June 24, 2023 • 35 mins
A big shout out to Dave Knudson and Nik Sobic. These guys are the ones instrumental in the launch of AEW's first video game, AEW FIGHT FOREVER, available on June 29th on all gaming consoles. Ant and Michael talk to Dave and Nik about what it took to get this game launched, what gamers can expect and some surprises to look forward to as well!
PLUS...we're giving you a chance to get your hands on the game before launch day!
But, you have to listen to find out how!
Follow the show: ➡️ https://www.Instagram.com/WrestleChatPodcast
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Follow Michael: ➡️ https://www.Instagram.com/MichaelGlavin --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wrestlechat-podcast/message
PLUS...we're giving you a chance to get your hands on the game before launch day!
But, you have to listen to find out how!
Follow the show: ➡️ https://www.Instagram.com/WrestleChatPodcast
Follow The AntMan: ➡️ https://www.Instagram.com/TheAntMan.co
Follow Michael: ➡️ https://www.Instagram.com/MichaelGlavin --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wrestlechat-podcast/message
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (01:06):
Here we Go Lucky. Episode number thirteen of the wrestle
Chat podcast is on Friends. Welcome you All on the
ant Man. Welcome mister Glavin how's it going.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Everything is going fantastic, yet another good week in professional wrestling.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Excited to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yes, we're less than two weeks away though from your podcast,
The Manchild Chronicles dropping on YouTube. Not a new podcast,
just adding more fun to an already fun podcast with
your new YouTube channel. Where can people find that?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
You can find that on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
You can also go to Manchild Chronicles dot com and
get linked up there.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
We are super excited.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
We've been in a lot of meetings this week talking
about some content that we're going to be bringing and
it's definitely gonna be something you're not gonna want to miss.
We're gonna be looking at possibly some giveaways here soon,
so definitely something you want to tune in for.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Awesome, looking forward to it. If you also, if you'll
roll down, if you're watching this on our YouTube channel
right now, scroll down to other channels that we love,
and the very first one you see on there is
The Man Child Chronicles. Click on that and make sure
you hit subscribe. Before we get things rolling, I want
to remind you that following next week's episode, we're going
to have a winner for our Summer Slam contest. Two
tickets on the lower level at Ford Field, and although
(02:20):
we don't know any of the matches yet, we've still
got money in the bank to get through. It's sure
to shape up to be a monster of a show
in Detroit, and we'd love for you to be there
with us. If you're watching right now, the link is
right there on your screen, you can see at wrestle
Chat podcast dot com slash Summer for an extra entry.
Make sure you follow us on Instagram too, at wrestle
(02:40):
Chat Podcast on Instagram. So head over right now wrestle
chatpodcast dot com slash Summer and get signed up. One
more week left to score those free tickets for SummerSlam
this year. Let's hit rewind and roll things back seven
days to the premiere of AEW Collision. It was the
highly anticipated return of the Second City Savior, rolling to
(03:04):
the ring with his automixed shoes tied together and hung
around his neck and a red bag in tow. What
was in that red bag the AEW title, it would seem,
although he never revealed it, only referred to it while saying,
this is mine until someone either pins me or makes
me submit. Michael, do you believe that punk has a
rightful claim to the AEW title since he was stripped
(03:26):
of it or is that just business? You know?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I believe that when you are in a category like
CM punk is, while you are not entitled to anything
in professional wrestling, ever, I believe that from a booking perspective,
it should be a.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
No brainer to put him in a program.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
In a rematch with MJF, I think there is the
makings of some great mic work there. There could be
a lot of fun that's had a lot of trash
talked and and that would be really cool to see
that happen. We're gonna have to wait and see how
this develops.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
The previous matches were great. But if this would be
the probably one of the longest told stories from start
to finish so far in AEW. If this happens at Wimbley,
so they start a little rumbling here and we work
our way up to Wimbley, that could be a fun match,
if indeed that is when that might happen. The Twitter
poll results were split right down the middle. Here was
(04:25):
the question proposed Thoughts on Punk's promo slash return at Collision.
Options were thumbs up, indifferent and throw up fifty to
fifty between thumbs up and indifferent. No throw ups on
there at all. Although less than scientific, it may tell
you where some of the audience stands on cmpunk, and
it kind of honestly is not super shocking, although I
(04:47):
thought it might have been thumbs up and throw up
would have been the two that split fifty to fifty
with the way people talk about cmpunk overall, a great
start to a new show for aew As far as
ratings go, they were close to nine hundred thousand viewers
with some pretty steep competition, and that is on a
Saturday night as well. Ask Eric Bischoff what he thinks
(05:08):
about Saturday night wrestling and he doesn't hold back, so
you know that they had a lot going against them.
To have almost a million people watching is a nice
undertaking for AEWN. They are anxiously anticipating the release of
their very first video game, aw Fight Forever. It's dropping
on June twenty ninth, and we're talking with Dave Newtson
(05:28):
and Nick Silbic, the guys behind the game, coming up
here and just a little bit plus, we're gonna give
you a chance to win a copy A Fight Forever
before its release, So make sure you stick around. That's
all coming up here. A little bit later on in
the show, Raw saw the build continue to next Sunday's
Money in the Bank Premium Live event that's coming to
(05:51):
us from London's O two Arena. The feud between Finn
Balor and world champs Seth Rawlins is getting personal, with
Finn jumping Seth in the ring there at the beginning
and delivering not one, not two, but three coup de
grass Roland sustaining some rib damage in the process, only
to have insult added to injury backstage after the break.
It's looking more and more like Finn may have the
(06:13):
upper hand going into this title match coming up next weekend.
Do you see the world title finding a new home
in the judgment day next Saturday.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
That's tough.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I've said on shows in recent weeks that I don't
believe that Seth Rollins is a long term champion. I'm
still leaning towards Summer Slam for a switchover, but it
could very well be possible that Finn Balor steps into
this spot. I love what they're doing with Finn Balor
(06:45):
in this storyline too. It wasn't my most favorite start.
As we talked about in recent weeks. But this side
of Finn Balor, with the attacks and stuff like that,
it's elevating him from that kind of mid card level
that he's right now, and it's putting some.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Good vibe on him in the main event picture.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And so I'm glad that they're booking it the way
that they are, and I'm glad that they're approaching it
the way that they are. But in terms of a
title change, I'm fifty to fifty right down the middle.
I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that that
beautiful belt will look good on either guy.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It would be kind of a cool sight to see
him with that title and be standing right next to
Rhea Ripley with her title. Their in judgment day, we'll
find out and in a week we thought it would
be six men in the battle for the briefcase at
Money in the Bank, but now it's seven. The addition
the Maverick Logan Paul, several I saw online believe this
(07:43):
was a way to get a title on Logan. We'll
have to wait and see on that, but my question
on the wrestle Chat podcast Instagram story poll looked like
this change chances of Logan Paul winning the money in
the bank briefcase. Thirty eight percent of you said one
hundred percent, thirty one said it's fifty to fifty, and
thirty one said no chance in hell. Thirty percent of
(08:05):
the time, it works one hundred percent of the time.
Where do you stand on on the thought of Logan
Paul carrying this briefcase around until he's ready to cash
it in.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I think there's some good potential there.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
You know, we're in a position where we've got a
lot of titles on people who were seeing on a
full time basis, you know, there for a long time.
You know, we were dealing with the brock Lesnar issue
or different things like that with or even Charlotte Flair
for that matter. What we do have now is a
lot of full time champions. What I'm mind seeing a
(08:39):
part timer like Logan Paul enter that picture. Can't say
I'd be that upset about it. At the same time,
I'm going to put my flag in the ground to
say that if La Knight doesn't take this, we riot.
So I'm right there with you, and so I would
not be disappointed if Logan Paul took the briefcase.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
But I think it's La Knight's time.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I think that we're seeing it maybe being orchestrated in
the background, but but yeah, if not La Knight, then
we riot.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Even after Finn's attack on Seth, the world champ still
showed up to defend his title against Braun Breaker at
NXT on Tuesday. One thing for sure out of that match,
Bron's ready for prime time. You get the book, Michael,
someone gives you the book and you get to book
the first feud with Braun when he gets called up,
Who's it with?
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Oh Man?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
To be honest, I would like to put him immediately
into a program with Austin Theory for the United States Championship.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
I think that.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Broun Breaker needs a really, really strong entrance, and I
think he has the US title written all over him
with his more collegiate look, his wrestling heritage, all things
like that. I want him to kick in the door
and make a statement, and I believe that it should
be with Austin Theory.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Now listen, I'm personally not even a diehard gamer man.
I am excited about this chat. I want to welcome
in Nick Sobak and Dave Newts, and Nick is the
SDP of business Development Partnership in aew Games. Nick, Welcome
to the wrestle Chat podcast. How are you.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I'm doing great and it's great to be here. And
I love the wrestling belt above your head and a
shot there, and that's part of the reason we're here.
By the way, you said you're not a hardcore wrestling gamer.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yet yet exactly your mind. Yeah, well, and then also, Dave,
like me, is a diehard barbecue connoisseur, a whiskey lover,
and a wrestling fan. But also he's the producer at
t HQ Nordic, the guys behind the game ae W
Fight Forever out this coming Thursday. In a previous life,
Dave and I worked together on a few other video games,
recording in game commentary for Good Old Jr. Jim Ross. Dave,
(10:59):
great to connect with you again here today on this
brand new video game with AW Thank you amser man.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
It's always a pleasure to come on and chat wrestling
with you, barbecue, everything else. But get to hit my
favorite subject today, which is video games. Yes, I've got
a little bit of experience with as you do too,
and Nick, which you know this is Nick's first time
with doing games, but I've said it before. If I
(11:25):
didn't know any better, I would think that Nick's been
doing games for twenty years or so. With what they've
done coming out next week on June twenty ninth with.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
AW Fight Forever, that's awesome.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
It's got a lot of heart and soul in this game,
and as people that are already starting to play it
or seeing and fallen in love with the game all
over again, just like the old retro games that everybody grew.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Up with, Well, Nick, I want to start with you.
Tell us how the idea to jump into gaming came
about for you and AEW.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
I was the first employee of AW about three and
a half years ago, and as you know, starting a
wrestling company is an extremely risky proposition and takes a
lot of capital to do that. And so the day
after we started AW, we had the guts to go
(12:14):
back to our founder, Tony Kahan and say, you know,
thanks for taking that tremendous leap of faith, how do
you feel about doing taking another one? And that's sort
of how the AW Fight Forever video.
Speaker 8 (12:29):
Game was born.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
And the great thing about our founder Tony Khan is
he's super analytical and data centric, so we presented to him,
you know, the business case that there hasn't been a
wrestling game like this on the market for a very
long time.
Speaker 8 (12:46):
Our AW fans are die hard gamers.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
So if we look at the data and we look
at the access we have to the what we can
learn about our audience.
Speaker 8 (12:56):
They're gamers, So we put we could have put a
compelling business.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Game in front of them, and three and a half
years later, here we are.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Man, that's awesome. One of the big differences between AW
Fight Forever and other combat games out there today is
you guys went a little more nostalgic with this game,
a little more of the arcade field rather than sim
Why was it important to you to explore going this direction?
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Every single decision that we've made for this video game.
Speaker 8 (13:27):
Was with the lens of fun. Yeah, are people are
going to have fun doing this.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I hadn't been making video games for a long time,
but I've been playing video games for a long time.
One of my issues with games today is they are
so stimulator heavy, meaning you need to spend a week
just learning the controls, and it's.
Speaker 8 (13:49):
Not intuitive, and it doesn't come naturally, and it's not fun.
For a very long time.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Until you treat it like a job and you get
really good at a game, then.
Speaker 8 (13:58):
It's fun because then you can beat the crap out
of everybody. But so aw fight forever.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Anyone of any age, in any interest level in video
games will pick up the controller and have fun the
first time they play it.
Speaker 8 (14:12):
However, you can get really good.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
You can spend a lot of time on it, and
you can get really good and you can probably still
embarrass your friends that are just playing for the first time.
But it will be competitive, and that's the idea everybody
at any skill level. It shouldn't be so it shouldn't
be so dog game. We have a task to try
and pick up video game and have fun. So that's
(14:36):
that's kind of the foundation.
Speaker 8 (14:38):
Of the game.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
You know, Nick, Michael and I were on our way
to a ew Dynamite here in Austin a few weeks ago,
and that was actually the conversation we had. It was like,
I think, Michael, you mentioned that I really hope this
game is much easier to play than having to hit
thirty seven buttons to get somebody to kick somebody else.
(14:59):
But looking at it, it looked like, man, this is
going to be much easier and much more fun to
get involved in than trying to learn thirty nine different combinations.
Speaker 6 (15:08):
To Nick's point, just because you have the horsepower and
you actually expand and do crazy things with these new
with Unreal and these game engines doesn't necessarily mean that
you should. And I think us as an industry we've
kind of lost base with that is where we're continuously
trying to one up our competitors of like, oh, you
(15:29):
guys did ask cool, Wait until you can see what
we do with the tech. Now where aw came in
and he took a look at and like, just like
what Nick is saying is we're missing the point of
that fun factor.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
As someone who's been a consumer of a lot of
games in the combat genre in my time, I was
someone who has committed every year to buying these combat
games because they were fun and they were enjoyable. And
then what happened in I guess the twenty ten is
we did gravitate towards needing to have, you know, a
(16:06):
degree from a four year school in order to be
able to play it. And so what happened was is
that I very quickly started drifting off and not purchasing
the games yearly because you know, I'm a regular person,
like I've got a mortgage and credit cards and kids,
and the last thing that I want to do is
spend all this time, you know, investing in a game.
(16:28):
The majority of the games that I play are you know,
adventure and role playing games because they allow me to
enjoy myself and watching this story unfold without it being complex.
And from the first moment I saw AW Fight Forever,
it was just this pull inside of me of man,
(16:48):
I've got to play that, because not only did it
have the look and the excitement, but you can tell
just by looking at it that it is something that
you are going to end joy playing. So, from from
a consumer standpoint, cannot wait for this thing to come
out and really dive into it because I know that
it's going to be a really, really great time.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Professional wrestling, there were parts of professional wrestling three and
a half years ago before AW entered the scene that
were broken, and Tony Khn stepped in, and I believe
we're on the way to fixing some of those things.
And it's the same exact thing. In the gaming world,
in terms of gaming is such a huge business right now,
there's so much pressure to pump out a title every
(17:34):
year on exactly the same day, which is why with
this game it's everyone's everyone's The number one question is like,
what are you doing?
Speaker 8 (17:43):
Like what's taking so long?
Speaker 5 (17:44):
We just want to play it now, And it's like
we've been working on this game hand animating every single
move in the game, because you know, quality takes time,
and and we were on a schedule where, you know,
if we don't get this game out year, we're in
a big trumpet.
Speaker 8 (18:01):
So I think, you know, there's a lot of similarities
between starting a.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
AW, launching this video game, and doing some disruptive things
in terms of we're on the quality clock, not necessarily
on anyone else's clock.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
We want to deliver a product that we're proud of.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
So in a roundabout way, you know, the comparison between
video games and wrestling the same way we started AW
we went out and got the best wrestlers in the
world that were available, and when we started this game,
we got the best team that was available. So, you know,
Dave and the t the team at TSH Nordic u's
(18:38):
the best wrestling game developer in the world.
Speaker 8 (18:42):
Kenny Omega, one of the.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Best wrestling minds in the world has been working on
this project every day for the last three and a
half years.
Speaker 8 (18:51):
So we have a really special team and the result.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Of that is sort of a really special product.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And I hope you guys love Dave. Let me ask
you a question. When you get a call from Nick
and he says, we want to do our very first
video game with you, guys, how do you initially approach
something new like this.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
So this was a different kind of case than what
we're usually cradle to grave with games.
Speaker 7 (19:18):
So we're usually in the beginning of the concept and.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
We as a publisher helped with the developer and the
license or and you know, it's a three way kind of.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
Business deal with this.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Like Nick had told the story earlier, they went ahead
and jumped feet first in. So they found you who
who we all know us has a history of putting
out award winning games, and they went to town and
started developing the game. So we we only came in
about a year ago into this and the game was
for the most part done. We just needed to help
(19:55):
aw and Yuke's with putting the final touches on. So basically,
what needs to be done to bring it to market,
and that's our expertise as a publishers is we help
package the games up and get them out to market
and make sure that everybody buys it and enjoys it.
So there was some work to be done just to
(20:16):
kind of wrap everything up. But for the most part,
like I was talking about earlier, for them making their
first game, you wouldn't have been able to tell because
the game was well thought out. You'll see when you
get to play it next week. It was well thought out.
They put the focus of their time and budget and
resources to the right parts of the game, and they
(20:38):
focus on the right measures of the game.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
And you're seeing that.
Speaker 6 (20:41):
I mean, we have a couple of my computer crashed,
We've got a couple of leaks already with people being excited,
I mean, and that's one thing. It sucks that people
are not respecting the embargoes and waiting to.
Speaker 7 (20:56):
Put up veel.
Speaker 6 (20:57):
But on the flip side, on the positive, everybody is
so excited about this that they are bribing retailers to
get the game early, and they're streaming it and they're
they're taking the strikes on their YouTube channel because they're so.
Speaker 7 (21:09):
Excited about this. And we haven't really. We haven't gotten
anything bad on these either.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Which usually the early reviewers that it's a chance for
them to bash the game and talk about how bad
it is ahead of.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Time and be cool with their friends. We're not getting that.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
We're actually getting people excited and trying to encourage other
people to go find a game early so that they
can play with them. So to kind of get back
to your question in a long winded way, it's been
a great experience with AW and you. It feels like
the band is back together, but on a different level
from the wrestling games I used to make. So I've
(21:45):
had so much fun with the AW crew.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
They treat you.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Like family, like on the first day so THHQ with us,
we try to bring people in with licensers and stuff.
Speaker 7 (21:57):
We want to treat them as one of us.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
We took and some of the wrestlers to games Com
in Germany last year and we set up a ring
and wanted to make sure you had a good time,
and within the first hour you wouldn't have been able
to tell that we hadn't been.
Speaker 7 (22:10):
Friends for years.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
So these guys are just they're professional, they work hard,
they play hard. It's some of the most passionate people
I've had the opportunity to work with. I know I'll
probably say it two or three more times during this chad,
but I just can't tell you how lucky I think
we are that we got to hook up with aw
that they came and chose THQ Nordic to publish their game,
(22:32):
and I think we've got a very nice, long partnership.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Ahead of us looking forward to it. Nick, let's dive
in and talk actual gameplay. What are some of the
features that were important to you guys to make sure
that you included in this very first release.
Speaker 8 (22:48):
Here's what I love about this game. There's three games
in one.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Okay, there are mini games which are super fun, super
easy to pick up and play. Reminds me almost like
Mario Kart, Mario Party type stuff. Just you know, literally,
anyone who's ever played video games or love video games
will love the game mode. Career Mode is for anyone
(23:11):
who's ever imagined what it might be like to want
to be a professional wrestler. And what I think is
cool about our Career Mode is it's like quirky because
we actually do the stuff on the road that our
wrestlers do, like you.
Speaker 8 (23:28):
Have limited times, So what are you gonna do. You're
gonna go to the gym, you.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
Gonna have a slice of pizza, like what you have,
You do whatever you want. It's gonna affect your wrestling career,
but have a little fun along the way.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
So you have a series of choices.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
And what I love about the career mode is like
your decisions have consequences and the outcomes are not the same.
You can play the career modes several times and you
have a different experience. And then last and certainly not lead,
but certainly not least, just a core game, the core
wrestling game. And we created a proprietary wrestling engine, hand
(24:04):
animated on Unreal engine from scratch.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
Wow. And it was a lot of work.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
But just the early reviews and you know, the excitement
of people playing the game so far, seems like that
investment in time and money has paid off so far.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Well, there were a lot of fans that were they
were left thinking is this it? After the real life
exploding barbar O deathmatch between Kenny Omega and John Moxley
back at aw Revolution in twenty one, But in the
video game world, we get a chance to witness and
ending everyone was hoping for. With so much time to
think of how you you know you could have done
(24:41):
that differently in the actual match. Whose idea was it
to make it a reality in AEW Fight Forever video game?
Speaker 5 (24:50):
Uh? We really, we really take fan feedback very seriously,
so you know, the it was the fans decision in
terms of like what kind of game modes do you
want to see? What do you want to see in
this game? Kenny Omega worked very very closely on specifically
this part of the games because he was actually in
(25:11):
that match.
Speaker 8 (25:12):
And I will just say that, like when you're when
you're in an.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Enclosed space, blowing a bunch of stuff up is super dangerous.
But the nice thing about a video game is like
it's not dangerous. You can blow up as much stuff
as you want. So, even for uh Forth, the most
impossible to please Pyromaniac, I think there's something in this
(25:38):
game for you, specifically in that in that.
Speaker 8 (25:41):
Game, Thode, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Well, Nick, after your experience from from thought to completion,
how are you feeling about AEW Fight Forever being released
to the world this Thursday?
Speaker 5 (25:56):
We so we made a promise when we start this
project to deliver this game, and we're really proud to
say that we feel like we've delivered on that promise.
And in terms of you know, what the fans can
do now to help us out is vote with your wallet,
(26:18):
go buy the game comes out in June twenty ninth,
Enjoy it.
Speaker 8 (26:23):
We've enjoyed making it.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
And as Dave alluded to earlier, one thing I can
say about Tony Kahn the boss Man, is he's one
of the most generous people I've ever met in my life. So,
you know, the if we make some money in this game,
it's going right back into aw games, It's going right
back into AW Fight forever. And what we're trying to
(26:46):
explore here is like, do we have a franchise on
our hands?
Speaker 8 (26:49):
Can we keep doing this and can we keep delivering
for our fans?
Speaker 5 (26:53):
So this is this is a very important couple of
weeks for us because we get to answer some of
those questions.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Well, has working with Dave and the guys that teach
Q Nordic on this particular project spawned any other new ideas.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
Dave's so modest. I mean, you know Dave for twenty
years now, but so it's it's not fair It's really
not fair to say that the game was done when
THHQ Nordic joined because it was far from done, and
a lot of the a lot of the stuff that
(27:33):
you see in terms of the Polish and why it's
so fun directly correlated to when THHQ Nordic, you know,
joined the team. So here's what Dave's been working in
wrestling for a long time, and here's what I'll just
say about this game in particular, and what I think
AW is really good at just when you think the
(27:57):
show is over and just when you think you know
you had a really good time, really good experience, it wouldn't.
Speaker 8 (28:04):
Be an AW product.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
It wouldn't be an AW show, you know, if we
didn't have plenty of surprises.
Speaker 8 (28:13):
Up our sleeve.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
So we're telling you everything that we can tell you
right now, but we have a strong feeling that if
you play the game, you know.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
There's there's more than there's more to it than what
you've heard so far.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Dave's modest about everything except for his brisket and his
beet jerky. He knows it, he knows he cooks and
smoke some good Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
Yeah, A lot of that I picked up from you
so being modest about his barbeques.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Still being modest, you know, we're gonna give a few
lucky fans the chance to experience the aw Fight for
every game before the release this Thursday. You'll actually get
your hands on it and play the game for free.
Just make sure you keep watching or listening and we'll
give you details on how to score your early access
code of this game exclusively from the wrestle Chat podcast.
A little bit later on Dave Nick, it was awesome
(29:02):
having you guys on with us today. Thank you so
much for sharing aw Fight forever with us here on
this show.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
Hey, thanks man, It's always a pleasure catching up with you.
I have such a good time with you, and Michael
is great to meet you today too.
Speaker 8 (29:14):
Good hanging with you guys, and give us a shot.
I think you're gonna love the game.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Dynamite this week, putting the final touches on the battles
heading into tomorrow's international pay per view Forbidden Door. It's
live from Toronto. Every about a show Steeler, no doubt,
but I personally can't wait to see Omega and Ospray
go head to head. It's for the IGP United States championship,
and you, being a belt guy like me, this is
(29:41):
one of the most beautiful non American titles I think
that I've ever seen. I think it's better looking than
their heavyweight title, and I wish we saw Omega with
that title. More on ae W and every match is
a show stealer. Brian Danielson is battling the Katta. You
notice I haven't said anyone's first names because I cannot
(30:03):
pronounce any of them, not one of them, and I
even have trouble with some of the American ones. MJF
is going head to head with Tanahashi and that's for
the triple B that's for the AW title, and we'll
see what happens in that one. Punk is taking on Kojama,
and Tony Storm is going to defend her AW Women's
title against Willow Nightingale. That's coming up on Sunday at
(30:26):
Forbidden Door. If you're a diehard wrestling fan, you already
know way more than me what this pay per view
means to wrestling, and I can't wait to watch it
tomorrow on pay per view. It all starts at seven
o'clock Eastern. June twenty ninth, AW drops their very first
video game, aw Fight Forever Big thanks again to Dave
Newtson and Nick Sooviek for joining us here on the show.
(30:48):
And we have your chance to win it on whatever
console you want to play it on. It's going to
be on Nintendo Switch, It's going to be on Xbox
PS four, PS five windows. You get to pick if
you win it, we're going to draw three winners. What
you need to do is follow wrestle Chat Podcast on
Instagram and check out our latest post. If you're watching
on YouTube, it looks like this. All the rules and
(31:09):
the details are there and what you need to do
to enter, and the contest closes on Tuesday, June twenty seventh.
That's when you'll get your download codes. If you are
the winner, go find us on Instagram at wrestle Chat Podcast.
See our latest post for details on how you could
win right now. Friday Nights Backdown started off hot with
the USO's who we're going to see take on Roman
(31:30):
Reins and Solo Socoa, and we've documented it here on
the show week in and week out. This is by
far the best told story in all of pro wrestling
right now. Where do you see things going after their
match at money in the bank.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I would hope that there is a big swerve coming
in the vein of a new family member. M We
know that we know that there are many Annui or
FA two family members out there, probably more than even
we're aware of. We know that there are some additional
(32:08):
family members on the independent circuit. I would love to
see another family member come in and be a surprise
tipping point to the or bring a tipping point to
the match with you so as. But after that, you know,
guessing now is like throwing a piece of paper in
the wind. You just don't know where it's gonna go.
(32:28):
Because this is wrestling, this is storytelling.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
We're just along for the ride.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, And if there's anything that they've told us from
the past with this story is that anything is possible
and we're going to probably love it because everything so
far has just been so spectacular. Yeah. Ronda and Shanna
unified the women's tag titles on SmackDown this week with
the NXT women's titles when they won their about with
Alba Fire and Isla Don. But after the match, we
(32:56):
saw the return of Live Morgan. She's back and she
and Roquelle have seen year rolled in on the titles
that they never lost. They were stripped after Live got hurt,
and I think it is a good way to get
the titles off those girls, and then the battle be
them trying to get them back rather than trying to
defend them. There's not really much of a story there.
(33:18):
This one is, truly It's better to have those baby
faces chasing the heels in this in this feud here,
it feels more real. And I also, I'll be honest,
like Ronda Rowsey as a tag team in the tag
team division more than I do in the singles division.
I felt like that it was about five moves and
all of them scared the living crap out of me
(33:40):
because I thought she was going to hurt somebody. So
I'm anxious to see what happens in this Money in
the bank should be fun for those gals as well.
It goes down one week from today from London's to Arena.
We're gonna break down that pay per view in full
coming up on next week's episode just before it airs.
So I think it's like either I think it's three o'clock,
(34:01):
three o'clock eastern, three.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
O'clock right eastern, two Central and We'll just hope that's right,
because I'm throwing it out there, so I.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Think you're right. I'm pretty sure you're right on that
either way. We'll be on just before that happens, so
we'll kind of give a breakdown of what that looks
like and have some fun with that. Don't miss Tonight's
aew collision on T and T. It is live and
there could be some big things go down ahead of
Sunday's Forbidden Door pay per view, and it's gonna be really,
really good. I love that you've hung with us for
(34:30):
another episode. If you haven't shared it with a friend yet,
that would mean more to us than absolutely anything Michael
has always it was great to hang with you once
again here on the show. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Always a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Make sure you find out how to win aw's Fight
Forever video game on your favorite console. The details are
up on our Instagram. Just head over to wrestle Chat
Podcast on Instagram at wrestle Chat podcast, and we look
forward to hanging with you again next week right here
on the wrestle Chat Podcast
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Speaker 2 (01:06):
Here we Go Lucky. Episode number thirteen of the wrestle
Chat podcast is on Friends. Welcome you All on the
ant Man. Welcome mister Glavin how's it going.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Everything is going fantastic, yet another good week in professional wrestling.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Excited to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yes, we're less than two weeks away though from your podcast,
The Manchild Chronicles dropping on YouTube. Not a new podcast,
just adding more fun to an already fun podcast with
your new YouTube channel. Where can people find that?
Speaker 4 (01:33):
You can find that on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
You can also go to Manchild Chronicles dot com and
get linked up there.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
We are super excited.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
We've been in a lot of meetings this week talking
about some content that we're going to be bringing and
it's definitely gonna be something you're not gonna want to miss.
We're gonna be looking at possibly some giveaways here soon,
so definitely something you want to tune in for.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Awesome, looking forward to it. If you also, if you'll
roll down, if you're watching this on our YouTube channel
right now, scroll down to other channels that we love,
and the very first one you see on there is
The Man Child Chronicles. Click on that and make sure
you hit subscribe. Before we get things rolling, I want
to remind you that following next week's episode, we're going
to have a winner for our Summer Slam contest. Two
tickets on the lower level at Ford Field, and although
(02:20):
we don't know any of the matches yet, we've still
got money in the bank to get through. It's sure
to shape up to be a monster of a show
in Detroit, and we'd love for you to be there
with us. If you're watching right now, the link is
right there on your screen, you can see at wrestle
Chat podcast dot com slash Summer for an extra entry.
Make sure you follow us on Instagram too, at wrestle
(02:40):
Chat Podcast on Instagram. So head over right now wrestle
chatpodcast dot com slash Summer and get signed up. One
more week left to score those free tickets for SummerSlam
this year. Let's hit rewind and roll things back seven
days to the premiere of AEW Collision. It was the
highly anticipated return of the Second City Savior, rolling to
(03:04):
the ring with his automixed shoes tied together and hung
around his neck and a red bag in tow. What
was in that red bag the AEW title, it would seem,
although he never revealed it, only referred to it while saying,
this is mine until someone either pins me or makes
me submit. Michael, do you believe that punk has a
rightful claim to the AEW title since he was stripped
(03:26):
of it or is that just business? You know?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I believe that when you are in a category like
CM punk is, while you are not entitled to anything
in professional wrestling, ever, I believe that from a booking perspective,
it should be a.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
No brainer to put him in a program.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
In a rematch with MJF, I think there is the
makings of some great mic work there. There could be
a lot of fun that's had a lot of trash
talked and and that would be really cool to see
that happen. We're gonna have to wait and see how
this develops.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
The previous matches were great. But if this would be
the probably one of the longest told stories from start
to finish so far in AEW. If this happens at Wimbley,
so they start a little rumbling here and we work
our way up to Wimbley, that could be a fun match,
if indeed that is when that might happen. The Twitter
poll results were split right down the middle. Here was
(04:25):
the question proposed Thoughts on Punk's promo slash return at Collision.
Options were thumbs up, indifferent and throw up fifty to
fifty between thumbs up and indifferent. No throw ups on
there at all. Although less than scientific, it may tell
you where some of the audience stands on cmpunk, and
it kind of honestly is not super shocking, although I
(04:47):
thought it might have been thumbs up and throw up
would have been the two that split fifty to fifty
with the way people talk about cmpunk overall, a great
start to a new show for aew As far as
ratings go, they were close to nine hundred thousand viewers
with some pretty steep competition, and that is on a
Saturday night as well. Ask Eric Bischoff what he thinks
(05:08):
about Saturday night wrestling and he doesn't hold back, so
you know that they had a lot going against them.
To have almost a million people watching is a nice
undertaking for AEWN. They are anxiously anticipating the release of
their very first video game, aw Fight Forever. It's dropping
on June twenty ninth, and we're talking with Dave Newtson
(05:28):
and Nick Silbic, the guys behind the game, coming up
here and just a little bit plus, we're gonna give
you a chance to win a copy A Fight Forever
before its release, So make sure you stick around. That's
all coming up here. A little bit later on in
the show, Raw saw the build continue to next Sunday's
Money in the Bank Premium Live event that's coming to
(05:51):
us from London's O two Arena. The feud between Finn
Balor and world champs Seth Rawlins is getting personal, with
Finn jumping Seth in the ring there at the beginning
and delivering not one, not two, but three coup de
grass Roland sustaining some rib damage in the process, only
to have insult added to injury backstage after the break.
It's looking more and more like Finn may have the
(06:13):
upper hand going into this title match coming up next weekend.
Do you see the world title finding a new home
in the judgment day next Saturday.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
That's tough.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I've said on shows in recent weeks that I don't
believe that Seth Rollins is a long term champion. I'm
still leaning towards Summer Slam for a switchover, but it
could very well be possible that Finn Balor steps into
this spot. I love what they're doing with Finn Balor
(06:45):
in this storyline too. It wasn't my most favorite start.
As we talked about in recent weeks. But this side
of Finn Balor, with the attacks and stuff like that,
it's elevating him from that kind of mid card level
that he's right now, and it's putting some.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Good vibe on him in the main event picture.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And so I'm glad that they're booking it the way
that they are, and I'm glad that they're approaching it
the way that they are. But in terms of a
title change, I'm fifty to fifty right down the middle.
I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that that
beautiful belt will look good on either guy.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It would be kind of a cool sight to see
him with that title and be standing right next to
Rhea Ripley with her title. Their in judgment day, we'll
find out and in a week we thought it would
be six men in the battle for the briefcase at
Money in the Bank, but now it's seven. The addition
the Maverick Logan Paul, several I saw online believe this
(07:43):
was a way to get a title on Logan. We'll
have to wait and see on that, but my question
on the wrestle Chat podcast Instagram story poll looked like
this change chances of Logan Paul winning the money in
the bank briefcase. Thirty eight percent of you said one
hundred percent, thirty one said it's fifty to fifty, and
thirty one said no chance in hell. Thirty percent of
(08:05):
the time, it works one hundred percent of the time.
Where do you stand on on the thought of Logan
Paul carrying this briefcase around until he's ready to cash
it in.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I think there's some good potential there.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
You know, we're in a position where we've got a
lot of titles on people who were seeing on a
full time basis, you know, there for a long time.
You know, we were dealing with the brock Lesnar issue
or different things like that with or even Charlotte Flair
for that matter. What we do have now is a
lot of full time champions. What I'm mind seeing a
(08:39):
part timer like Logan Paul enter that picture. Can't say
I'd be that upset about it. At the same time,
I'm going to put my flag in the ground to
say that if La Knight doesn't take this, we riot.
So I'm right there with you, and so I would
not be disappointed if Logan Paul took the briefcase.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
But I think it's La Knight's time.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I think that we're seeing it maybe being orchestrated in
the background, but but yeah, if not La Knight, then
we riot.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Even after Finn's attack on Seth, the world champ still
showed up to defend his title against Braun Breaker at
NXT on Tuesday. One thing for sure out of that match,
Bron's ready for prime time. You get the book, Michael,
someone gives you the book and you get to book
the first feud with Braun when he gets called up,
Who's it with?
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Oh Man?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
To be honest, I would like to put him immediately
into a program with Austin Theory for the United States Championship.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
I think that.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Broun Breaker needs a really, really strong entrance, and I
think he has the US title written all over him
with his more collegiate look, his wrestling heritage, all things
like that. I want him to kick in the door
and make a statement, and I believe that it should
be with Austin Theory.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Now listen, I'm personally not even a diehard gamer man.
I am excited about this chat. I want to welcome
in Nick Sobak and Dave Newts, and Nick is the
SDP of business Development Partnership in aew Games. Nick, Welcome
to the wrestle Chat podcast. How are you.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
I'm doing great and it's great to be here. And
I love the wrestling belt above your head and a
shot there, and that's part of the reason we're here.
By the way, you said you're not a hardcore wrestling gamer.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yet yet exactly your mind. Yeah, well, and then also, Dave,
like me, is a diehard barbecue connoisseur, a whiskey lover,
and a wrestling fan. But also he's the producer at
t HQ Nordic, the guys behind the game ae W
Fight Forever out this coming Thursday. In a previous life,
Dave and I worked together on a few other video games,
recording in game commentary for Good Old Jr. Jim Ross. Dave,
(10:59):
great to connect with you again here today on this
brand new video game with AW Thank you amser man.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
It's always a pleasure to come on and chat wrestling
with you, barbecue, everything else. But get to hit my
favorite subject today, which is video games. Yes, I've got
a little bit of experience with as you do too,
and Nick, which you know this is Nick's first time
with doing games, but I've said it before. If I
(11:25):
didn't know any better, I would think that Nick's been
doing games for twenty years or so. With what they've
done coming out next week on June twenty ninth with.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
AW Fight Forever, that's awesome.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
It's got a lot of heart and soul in this game,
and as people that are already starting to play it
or seeing and fallen in love with the game all
over again, just like the old retro games that everybody grew.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Up with, Well, Nick, I want to start with you.
Tell us how the idea to jump into gaming came
about for you and AEW.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
I was the first employee of AW about three and
a half years ago, and as you know, starting a
wrestling company is an extremely risky proposition and takes a
lot of capital to do that. And so the day
after we started AW, we had the guts to go
(12:14):
back to our founder, Tony Kahan and say, you know,
thanks for taking that tremendous leap of faith, how do
you feel about doing taking another one? And that's sort
of how the AW Fight Forever video.
Speaker 8 (12:29):
Game was born.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
And the great thing about our founder Tony Khan is
he's super analytical and data centric, so we presented to him,
you know, the business case that there hasn't been a
wrestling game like this on the market for a very
long time.
Speaker 8 (12:46):
Our AW fans are die hard gamers.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
So if we look at the data and we look
at the access we have to the what we can
learn about our audience.
Speaker 8 (12:56):
They're gamers, So we put we could have put a
compelling business.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Game in front of them, and three and a half
years later, here we are.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Man, that's awesome. One of the big differences between AW
Fight Forever and other combat games out there today is
you guys went a little more nostalgic with this game,
a little more of the arcade field rather than sim
Why was it important to you to explore going this direction?
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Every single decision that we've made for this video game.
Speaker 8 (13:27):
Was with the lens of fun. Yeah, are people are
going to have fun doing this.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I hadn't been making video games for a long time,
but I've been playing video games for a long time.
One of my issues with games today is they are
so stimulator heavy, meaning you need to spend a week
just learning the controls, and it's.
Speaker 8 (13:49):
Not intuitive, and it doesn't come naturally, and it's not fun.
For a very long time.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Until you treat it like a job and you get
really good at a game, then.
Speaker 8 (13:58):
It's fun because then you can beat the crap out
of everybody. But so aw fight forever.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Anyone of any age, in any interest level in video
games will pick up the controller and have fun the
first time they play it.
Speaker 8 (14:12):
However, you can get really good.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
You can spend a lot of time on it, and
you can get really good and you can probably still
embarrass your friends that are just playing for the first time.
But it will be competitive, and that's the idea everybody
at any skill level. It shouldn't be so it shouldn't
be so dog game. We have a task to try
and pick up video game and have fun. So that's
(14:36):
that's kind of the foundation.
Speaker 8 (14:38):
Of the game.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
You know, Nick, Michael and I were on our way
to a ew Dynamite here in Austin a few weeks ago,
and that was actually the conversation we had. It was like,
I think, Michael, you mentioned that I really hope this
game is much easier to play than having to hit
thirty seven buttons to get somebody to kick somebody else.
(14:59):
But looking at it, it looked like, man, this is
going to be much easier and much more fun to
get involved in than trying to learn thirty nine different combinations.
Speaker 6 (15:08):
To Nick's point, just because you have the horsepower and
you actually expand and do crazy things with these new
with Unreal and these game engines doesn't necessarily mean that
you should. And I think us as an industry we've
kind of lost base with that is where we're continuously
trying to one up our competitors of like, oh, you
(15:29):
guys did ask cool, Wait until you can see what
we do with the tech. Now where aw came in
and he took a look at and like, just like
what Nick is saying is we're missing the point of
that fun factor.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
As someone who's been a consumer of a lot of
games in the combat genre in my time, I was
someone who has committed every year to buying these combat
games because they were fun and they were enjoyable. And
then what happened in I guess the twenty ten is
we did gravitate towards needing to have, you know, a
(16:06):
degree from a four year school in order to be
able to play it. And so what happened was is
that I very quickly started drifting off and not purchasing
the games yearly because you know, I'm a regular person,
like I've got a mortgage and credit cards and kids,
and the last thing that I want to do is
spend all this time, you know, investing in a game.
(16:28):
The majority of the games that I play are you know,
adventure and role playing games because they allow me to
enjoy myself and watching this story unfold without it being complex.
And from the first moment I saw AW Fight Forever,
it was just this pull inside of me of man,
(16:48):
I've got to play that, because not only did it
have the look and the excitement, but you can tell
just by looking at it that it is something that
you are going to end joy playing. So, from from
a consumer standpoint, cannot wait for this thing to come
out and really dive into it because I know that
it's going to be a really, really great time.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Professional wrestling, there were parts of professional wrestling three and
a half years ago before AW entered the scene that
were broken, and Tony Khn stepped in, and I believe
we're on the way to fixing some of those things.
And it's the same exact thing. In the gaming world,
in terms of gaming is such a huge business right now,
there's so much pressure to pump out a title every
(17:34):
year on exactly the same day, which is why with
this game it's everyone's everyone's The number one question is like,
what are you doing?
Speaker 8 (17:43):
Like what's taking so long?
Speaker 5 (17:44):
We just want to play it now, And it's like
we've been working on this game hand animating every single
move in the game, because you know, quality takes time,
and and we were on a schedule where, you know,
if we don't get this game out year, we're in
a big trumpet.
Speaker 8 (18:01):
So I think, you know, there's a lot of similarities
between starting a.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
AW, launching this video game, and doing some disruptive things
in terms of we're on the quality clock, not necessarily
on anyone else's clock.
Speaker 8 (18:16):
We want to deliver a product that we're proud of.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
So in a roundabout way, you know, the comparison between
video games and wrestling the same way we started AW
we went out and got the best wrestlers in the
world that were available, and when we started this game,
we got the best team that was available. So, you know,
Dave and the t the team at TSH Nordic u's
(18:38):
the best wrestling game developer in the world.
Speaker 8 (18:42):
Kenny Omega, one of the.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Best wrestling minds in the world has been working on
this project every day for the last three and a
half years.
Speaker 8 (18:51):
So we have a really special team and the result.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Of that is sort of a really special product.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And I hope you guys love Dave. Let me ask
you a question. When you get a call from Nick
and he says, we want to do our very first
video game with you, guys, how do you initially approach
something new like this.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
So this was a different kind of case than what
we're usually cradle to grave with games.
Speaker 7 (19:18):
So we're usually in the beginning of the concept and.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
We as a publisher helped with the developer and the
license or and you know, it's a three way kind of.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
Business deal with this.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Like Nick had told the story earlier, they went ahead
and jumped feet first in. So they found you who
who we all know us has a history of putting
out award winning games, and they went to town and
started developing the game. So we we only came in
about a year ago into this and the game was
for the most part done. We just needed to help
(19:55):
aw and Yuke's with putting the final touches on. So basically,
what needs to be done to bring it to market,
and that's our expertise as a publishers is we help
package the games up and get them out to market
and make sure that everybody buys it and enjoys it.
So there was some work to be done just to
(20:16):
kind of wrap everything up. But for the most part,
like I was talking about earlier, for them making their
first game, you wouldn't have been able to tell because
the game was well thought out. You'll see when you
get to play it next week. It was well thought out.
They put the focus of their time and budget and
resources to the right parts of the game, and they
(20:38):
focus on the right measures of the game.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
And you're seeing that.
Speaker 6 (20:41):
I mean, we have a couple of my computer crashed,
We've got a couple of leaks already with people being excited,
I mean, and that's one thing. It sucks that people
are not respecting the embargoes and waiting to.
Speaker 7 (20:56):
Put up veel.
Speaker 6 (20:57):
But on the flip side, on the positive, everybody is
so excited about this that they are bribing retailers to
get the game early, and they're streaming it and they're
they're taking the strikes on their YouTube channel because they're so.
Speaker 7 (21:09):
Excited about this. And we haven't really. We haven't gotten
anything bad on these either.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Which usually the early reviewers that it's a chance for
them to bash the game and talk about how bad
it is ahead of.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Time and be cool with their friends. We're not getting that.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
We're actually getting people excited and trying to encourage other
people to go find a game early so that they
can play with them. So to kind of get back
to your question in a long winded way, it's been
a great experience with AW and you. It feels like
the band is back together, but on a different level
from the wrestling games I used to make. So I've
(21:45):
had so much fun with the AW crew.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
They treat you.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Like family, like on the first day so THHQ with us,
we try to bring people in with licensers and stuff.
Speaker 7 (21:57):
We want to treat them as one of us.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
We took and some of the wrestlers to games Com
in Germany last year and we set up a ring
and wanted to make sure you had a good time,
and within the first hour you wouldn't have been able
to tell that we hadn't been.
Speaker 7 (22:10):
Friends for years.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
So these guys are just they're professional, they work hard,
they play hard. It's some of the most passionate people
I've had the opportunity to work with. I know I'll
probably say it two or three more times during this chad,
but I just can't tell you how lucky I think
we are that we got to hook up with aw
that they came and chose THQ Nordic to publish their game,
(22:32):
and I think we've got a very nice, long partnership.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Ahead of us looking forward to it. Nick, let's dive
in and talk actual gameplay. What are some of the
features that were important to you guys to make sure
that you included in this very first release.
Speaker 8 (22:48):
Here's what I love about this game. There's three games
in one.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Okay, there are mini games which are super fun, super
easy to pick up and play. Reminds me almost like
Mario Kart, Mario Party type stuff. Just you know, literally,
anyone who's ever played video games or love video games
will love the game mode. Career Mode is for anyone
(23:11):
who's ever imagined what it might be like to want
to be a professional wrestler. And what I think is
cool about our Career Mode is it's like quirky because
we actually do the stuff on the road that our
wrestlers do, like you.
Speaker 8 (23:28):
Have limited times, So what are you gonna do. You're
gonna go to the gym, you.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
Gonna have a slice of pizza, like what you have,
You do whatever you want. It's gonna affect your wrestling career,
but have a little fun along the way.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
So you have a series of choices.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
And what I love about the career mode is like
your decisions have consequences and the outcomes are not the same.
You can play the career modes several times and you
have a different experience. And then last and certainly not lead,
but certainly not least, just a core game, the core
wrestling game. And we created a proprietary wrestling engine, hand
(24:04):
animated on Unreal engine from scratch.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
Wow. And it was a lot of work.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
But just the early reviews and you know, the excitement
of people playing the game so far, seems like that
investment in time and money has paid off so far.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Well, there were a lot of fans that were they
were left thinking is this it? After the real life
exploding barbar O deathmatch between Kenny Omega and John Moxley
back at aw Revolution in twenty one, But in the
video game world, we get a chance to witness and
ending everyone was hoping for. With so much time to
think of how you you know you could have done
(24:41):
that differently in the actual match. Whose idea was it
to make it a reality in AEW Fight Forever video game?
Speaker 5 (24:50):
Uh? We really, we really take fan feedback very seriously,
so you know, the it was the fans decision in
terms of like what kind of game modes do you
want to see? What do you want to see in
this game? Kenny Omega worked very very closely on specifically
this part of the games because he was actually in
(25:11):
that match.
Speaker 8 (25:12):
And I will just say that, like when you're when
you're in an.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Enclosed space, blowing a bunch of stuff up is super dangerous.
But the nice thing about a video game is like
it's not dangerous. You can blow up as much stuff
as you want. So, even for uh Forth, the most
impossible to please Pyromaniac, I think there's something in this
(25:38):
game for you, specifically in that in that.
Speaker 8 (25:41):
Game, Thode, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Well, Nick, after your experience from from thought to completion,
how are you feeling about AEW Fight Forever being released
to the world this Thursday?
Speaker 5 (25:56):
We so we made a promise when we start this
project to deliver this game, and we're really proud to
say that we feel like we've delivered on that promise.
And in terms of you know, what the fans can
do now to help us out is vote with your wallet,
(26:18):
go buy the game comes out in June twenty ninth,
Enjoy it.
Speaker 8 (26:23):
We've enjoyed making it.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
And as Dave alluded to earlier, one thing I can
say about Tony Kahn the boss Man, is he's one
of the most generous people I've ever met in my life. So,
you know, the if we make some money in this game,
it's going right back into aw games, It's going right
back into AW Fight forever. And what we're trying to
(26:46):
explore here is like, do we have a franchise on
our hands?
Speaker 8 (26:49):
Can we keep doing this and can we keep delivering
for our fans?
Speaker 5 (26:53):
So this is this is a very important couple of
weeks for us because we get to answer some of
those questions.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Well, has working with Dave and the guys that teach
Q Nordic on this particular project spawned any other new ideas.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
Dave's so modest. I mean, you know Dave for twenty
years now, but so it's it's not fair It's really
not fair to say that the game was done when
THHQ Nordic joined because it was far from done, and
a lot of the a lot of the stuff that
(27:33):
you see in terms of the Polish and why it's
so fun directly correlated to when THHQ Nordic, you know,
joined the team. So here's what Dave's been working in
wrestling for a long time, and here's what I'll just
say about this game in particular, and what I think
AW is really good at just when you think the
(27:57):
show is over and just when you think you know
you had a really good time, really good experience, it wouldn't.
Speaker 8 (28:04):
Be an AW product.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
It wouldn't be an AW show, you know, if we
didn't have plenty of surprises.
Speaker 8 (28:13):
Up our sleeve.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
So we're telling you everything that we can tell you
right now, but we have a strong feeling that if
you play the game, you know.
Speaker 8 (28:22):
There's there's more than there's more to it than what
you've heard so far.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Dave's modest about everything except for his brisket and his
beet jerky. He knows it, he knows he cooks and
smoke some good Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:35):
Yeah, A lot of that I picked up from you
so being modest about his barbeques.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Still being modest, you know, we're gonna give a few
lucky fans the chance to experience the aw Fight for
every game before the release this Thursday. You'll actually get
your hands on it and play the game for free.
Just make sure you keep watching or listening and we'll
give you details on how to score your early access
code of this game exclusively from the wrestle Chat podcast.
A little bit later on Dave Nick, it was awesome
(29:02):
having you guys on with us today. Thank you so
much for sharing aw Fight forever with us here on
this show.
Speaker 6 (29:08):
Hey, thanks man, It's always a pleasure catching up with you.
I have such a good time with you, and Michael
is great to meet you today too.
Speaker 8 (29:14):
Good hanging with you guys, and give us a shot.
I think you're gonna love the game.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Dynamite this week, putting the final touches on the battles
heading into tomorrow's international pay per view Forbidden Door. It's
live from Toronto. Every about a show Steeler, no doubt,
but I personally can't wait to see Omega and Ospray
go head to head. It's for the IGP United States championship,
and you, being a belt guy like me, this is
(29:41):
one of the most beautiful non American titles I think
that I've ever seen. I think it's better looking than
their heavyweight title, and I wish we saw Omega with
that title. More on ae W and every match is
a show stealer. Brian Danielson is battling the Katta. You
notice I haven't said anyone's first names because I cannot
(30:03):
pronounce any of them, not one of them, and I
even have trouble with some of the American ones. MJF
is going head to head with Tanahashi and that's for
the triple B that's for the AW title, and we'll
see what happens in that one. Punk is taking on Kojama,
and Tony Storm is going to defend her AW Women's
title against Willow Nightingale. That's coming up on Sunday at
(30:26):
Forbidden Door. If you're a diehard wrestling fan, you already
know way more than me what this pay per view
means to wrestling, and I can't wait to watch it
tomorrow on pay per view. It all starts at seven
o'clock Eastern. June twenty ninth, AW drops their very first
video game, aw Fight Forever Big thanks again to Dave
Newtson and Nick Sooviek for joining us here on the show.
(30:48):
And we have your chance to win it on whatever
console you want to play it on. It's going to
be on Nintendo Switch, It's going to be on Xbox
PS four, PS five windows. You get to pick if
you win it, we're going to draw three winners. What
you need to do is follow wrestle Chat Podcast on
Instagram and check out our latest post. If you're watching
on YouTube, it looks like this. All the rules and
(31:09):
the details are there and what you need to do
to enter, and the contest closes on Tuesday, June twenty seventh.
That's when you'll get your download codes. If you are
the winner, go find us on Instagram at wrestle Chat Podcast.
See our latest post for details on how you could
win right now. Friday Nights Backdown started off hot with
the USO's who we're going to see take on Roman
(31:30):
Reins and Solo Socoa, and we've documented it here on
the show week in and week out. This is by
far the best told story in all of pro wrestling
right now. Where do you see things going after their
match at money in the bank.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
I would hope that there is a big swerve coming
in the vein of a new family member. M We
know that we know that there are many Annui or
FA two family members out there, probably more than even
we're aware of. We know that there are some additional
(32:08):
family members on the independent circuit. I would love to
see another family member come in and be a surprise
tipping point to the or bring a tipping point to
the match with you so as. But after that, you know,
guessing now is like throwing a piece of paper in
the wind. You just don't know where it's gonna go.
(32:28):
Because this is wrestling, this is storytelling.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
We're just along for the ride.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, And if there's anything that they've told us from
the past with this story is that anything is possible
and we're going to probably love it because everything so
far has just been so spectacular. Yeah. Ronda and Shanna
unified the women's tag titles on SmackDown this week with
the NXT women's titles when they won their about with
Alba Fire and Isla Don. But after the match, we
(32:56):
saw the return of Live Morgan. She's back and she
and Roquelle have seen year rolled in on the titles
that they never lost. They were stripped after Live got hurt,
and I think it is a good way to get
the titles off those girls, and then the battle be
them trying to get them back rather than trying to
defend them. There's not really much of a story there.
(33:18):
This one is, truly It's better to have those baby
faces chasing the heels in this in this feud here,
it feels more real. And I also, I'll be honest,
like Ronda Rowsey as a tag team in the tag
team division more than I do in the singles division.
I felt like that it was about five moves and
all of them scared the living crap out of me
(33:40):
because I thought she was going to hurt somebody. So
I'm anxious to see what happens in this Money in
the bank should be fun for those gals as well.
It goes down one week from today from London's to Arena.
We're gonna break down that pay per view in full
coming up on next week's episode just before it airs.
So I think it's like either I think it's three o'clock,
(34:01):
three o'clock eastern, three.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
O'clock right eastern, two Central and We'll just hope that's right,
because I'm throwing it out there, so I.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Think you're right. I'm pretty sure you're right on that
either way. We'll be on just before that happens, so
we'll kind of give a breakdown of what that looks
like and have some fun with that. Don't miss Tonight's
aew collision on T and T. It is live and
there could be some big things go down ahead of
Sunday's Forbidden Door pay per view, and it's gonna be really,
really good. I love that you've hung with us for
(34:30):
another episode. If you haven't shared it with a friend yet,
that would mean more to us than absolutely anything Michael
has always it was great to hang with you once
again here on the show. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Always a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Make sure you find out how to win aw's Fight
Forever video game on your favorite console. The details are
up on our Instagram. Just head over to wrestle Chat
Podcast on Instagram at wrestle Chat podcast, and we look
forward to hanging with you again next week right here
on the wrestle Chat Podcast
Host
Anthony "The AntMan" Lay
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