker 5 (20:33):
Coachello over the week, so she's got to be okay.

Speaker 1 (20:36):
So I think everything's gonna be fine.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
I've liked the build up between Live and Stephanie, the
build up between Rhea and Jade. It started out kind
of really good and then it was just like fell
flat all of a sudden. And I don't know why
it's it's I don't know. Maybe you guys might have

(20:58):
a thought on if it fell flat for you.

Speaker 6 (21:03):
I mean, uh, I can I mean, great answer, because.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
It's just basically, you know, going back and forth.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
It's now just kind of gotten to the promo of
like then basically just going back and forth.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
I'm strong, No, I'm strong. No, I'm strong. No, I'm strong, And.

Speaker 5 (21:27):
I mean I'll be honest. Jake Cargo bores the hell
out of me. It was she had two defended, she
defended it twice or.

Speaker 1 (21:34):
Something like I just wanted I think so want she
bores me.

Speaker 4 (21:37):
I dig, I dig what she does just just boring
now and with with uh what was it Befabi Michin,
you know, teaming up with her and then EO comes
back with Rha. I feel like Io is gonna turn
on Ria, Like it just feels too easy for that
to happen, and like Ria winning the title, I don't know,
it just it just feels like the same old that's all.

Speaker 5 (21:59):
Yeah, it's me about that at all.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
I just think might Unfortunately, this is going to sound
like you know, it's it's biting a little bit. But
I mean like we've been Jade people before. I mean
we were pointing her out at the crowd at Daily's
place before she even signed. We're like, oh my gosh,
who is that and stuff, So we've been following her
for a long time. I just don't think she was

(22:22):
ready for this feud. Like I just think of like
if this feud would have happened a year from now
or two years from now, when they both have evolved
even more, I just think they were just like I mean,
I think she's been with WW since twenty three now,
so about three years now, and it's just kind of like,

(22:43):
we gotta do something, you know, like, I mean, what
else are we going to do? But she's not horrible
by any means. But it's just like, I mean, Ria
Ripley's in the top five of all women on the
planet right now, right Do.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
You think that this could be one of those examples
of why maybe certain people, no matter even if they
came from another company, that they should still kind of
go up through NXT Because you got to think when
they brought Jade in, she didn't spend any time in XT.
She got shoved right into the limelight with a rocket
on her back and she was still green in ae W.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
When we saw her. And it's not a knock against Jade.
So I don't think that, No.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
I think you know, whoever, and it's I mean, whatever
the case is. I mean, she just she got put
on TV too early.

Speaker 5 (23:31):
I mean, I like her outfits. She wears every week,
but oh yeah, he gear is incredible.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
But and then you had the whole injury angle and
then there's rumors that that's when she went to the PC,
so she was doing it off the air, and it's like,
just put her on NXT and let her.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
Run through the ros no one's going to forget about
it exactly.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
I mean they did that with Charlotte when she went
and won the NXT title. They did that with Tiffany
Stratton when she went back to NXT. Yeah, Becky, I
think as fan, we sit here and look at it
as like, oh, somebody like a Jade gets sence the NXT.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
We think it's a demotion. Right. It's like when people.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Sit here and people say the same thing about Nakida Lyons.
She got demoted to Evolve, right, you know whatever, and
she's back on NXT.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Like, I don't think it's.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
More of a you're getting demoted, because I believe we've
had several people on the show here when we've talked
to them about being on the main roster then going
back to next It's like, no, it's not being a demotion.
It's just sometimes we need to work on this, or
sometimes there's not enough time for us here, so they
want to advance so and so down at NXT.

Speaker 3 (24:38):
Right, And you think about it from their standpoint, you know,
like say it's a this is this example that makes sense.
But you know, say Leon Slater was on SmackDown and
they're like, hey, we need you to go to a
n XT and work with Shawn Michaels. Yeah, that's not
a punishment, bro. What do you know about.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
Another prime example super huge names, the Hardy Boy They
didn't come up to rawl or smack down when ww
brought them back in.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
Where'd they go?

Speaker 2 (25:04):
They were wrestling in n x T for the NXT
Tag Team champions He like Age Ricky and I mean
Dan Housen didn't even have to go through n XT,
and like, look at how that happened.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
We all crapped on the whole debut of Dan Housen
and how awful it was.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
But now that we thought they're gonna they're just gonna
screw this up. I was one of the doubters when
that happened, but now it's like you watch it every
week and you're like, Okay, this is actually pretty funny.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
And Eli's got his teeth that we were supposed to
give to him a long time ago.

Speaker 5 (25:37):
But that is human, of course they are.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
But like I'm telling you, like I think it's one
of those things like you don't have to go to NXT.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
It's not a demotion. Don't see it like that. I mean,
to the wrestling fans they think it is a demotion.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah, but I mean half a million people watch NXT
every week. That's like that's there's indies on Triller dot
Com and Fight and all that crap. Don't get a
fraction of that, you know, Like you think of like
an NWA or an MLW or something, and like just
they had any show that had half a million viewers,
like what that would do for their promotion? You know?
And Next gets that every Tuesday. So I don't think

(26:15):
it would have done anyone any harm by that for sure.
So anyways, I agree with whatever you guys were saying,
like it just the Jade and Rhea was kind of
one of those dream matches when she got signed, and
it just doesn't feel like a dream match thus far.
And it's a little disappointing because I think it's gonna

(26:37):
be another I think it's gonna be another knock on Jade,
like she's just a bodygirl or she you know, she's
just in it to do Hollywood or whatever they're saying
on the internet. I think it's I just I think this,
this match would have been a million times better Summer
Slam or Mania next year.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
As well, piggyback on what the NXT thing, you know,
and it's going to bring me to the next thought
that I had.

Speaker 5 (27:05):
And I'm sorry if I.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
Took over what you were going to say, But that
Sammy Trick match, I know we went into it before,
so we don't have to get too deep, but Trick
looks amazing because of what he was.

Speaker 5 (27:16):
Doing with NXT and what he was doing with TNA,
and I don't Trick.

Speaker 4 (27:20):
I think Trick being TNA champion for even what was it,
three four months maybe six months the most, that is
what I think helped him more than anything because he's
he's going to win the title, and that's that's going
to make him a better Intercontinental champion because of going
to NXC and TNA and and learning that skill and
learning that style and learning to you know, to do

(27:42):
those things with their other superstars. Yeah, it's going to
make that match better than what we think it is
because nobody, you know Sammy's aying got booed the other night, nobody.

Speaker 5 (27:50):
Wants him as the champion, right, So that's where we're at.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
And I think you can you can if you pay
attention very closely when you see these things. I think
also sees Trick as like the next guy for them
to strap a rocket on his back. I mean, if
you look, Trick is on ESPN, NFL network, he is
making the media rounds and he's.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
Doing all that.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
So I think at the end of the night of
you know, Night two, which was when that match is
gonna happen, I think that place is gonna erupt and
I think, you know, Trick ends up winning that title,
and I think what they did in this situation is
Sammy is a good worker. We've talked about this before.
You go back to how he made that Jackass match

(28:35):
look like a million bucks at wrestle Man eight years ago.
You know, he is going to make this match with
Trick memorable, and you know at the end, everybody's gonna
be saying, whoop that Trick at the end of that match,
because he's gonna win the title. And then then maybe
who knows, we'll finally get the Trick and Mellow that
we are wanting for. And maybe it's at Payback or

(28:57):
Backlash or SummerSlam whatever.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
Maybe that's kind of the plan. We'll see what happens.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
I don't know, but kind of looking around at some
of the other matches, we've got aj Lee versus Becky Lynch,
We've got versus.

Speaker 3 (29:10):
In that match, by the way, that has been such
a snooze fest. Really, Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
I don't. I don't know what happened. But like, Becky
has been unwatchable to me for about three years now,
and I don't know what happened. I don't. I can't
pinpoint it. I can't say, like, oh, well, when she
did this, everything changed. I don't know what it is.
Her promos and her acting has been absolutely awful.

Speaker 5 (29:45):
I know what you mean, I know exactly what you mean.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
And and just pairing her with aj it has just
been off, man, Like I just I mean cringe levels,
and I mean that with as much respe I can say,
because these two girls are women.

Speaker 5 (30:02):
Excuse me.

Speaker 3 (30:03):
These two women are incredible and have done so much
for the industry and women drestling in general, and you know,
influencing generations, literally generations at this point. But man, it
has just fallen so flat to me, and I don't
know why. I really I don't like mentioning it because

(30:23):
I know it'll get a lot of hate, but it's
just been.

Speaker 5 (30:27):
In a weird odd turn events. I agree with you
one hundred percent, and I'm a big fan of both
of them.

Speaker 4 (30:33):
When Becky came back last year at WrestleMania, it was
awesome to see her. I mean, I think everyone knew
she was going to be there, and her heel turn
the next night was was done fabulously. But you're you
made a great point where she her promos just unless
it's on purpose, which I don't think it is.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
It's just not collecting what the audience.

Speaker 4 (30:55):
It's well, you know, and without going too deep, obviously,
she sounds like a certain president of the United States
that we all know, and I know that's the stick
that she's going for. And maybe that's why people aren't
connecting with it, because people don't connect with a certain
president of the United States.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
I don't always connecting certain people. It's not yet not
everybody's cup of tea.

Speaker 4 (31:16):
Right And and that's again politics aside. That's not a
knock on him or her.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
But that's just a weird delivery style.

Speaker 5 (31:24):
Right exactly.

Speaker 4 (31:25):
And and it's funny when she says, you know, I'm
not the only one saying it. Sports Ill Street, it
says it. That's funny line. But who cares about sports Hillstreet,
you know.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
Right, and like every time, like I just it's just
like that's just an example of just like something not
catching on and just continue and you just continue, and
it's just like, you know, somebody in the back thought
it was funny and they wrote it once and they
got a little bit of a pop. So they're like,
keep going, keep going, be like.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
A dead horse.

Speaker 4 (31:55):
They're known to do that. Yeah, is the next example
of that one.

Speaker 2 (31:58):
But let's see what their matches. We've got the Gunther
and Seth, which no build up to that.

Speaker 5 (32:04):
So I like where it's going because I think I told.

Speaker 3 (32:07):
You solid you know, going back to y'all's question, that
probably will steal the show. I mean, I mean, okay.

Speaker 5 (32:18):
Brock doesn't get involved, I'd be surprised, Brock.

Speaker 3 (32:23):
Uh and Oba, it's gonna be good. But it's it's
five minutes or least. I mean, it's somebody's gonna squash one.
I mean it, you know, and aw, it's they call
it meat slapping meat uh, you know, so you know
it'll be a big, you know event from that standpoint,
I don't think it's gonna be a classical masterclass or anything.

(32:47):
Like that. I think the latter match will probably be
the most fun just because of all the spots and
you do have a little bit of the different styles
and stuff. Russo's bigger, like we talked about, McDonald's got
a huge head, so you got a lot of different
a lot of everything's going on there. But I think
as far as who could steal it, I think and
Seth I think they're the ones that I think that

(33:09):
they're I think they love this stuff so much that
like I think they're seeing the stuff online and just like,
why didn't we just do this? What Bron's cleared? Why
didn't you just you know, all this stuff? So I
think they're like, screw it. You know.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
I think maybe Braun interrupts in this.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
Match, I can see that, or it's probably gonna be
Paul for somehow.

Speaker 4 (33:32):
But I told you offline to where it's going, there's
no doubt in my mind that it's one of those
God they're paid uh Paul Hayman to get on a
match with Brocklesner exactly summer.

Speaker 5 (33:43):
I mean, look, I mean the obvious isn't always the case.

Speaker 4 (33:47):
You know, Sometimes we think it's going to be that
one hundred percent and it's not even close to it.

Speaker 5 (33:51):
But I can't imagine this not going that way. It's
just right.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
I can see Seth saying like no holds barred, Like punter,
I want you to break your wrists, chopping like I
I can see these two killing themselves for a match
of the Knight Saturday.

Speaker 4 (34:07):
That might just be the highlight of Like, no doubt,
that could be the highlight of Saturdays.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
You know the one that I guess we haven't really
brought up that could be the sleeper and it's on
the first hour of ESPN two. Is that Drew McIntyre
and Jacoba to the unsanctioned match. I think those dudes
are going to literally beat the hell out of each other.

Speaker 5 (34:24):
Like Peter Griffin and the Chicken. They're just going everywhere.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
They're gonna fight everywhere. We're gonna get some moxley going
out there in the ring. For those of you who
don't know, moxley means bleeding, blood, color paint, whatever you
want to call its. Crimson mass you're gonna wear a
crimson mask. I think that's gonna be a fun one
to watch for sure. And then, of course, uh the
six man tag match. I think that's on ESPN just
because of like who Alt's involved. You've got the usso's

(34:49):
and you know, l A Night and then you've got
Austin theory Logan Paul and I should just be so
that's that's that's fine. But now we kind of move
over to the we've kind of bounced around. Everything seems
to be good. I do want to go back to
something we talked about earlier, just because I and I
know that Josh hates when we spoil surprises.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
Like last year. I texted him.

Speaker 2 (35:09):
I was like, Hey, Joe Hendry's going to be the guest,
and then he got so mad. I wish they wouldn't
have told us that we were getting demon. Finn Balart
I agree.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
I know that. I know.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
I've waited to the end of this to talk about it.
I wish that it would have just been Finn and
he would have been like kind of slowly teasing the
demon kind of.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Like he did. Was it in La years ago.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
When he came out to the demon and it was
very weird because the light it was still sunny outside,
so it didn't really have that cool effect.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
But hey, he can't deal with mother nature.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
But it is what it is, but the fact that
they told us demon Finn Balor is showing up a
resumator that kind of bummy.

Speaker 4 (35:46):
Did you ever cross your mind that it was going
to be demon, Because I tell you, before they announced it,
I said to my daughter, I said, that'd be awesome
if it's Demon, I would love to see Demon fin ballad.
And then I think it was like the next day
they posted the thing that said demon, and I was like.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
I think miss something.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
I think, to be completely honest, I think Demon Balor
should be like one of those ones that we hey,
we all know that if Finn is wrestling at WrestleMania,
it's Demon Baalor. I feel like we should know that
without WW saying Demon Baalor, Like we should be in
our mind of like, oh, we're gonna get Demon Ballor.
I think them announcing it kind of took away that

(36:26):
mystique of we're sitting here waiting and all of a
sudden the entire arena goes dark and all the smoke
and the red lights, and that that that.

Speaker 5 (36:35):
Not gonna be that dark. It's gonna be like California
is gonna right.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
That's that's my only concern with that it's like, don't
tell me I'm getting Demon Balor. That's like that's like
when your parents tell you, like, hey, I got this
for you, but you're gonna have to wait to get
it for a little bit. It's like when I tell
Liam I bought him some Ja Morant shoes. He knows
he's getting them, but he's.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
Just like, dude, I got him. I got to go
two pairs.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
So if you need something, I got you, I.

Speaker 5 (37:05):
Know, right.

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Uh, but yeah, I think that's my only gripe with
with the WrestleMania card is uh, don't don't don't get
Don't tell me I'm getting Demon Valor.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
Let me just assume it.

Speaker 5 (37:16):
Get it. You don't want to be spoiled. And technically
it's not a spoiled, right, it's not a spoil. But
it's like, you know where I'm coming from. You told
Zigler was coming back.

Speaker 4 (37:25):
Oh yeah, at the ball at John Cena's last were
all in New York, and I like, right before he
came out, I was so I said to the.

Speaker 5 (37:33):
Guy next to man, like, my my friend is such
an a hole.

Speaker 4 (37:35):
He just told me who was going out before he
gets I was so angry with you.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
Now let me let me preface this real quick, because
I am not a person that that is out here
spoiling anything. Ww A w TNA does not tell me anything.
I just read what everybody else reads online and then
Josh is at the event, and then I just spoil
it for him.

Speaker 5 (37:53):
So well, don't do that this year.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
Okay, I promise I will not do that to you
this year at WrestleMania.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
But of course Josh is going to be there this weekend.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
He's going to be doing pretty much every single thing
he could possibly think of Wrestlmingia weekend in Vegas.

Speaker 1 (38:09):
So if you see him out and about, say hi
to him.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
He's the only guy that has exactly he's the only
guy that has the Philadelphia Eagles and a Phillies tattoo
on his leg. Oh and he has back to the
Future tattoos as well, so as he shows us his
tattoos that nobody could see because they're listening to this
right now.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
But eh, that is very true.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
But yeah, so WrestleMania this weekend really exciting stuff. Super
excited for some upcoming guests we've had. Of course, we've
got Javon Evans coming on the show Wednesday, of course,
we'll be talking about WrestleMania weekend. We've got Keana James.
She's going to be on the show very very soon
as well. And thanks to our friends at Netflix, there

(38:54):
is a docuseriies that is dropping on April twenty second,
is the Hulk Hogan docu series. We're gonna be talking
to the Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart on the show.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
We're gonna be talking about that documentaries.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
So we're gonna have some fun and get him to
tell some stories about Hogan and also talk about how
he created theme songs and we'll see what he thinks
of the current theme songs in WW if he has
any say so.

Speaker 5 (39:18):
By the way, in will look back Honky talk Man.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
That's second greatest, but we'll debate that later for another time.

Speaker 3 (39:25):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
By the way, past guests on the show, if you
want to go check it out. Kenny Omega came on
the show. H He Yeah, who is was in the
main event for aw Dynasty. We talked all kinds of things,
including the story about him creasing twenty thousand dollars.

Speaker 1 (39:42):
Shoes on TV that everybody talked about.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
So if you want to go back and listen to
that interview Kenny Omega just before this WrestleMania preview, and
then make sure you hit that subscribe button and the
notifications turn them on, because we drop new episodes every Monday,
and when we have interviews, we'll drop them throughout the week,
most of the time on Wednesday.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
So Javan Evans will be on the show this Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
We're gonna be talking to him about WrestleMania and talking
about Monday Night Raw coming to Greensboro. So make sure
you check that interview out. Josh, do you want to
say anything to people before we get out of here.

Speaker 5 (40:14):
Just don't spoil anything for me this weekend.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
Please, thank you, josh Im Radio.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
On social media, spoil everything even if it's not real.
Just tell him that man is coming back. According to
Sean Russsapp at fiful dot com. But you know, but
uh yeah, make sure you're following us on social media.
Battleground Podcast on Instagram is probably the best place. We're
on YouTube as well. You can check out some of
our video interviews and again, follow us on social media.

(40:40):
The best place Instagram Battleground Podcast. Josh, You're gonna be
posting all kinds of cool things and we'll see you
on Wednesday,
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