March 9, 2024 • 38 mins
The pedal is to the metal and there ain't no stopping the machine on it's way to #WrestleMania 40! And, with much more coming out about The Rock's roll in TKO, it would appear as though he's the one now calling the shots!
PLUS...Okada is now ALL ELITE...and he's a HEEL?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When it comes to professional wrestling. If you are talking
about it, we are talking about it. Welcome to the
wrestle Chat Podcast with the yet Man. Here we are
just twenty eight days away from the biggest event in
all of sports, entertainment and professional wrestling, wrestle Mania forty
And while this podcast is not exclusively about content from WWE,
(00:22):
we're here to talk about the biggest and best things
that are going down today and there's no to dying.
That is exactly what's going down inside of TKO's hottest brand.
Welcome to number forty eight of the wrestle Chat Podcast,
and we are live. I'm your host, the ant Man,
and he is a Michael Glavin. Just at the nick
of time, Michael Glavin made it on. Welcome in, Buddy,
(00:45):
Thank you for being here and excited to jump on
and connect with our chatters this morning. We're live on Facebook,
on YouTube, on x on Instagram too. Leave a comment
and let us know where you are joining us from.
We want to make sure and say hi. Or if
you're listening on the free iHeartRadio appen iHeart podcast, or
wherever you love to listen to podcasts, make sure you
shoot us a message We appreciate you being here. Michael.
(01:07):
There's a lot to get to here on this podcast,
and we will the first. How's your week, Ben, Now,
thing's been going.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It's been great, man, great season happening at work. Made
a quick trip to Florida this week, and the weirdest
thing happened. So let me tell you a super quick story.
I won't take up too much time. My flight got
delayed twice. Okay, I was supposed to be home from
Florida by like nine o'clock and my flight got delayed
(01:38):
till like almost ten o'clock. So eat dinner in the terminal,
headed to my gate, just to set up camp, hanging
out for a little bit, shooting some emails off, doing
the whole thing. It's like, man, I need a drink
because obviously can't take a drink with you through security.
So as I'm walking to one of the little shops,
(02:00):
there's a guy walking towards me, and I'm like, that
guy looks familiar. I'm not sure had shorts on, T shirt,
I think like like a forward hat or whatever. I'm like, oh,
that guy looks familiar, and he starts kind of talking
to himself a little bit. He looks up, realizes I
think he's in the wrong wing of the terminal. He's
(02:20):
like ah, So he turns around and I went I
think that's Grayson Waller. And I'm like, no, okay. So
you start panicking a little bit because you're like, do
you say something? Do you not say something? So I
run up beside him and I'm like, hey man, just
super low key, like are you Grayson Waller. He's like, yeah, man,
you know, whatever the accent is or whatever. And I'm like,
(02:44):
and I always said that if I met somebody in
an airport or something like that, I'd be super chill,
low key, wouldn't ask for a picture, wouldn't just take
up their time. And I just said, hey, man, really
really love what you do, appreciate you, thanks for everything
you do. Oh thinks man, you know, and we said
have a good night. That's cool. So I'm like, whoa,
that was awesome okay. And I turned around and l A,
(03:07):
Night's right across the way. So I'm guessing that they
were all loading up getting ready to head to Texas
for the show last night, because this would have been
Thursday night. So so I walked over same thing with
Night just said hey man. Now this time I knew
(03:28):
it was him because he he's pretty uh immistakable. Dude
is yoked man like he's he's cut, and just said,
hey man, thanks for what you do. Appreciate it. He
smiled at me, he said thanks, and I went on
with my night. Yeah. So then I walk away and
I stop in the middle of this big atrium in
(03:48):
the terminal of the Orlando Airport and I'm like, what
did I come out here for? And so then after
kind of pingponging for a minute, I got my drink
and went and that back down. But it's cool, how
you know, a delayed schedule ended up making for a
fun little memory in the Orlando Airport.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Well, just so you guys know, you can never use
the phrase a pick or it didn't happen to Michael
because he doesn't take pictures. So do not ever walk
up to Michael and ask for a photo. Okay, Gracie,
you cannot have a photo with Michael la night. No,
you're not getting a picture with Michael Glavin. Just so
you know, they can for fifty bucks if they want.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
They can't.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Glossy excellent, We'll bring those with you to wrestle Mania
forty because it's official. A wrestle chat podcast is going
to be in Philly for wressel Mania forty. You got
the word yesterday and many, many surprises are on the way.
I will say this, if you're not currently following us
on Instagram, and I would say YouTube as well, you should.
(04:52):
If you're watching in one of those places right now
and you haven't hit subscriber, you haven't hit follow, do
that and stay connected with us all through wrestle Mania forty.
Hit one of those buttons and that notification bell. There'll
be some sporadic times that we're just gonna go live
and you never know who will be on the other
end with us. And clearly it's not gonna be Grayson
Waller or La Night as long as Michael, You're not
(05:14):
gonna live that down, am I No? Never, So he
texted me that. The only thing I said was you're
on a wrestling podcast. Now. That is not an option.
A picture is always a must, You're always marketing, you're
always working. Just so if you run into a wrestler
by the way.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Or it's a long term play where it's like, hey,
are you that guy that didn't bug me in the airport. Yes,
I am. I'd love to do an interview with you.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Maybe that's it. Maybe because they're not there's not many
people who wouldn't bug them, right, yeah, yeah, Grayson La
if you're watching hop on with us, we'd love that.
Or we'll see you in Philly here in just a
couple of weeks. If you're not following us, let's say Instagram,
it's wrestle Chat podcast. The link for that and YouTube
(06:02):
all in the description of this episode, so you can
check that out. Clearly, The Rock is going to be
a big focus on today's show, and how could he
not be When you've got the biggest name in entertainment
dedicating so much time to the product, you can't avoid
taking notice. Last night's SmackDown from Dallas, Texas, it's no exception.
The broadcast was preceded with you know, another fifteen minute
(06:24):
ego Leyden Instagram reel of word vomit from The Rock
doing his best tough eatament impression in his ten gallon hat. Michael,
I know how much of those can I'm not sure
how many of those that you can make it through
until you say, you know what, I'm just gonna wait
until there's an edit on Fox or WWE. How far
did you make it this week?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I made it about three minutes in and honestly, he
was keeping my attention with the delivery. But because it
looks like he's shooting a little bit, you know, John
Cena ruined it for everybody and me, well, that's a
random comment. What do you mean by that? Well, John
Cena called him out for writing notes on his wrist.
And now and now we get fifteen minutes of the Rock.
(07:07):
We're editing every every sentence three times before he decides
where he's going next. So and I'm not throwing any
shade because he still did, you know, a shoot promo
better than I could. But but yeah, after hearing all
the repetitive stuff, I was like, I can't do this
right now. And then later you sent me the edit.
The edit was fantastic, So but yeah, But but here's
(07:34):
the thing. I am not gonna complain because for years
we wanted Rock back in the fold. He would show
up for five minutes, you know, And I'm not saying
that in a negative or poking kind of way. You know,
he'd show up for a little bit, go back do
his thing elsewhere. I'm just super stoked to have him
in the fold that I'll take twenty minutes of repetitive
(07:59):
shoot promo and what he's doing because just aura, the
aura that he's carrying right now is just massive.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And there's a different aura with a cowboy hat too.
I will say that we are having a hard time
though producing this crew, and I can only imagine the challenge.
But it's either at the beginning that you have all
these guys in the ring together and jams up the
rest of the show, or we get a telenovela and
it just goes off the air, just like last night.
(08:29):
The biggest production we've ever produced live it's this podcast,
So you know, listen, no shade coming from either me
or Michael. But how do we get the storytelling to
fit into the allotted times so we actually get to
see the story? I mean, there's not even photos of
what happened after the slap last night, and I don't
(08:50):
know if that's on purpose or if it's just everybody scrambling.
What do you make of all this, Michael.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I'm not sure. I think the core of it is
you have four guys who are used to when they're
booked on a show, meaning isolated, not together in a
ring there they're given time to milk every second for
themselves or just themselves. Then when you multiply that by four,
(09:16):
that each guy has taken sixty seconds to respond to
the last statement, you know, it's probably a muscle memory thing.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
It's probably not protensional.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And honestly, the crowd is super hot. That was super
hot last night with all them in the ring, with
all the different chants, and they want to feed off
of it. But at the same time, anybody who's been
to a live show knows there is a giant red
clock with the time that sits on the production side.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
How do you not see it?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
How do you not see it?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, Rock is just waiting for somebody to yell cut.
He does what he does until somebody yells cut. He's
been in Hollywood for so long. I mean, you remember that.
We don't do that on SmackDown Rock. After the you know,
the local Fox News started rambling about Joe Biden's State
of the Union address. I was still, you know, reeling
of how abruptly the show ended. I got to thinking, now,
(10:06):
what slap cody that sent things over the edge and
got us to the main event of WrestleMania forty. But
now A Rock got a receipt. So where do we
take this from here? Because we still got a couple
of weeks before we get to Philly and a few
more SmackDown scheduled with both men in attendance, what do
we do after the receipt has happened? Where do we
(10:27):
go for? Are we actually going to get a one
on one or you think, nah, that's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I think at this point we're in the window that
we can't really risk anybody getting injured. You know, Seth
is still fresh off of injury. Don't want to take
any chances there. Very true, Rock will probably still have
some a little bit of ring rust on him, so
I'm sure he's training and doing stuff. We're in that
window now that we got to start protecting the guys
(10:54):
leading into the big show. So I don't think that
we're gonna see any one on one matches, But I
think we're going to see a lot of storyline push.
I'm going to attack you, You're going to attack me. You know,
some run ins here, run ins there. I think we're
just going to see that that extra seasoning that gets
thrown on top of what's happening already. And the thing is,
(11:15):
I think that's great. I don't think we need matches
to preemptively build this. That was kind of a mistake
of the regime gone by. Is I mean, for instance,
how many times did we see Roman Brock? You know
what I mean. I think it's okay just to settle
it on the day of and until then, just keep
raising the stakes.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I want you guys to know that the chat is open,
so we want you to chime in on what you
guys think about, you know, the slap from Cody last
night and where that exchange is going to lead to
with all four.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Men, because we've got a lot to get to before
wrestle Mania forty. Chat is open. Wherever you're watching this
right now, the chat is open, so let us know
where you're or where you're watching this from, say hi,
let us know what you think about the segment last night.
We still got a lot more Rock to get to
and now this episode is not all about the Rock,
but there is more to discuss about him, including his
(12:07):
involvement in the WWE Hall of Fame. Our first tag
team for this class was just announced. We'll talk about
that and a couple of major additions to aew all.
When we come back here on the Wrestle Chat Podcast Live.
Thank you guys for hanging out with us this morning.
(12:28):
The Wrestle Chat Podcast Episode forty eight is live. Appreciate
you being here. Remember the chat is open. We invite
you to join in and be a part of the
show this morning. Let us know where you are from,
where you're watching, what you think, what you want to
talk about, because this is called Wressell Chat for a reason.
We want to chat with you guys too, so let
us know what you think about everything that's going on
(12:48):
right now. We just got another inductee into the twenty
twenty four WWE Hall of Fame class, the US Express
Mike Rotunda and Barry Wendham, the father and the Uncle
Bray Wyatt, both men together when they got the call
from Triple H Michael in this form where these guys
were these guys a part of your childhood at all?
(13:10):
With the two of them together some.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yes, I know more of micro Tunda from more of
the Attitude era I believe as a IR s if
I'm if I'm correct, but uh but yeah, still have
gone back and learned a little bit about them here
and there, and the whole overarching look of the way
this class is shaping up to be is really exciting
(13:33):
for me because I almost feel a little bit of
a shift away from not holistically political acknowledgments of the
Hall of Fame, but more like actual guys, you know
what I mean. And uh, and so I was excited
to see the US express, you know, getting inducted in.
What a cool thing to post for us to see,
(13:56):
to share that news live and in the moment such
you know, somebody commented on it and said, this is
just such a wholesome thing that the Internet needed, and
I completely agree. Great moment to be a part of.
Thanks to the WWE for sharing that moment with us.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Well, you know, you when you get together like that,
you I'm sure they had an idea of what was coming,
or at least had a thought, but you've got a
real reactions from both guys. But you saw the trail
down down the face of Mike and knowing that he
lost his son last year, and uh, I mean, we
don't we still don't know if Bray is going to
(14:32):
be in this year's or not, with you know, still
the comm and I mentioned that we aren't done with
the Rock, and Fightful even talked about Uh. They loaded
up a post that shed some light on the Great
Ones involvement in the Hall of Fame selections this year.
So I wonder what his thought is on putting Bray
in with his father as well. That could be pretty cool,
(14:52):
sources within This is what the Fightful post said. Sources
within WWE have told us that The Rock has had
input on this year's WWE Hall of Fame inductees. One
indicated to us that that would be evident in the
planned inductees if the planned inductees are revealed as scheduled.
We weren't given any additional info as to what that means.
(15:14):
Another source said The Rock had input on all of
this year's inductees, though we've not confirmed that to be
the case. I will say this has nothing to do
with the inductees, but Rock's involvement in things. Michael and
I were on a call this week that led us
to believe that he's making a lot of decisions pointing
his finger and people are going that direction. And I'm
(15:36):
just thankful that he pointed his finger. I mean, he
may have been shoeing a fly, but it kind of
came our direction that allowed us to Peter russ on
many a forty this year that could have very have
no clue at all. But what does this mean to
you with a Rock being so heavily involved in the
Hall of Fame now here.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Here's what I know from watching a lot of the
documentaries and listening to Rock over time. He is a
fan of the business and a student of the game,
and there's going to be more of a pure and
holistic approach to the way he does, you know, approaches
(16:15):
decision making and how he chooses to land the plane
on some things. And with that, you know, we saw
a little bit with Triple Hs he started to shift
over to the back office versus you know, in the ring,
in the various jobs that he's done. And now that's
just going to be turned up even more now that
(16:35):
Rock is in there as well, because you've got one
guy that's over pretty much all content, and then you
got one guy that's sitting on the board at the
fifty thousand foot going, man, I think this is what
we should do, and I think that is going to
be two thumbs way up for what comes out the
other side of that decision making, so you know, some
(16:56):
of it is subjective and that's okay, But I think
as as fans, we're gonna have a lot more moments
of going you know what, that makes sense, and I'm
glad that that's happening. And that's due to guys like
Rock being in positions of power.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Now, well, you you touched on this that you got
Triple H on one side and Rock on the other,
and I love that they kept up the perception even
on screen on television, but then with the feud, the
AEW rivalries was Rock and Triple H. I'm glad they're
keeping that up because it keeps people interested in where
things are going to go. But personally, just business wise,
(17:36):
I kind of have a feeling that back behind closed doors,
those who are going, man, it's so cool you and
I are working together doing this and progress. You know,
let's when we're out in front of people, let's still
look and act like that we are, you know, like
it could be attitude air and we could go at
it at any time. But here behind closed doors, we're
doing what's best for business. And I personally don't know
(17:57):
that there are two better guys that I would put
not only this company, but this business in the hands.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Off absolutely, you know I'm gonna I'm gonna push back
on that a little bit. Those guys have spent so
long in competition with each other. I don't think that
turns off with any amount of time. I'm not saying
they hate each other. I think there's a healthy respect there,
especially on the business side. But I'll bet you there's
(18:27):
some conflicting ideas that there's some friction. And so I'm
very confident that the two of them are professional and
that they handle each other and and and deal in
grace with each other. But I don't think there's buddy
buddy joking around going on behind the scenes, because I think,
like I said, they spent years trying to outdo the other.
(18:50):
I don't think that's something you turn off.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
No butt slaps in MG's mind, none of that going on.
There's some talk of the Rock being involved in the
next Saudi show. The next time that they travel to
that to the Sandy Desert is at the end of May.
Those shows have traditionally been one off Starred Layden shows. However,
more recently they've fit those occasions into the storyline, which
(19:13):
I've appreciated. The shows are already massive, the Saudi crew
shelling out some serious coin and presumably bringing it in
as well. What would the Rock do for an already
packed WrestleMania like show in Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
That's a great question, and you're entering pure fantasy booking.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
That's what this is about.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I don't even know, because if we follow the trend
of what some of the past Saudi shows have been,
they've almost been revisiting some old rivalries or combining together
some classic matchups again, and so looking kind of at
the landscape, and you're putting me on the spot if
I'm being honest.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Sure, I don't, I don't. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You know, Triple Hs is retired, Sean Michaels is retired.
I mean, unless they want to give us.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Rock Ogan again, you know, and then I'm good. I'm good.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Let's not do that.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Were fantasy booking. I guess that it would be a fantasy, right, but.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Uh, let's just put it this way. I don't care
who it is. I think it would go over really well.
I would literally take any matchup. Uh, you know, when
it's kind of like John Cena anymore, Rock is is
getting up there in age. He is still in fantastic shape,
and I have no doubt that he can go. But
(20:39):
but time makes fools of us all and you know
you only got so many left. You know that that
bump card doesn't go backwards, it only goes forwards. And so, uh,
whatever I can get from the Rock at this point,
no complaints from me.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah, he's all right, he's all right shape. It'll do.
Chat is open chatting his open here, chime in. What
do you guys think? Drop a comment and we'll feature
it here and we'll talk about it too. So wherever
you're watching, whether it be on Facebook, if you're on YouTube,
you're on Twitter, if you're on Instagram, a drop a comment,
let us know where you're watching. Let us know what
(21:15):
you think about Rock being involved in the Hall of
Fame or in Saudi shows as well. We've got some
sena rumors that we need to get to, some prime
news with Logan Paul and his brother Jake, plus some
big moves for a e W. We're gonna get to
them all here in about sixty seconds. Thanks so much
for hanging with us here on the wrestle Chat Podcast
Live Today, John Cena. He made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon,
(21:42):
My Favorite, My Personal Favorite Jimmy of Late Night, The
Late Night World and Till Little Jimmy Gets a Show.
But Sena was on Fallon promoting his new Amazon or
Netflix show whatever there was, and he claims, I am
free WrestleMania Weekend. You have any idea how long next
two weeks SmackDown segment would go? If we then had
(22:03):
Sena show up with the Rock and with Roman and
with Cody and with Seth. Is that what's in store
for us here? You know, four weeks out from wrestle
Mania forty Michael.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Potentially, And you know what, if I'm a writer on
the SmackDown side, I'm like, week off, bro, let's go.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
I think it's just too as you go. Just want
to let everybody know you're all on standby, Just hang out.
We'll let you know if you're gonna go wrestle or not.
Rock you guys roll get out there.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, you know, I would think that, you know, with
the close ties that Sina has, Yeah, with everybody on
the WWE side, You're not just gonna make a comment
like that in big interviews without kind of having something
reliable to go on. So I think Seena is gonna
(22:56):
do something. I mean, you've got two nights of WrestleMania now,
you know, and year's gone by. Yeah, you're your card
stacked enough. You gotta be careful with time. Do you
really have to be careful with time when you're on
two nights at four six ten hours a piece? No,
So are we gonna get, you know, just a wholesome
scene of segment where he you know, does something sketchy
(23:19):
to Austin theory. Again, sure, let's go for it. And again,
I hate to sound like the squeaky clean face fan,
but we ain't got a lot of time with John
left either, And he said as much. It's you know,
his exact quote was, I know it's not tomorrow that
I'm done, but it's not gonna be you know, forever either.
(23:39):
So I'll take whatever from John Cena. I can get
bald spot and all. Love you, buddy, I ain't got
much room to talk.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Your bald spot's a little bit bigger, a little bit bigger,
squeaky clean face loving, no picture taking, Michael Lavin, appreciate you, dude.
The chat is open, stays open the entire show so
you want to chime in let us know what you think.
Would you like to see John Cena a part of
wrestle Mania forty. That's our question right now. Would you
(24:09):
like to see him as part of wrestle Mania forty,
regardless of what he's involved in, whether it's with with
you just mentioned Austin theory again, if it's with Grayson Waller,
if it's with anybody else, or if it's I don't
perceive him being thrown into this this this title perier
unless he's there to be a ref. It could be
(24:30):
a special guest ref. I'd be okay with that too, man,
it's some star power. Chime in, what are your thoughts?
Would you want to see Sena now involved with Rock Rollan,
Cody Seth but just or just involved in something at
wrestle Mania forty. Let's chat. We still had a little
bit of time left switching gears to ae W though, Man,
I'll say I haven't been in love with those tunnels.
They had him at the very beginning, then they got
(24:51):
rid of them. But this new set they just did
a refresh. It's actually looking pretty tasty. The colors, the
adjustment to the AEW logo, the brand new Dynamite logo,
the new intro music, and the graphics. They've had those
led boards that go around the ring and around you know,
the the apron of the ring and the ones that
go around the outside of the barricade. They've had those
(25:13):
for a little bit now. But those combined with the
new graphics, I'll say it is looking sharp. Do you
have any feelings being a production guy, Michael, any feelings
on the new AEW set and the brand new aw
Dynamite open.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
A lot of echoing your thoughts. I do think it
looks pretty sharp. It's it's interesting. It feels like ae
W is on this expediated track of all of the
phases that WWE went through, you know, when AEW first
came out up till you know recently, it's had that
(25:49):
in the vibe, that that attitude era vibe with some
more hard edge logos and and all that. And now
all of a sudden we've seen this switch to a
very very corporate polished look reminiscence of when the WWE
network logo was revealed, moving away from the WWF scratch logo,
(26:10):
and so it does it is kind of fun to
see that arc in their branding and things like that.
But I definitely think it's a step in the right direction.
It definitely makes AW look more professional, more polished, and
really puts that shiny spin on all the guys bleeding
(26:30):
in the midst of all the broken glass and everything.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Because there's a lot of it, that's for sure, a
new intro graphics. Those aren't the only thing that AAW
has shelled out the money on recently. If you watched
Dynamite on Wednesday, you saw the fulfillment of a rumor.
Zuchka Okada is now an elite and a part of
the elite with Matthew and Nicholas Jackson, And if the
(26:55):
reports are true, Boylecotta is getting paid one of the
highest paid in all in all of professional wrestling. It's
around two billion yen, which translates to four right around
four and a half million dollars a year and US dollars.
How does this impact the landscape of free agency when
(27:16):
it comes to wrestling, because there's a lot of free
agentci that are really good still floating around out there.
What does this mean for guys you know that are
looking to land the plane in one of the Big
two right now?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
That's real interesting. So on the tail end of that
news story, there was one person that came out and said,
that's not accurate. There's no way, but the greater landscape
of all of wrestling news right now still says that
that's the truth.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
And I got it from Forbes. I got my report
from Forbes.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Master what I'm saying, Get what I'm saying. And so
assuming that that is the truth. When you and I
were briefly discussing it as I was traveling and stuff,
You're talking about a company that was forty or fifty
something million dollars in the hole last year. That means
(28:09):
that ten percent of your desk excuse me deficit went
to one guy in his new contract going into this year.
When you put it in that context, you're like, WHOA.
Now here's where things get controversial, depending on who you're
fans of, what company you like in this that whatever.
(28:31):
For AW being a primarily American brand, Okada is not
going to move the needle for the majority of their
fan base. Is he famous yes, is he a beyond
amazing talent, yes, But most of his success has been
(28:54):
across the pond, And when you bring him into AW,
you know, even in the on the couple episodes we've
seen so far, that needle is not moving. Now are
his matches going to be fantastic? Yes they are. Is
he going to be great for TV? Yes, yes he is.
Does it move the needle to fill the half empty arenas?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
No? I don't think it's where you you got to
get a story. And I know that a lot of
people say. I mean even I think I heard. I
didn't see it. I just heard someone comment on it
that Seamus made a post saying if you if you
want drama, watch a soap opera. Wrestling is about both parts.
It always has been, it always will be if you
let go of what if you listen, There's a lot
(29:37):
of time in WWE when the story was really heavy
and the action in the ring was really light, and
guess what, it wasn't great. And there are times right
now where aew is really great in the ring. I mean,
the matches are undeniable. I could do without the barbed wire,
the chairs and the glass. I could just do a
great match, which you often get with a guy like
Daniel Bryant. Daniel Bryanton brian'son why do I always have
(29:59):
a hard time with his name Brian Danielson, Thank you.
That's yeah. The one I just gave wasn't even an option,
and I've just made it up. But you understand what
I'm saying is like most of the time with those guys,
it is a wrestling match. You see Brian and o'catta
go at it, then we're probably going to get most
of it inside the ropes and it's going to be great.
(30:21):
But the other half has to be there too. What's
the story? And I think that's where you see growth
with a guy like Okada and bringing eyeballs is well,
do we have a story with him? Do we have
a story that? I mean, him being teamed up with
the Elite is cool? What's next? What are you going
to do with it? So looking forward to seeing what
they do. They're speaking of getting paid Logan Paul further
solidifying his ties with WWE and his sports drink Prime
(30:47):
not paid for it moment, but we are wide open
to it. Dead center of the Ring Matt at all,
WWE pl e's that's got to be a big payday
for WWE and it's a move toward, you know, the
u FC model they've been doing. Ad Matt placement for years,
and I know you have some strong feelings about this, Michael,
I personally if it's kept to one. I mean, we
(31:10):
used to have a you know, a big w c
W in the middle of the ring, and then they
put stuff on ring poles and some other places as well.
We've we've now seen with the led boards that change
out at ple E's oftentimes with trying to think what
the uh pop tarts pop Tarts seems to be on
and ray Masterio has to be in the match at
(31:30):
every single pl e uh that you could change out this,
you're not changing out. It's dead set in the middle
from the time the first match to the to the
main event. There's going to be a prime drink logo
right in the middle of the ring. You're feeling, you're
feeling strong about this, dude, Okay, that says it all.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I love a clean, blank ring, Matt. It allows you
to focus on. Okay, first of all, we're not we're
not getting a sponsorship even though we want it. Their
money is gone. Okay, they gave it all to Wwe.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Take free drinks right now. I'm paying for this. Come on, yeah,
that's true.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
I'll take free drinks he can send those. No, but
I like I like a clean, blank ring Matt. I
think it allows you to focus on the story. I
think it allows you to focus on the wrestling itself.
Do I hate it? No, I think it's gonna be fine.
We do know that if you were listening to what
Logan did say that it is for p l ees only,
(32:35):
so we don't have to see that on a week
to week basis, which I think is a good thing.
I think there's an operational element to it too, because
anybody who's been to a show knows that they go
through several ring mats in a night, and so to
have that number of mats for promotional availability probably doesn't
make sense. But for plees that that's cool. I am
super happy, you know, speaking out of both sides of
(32:57):
my mouth, super happy for Logan the I. While he's
definitely not my favorite due to some things in the past,
it looks like him really and his brother have have
turned this great corner of being very smart, mature businessmen
that know how to grind and man, if you can't
respect that, then you're not paying attention. And so super
(33:20):
stoked for him and ks I and bt W KSI
sells an r KO pretty well and so good good
for him as well, but no, super happy for Logan
and ks I great, you know, monumental deal that was
made with Prime sounds like I'm gonna have to start
(33:41):
investing more than Prime as well.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Well. Speaking of the of of Logan and his brother
as well, I mean, if they weren't already raking in
the money, Logan's brother, Jake, announced that he is going
to be in a match, a boxing match with the
most dangerous man on the planet, Tyson at fifty seven
years old. No, no, no, not on pay per view
(34:05):
either on Netflix live from AT and T Stadium, the
home of the Dallas Cowboys. I've often felt, as as
have many others, that these Jake Paul fights are much
like pro wrestling. You know, there's a there's a planned
outcome in this. However, could you see Mike Tyson taking
(34:27):
a fall just for money? No?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
I don't know. I've always been on the fence whether
boxing is is rigged or not. But in this situation,
here's what I do know.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
This was my first thought, Ask anyone who's been knocked
out by Mike Tyson if it's rigged?
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, exactly Here here was my thought when it all
went down. It doesn't matter who wins or loses that bout.
Mike Tyson is gonna come out on top. Okay, because
if if Jake beats it him, oh big deal, you
beat a fifty seven year old man, Okay, great. If Tyson,
you know, hands it to Jake, well he's iron Mike Tyson. Yeah,
(35:10):
that that adds up. And so you know Jake's there
for the payday. You know Mike's there to uh to
maintain that. So it's gonna be a cool fight. In
my opinion, Tyson will still come out on top. If
you've seen any of his videos, it doesn't really look
like he's lost much of a step. So I'm.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
I feel bad for the guy he's sparring with. It's
that's loaded up with pads, unlikely, that guy has a
broken hand. Well, that guy's got a broken rib and
he's got six inches of padding next to him. Yep.
I would not want to. I wouldn't want to get
bumped by Mike Tyson. Like I just would like just
you know, walking by him, just getting I don't mean
like wrestling bump, I just mean getting getting bumped by
accident by Mike Tyson, I think that might hurt record
(35:56):
of it. I mean and talk about we didn't even
get into paydays for Netflix. I mean, those guys are
shelling out the money, but I would I would anticipate
that our fee is going to go up, but probably
viewership is going to go up as well. And that's
going to be between between this fight, which is gonna
(36:16):
it looks like they'll have more of these and WWE
moving over. That's gonna be a big deal for Netflix
in twenty twenty into twenty twenty four into twenty twenty five.
So does it for this week? Anything else we need
to hit before we roll out of here? Michael? Anything
we missed?
Speaker 2 (36:31):
I don't think so. I think it's been another great
week in professional wrestling. We're packed. We're quickly approaching WrestleMania. Man,
I'm so stoked for it to be here, the biggest
Wrestlemanian history. It is going to be one to remember,
and boy, I just can't wait to be.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
There, looking forward to it. Wrestle Chat podcast will be
there live that week. We're gonna get there like on Thursday,
So there's events going on from Thursday all the way
through the weekend. Make sure you follow us on Instagram
wrestle Chat Podcast. Follow us on YouTube as well. Wherever
you're watching this, if you're on right now or if
you're listening to it afterwards, look in the description of
(37:09):
this and follow us on Instagram. The link is in
there because we're going to sporadically just go live from
different events that we're at, and you never know who
could be standing next to us. We've already established. Yes,
I'm bringing it back up. It will not be La
Night and it will not be Grayson Waller. We don't
take pictures for them, but anybody else welcome on the
(37:29):
show at any point during wrestle Mania Week. It's going
to be a lot of fun and that's only four
weeks away. Looking forward to it. I'm the ant man,
He's Michael Glavin. We'll see you maybe sometime during the week,
but definitely back here next weekend. The wrestle Chat Podcast
When it comes to professional wrestling. If you are talking
about it, we are talking about it. Welcome to the
wrestle Chat Podcast with the yet Man. Here we are
just twenty eight days away from the biggest event in
all of sports, entertainment and professional wrestling, wrestle Mania forty
And while this podcast is not exclusively about content from WWE,
(00:22):
we're here to talk about the biggest and best things
that are going down today and there's no to dying.
That is exactly what's going down inside of TKO's hottest brand.
Welcome to number forty eight of the wrestle Chat Podcast,
and we are live. I'm your host, the ant Man,
and he is a Michael Glavin. Just at the nick
of time, Michael Glavin made it on. Welcome in, Buddy,
(00:45):
Thank you for being here and excited to jump on
and connect with our chatters this morning. We're live on Facebook,
on YouTube, on x on Instagram too. Leave a comment
and let us know where you are joining us from.
We want to make sure and say hi. Or if
you're listening on the free iHeartRadio appen iHeart podcast, or
wherever you love to listen to podcasts, make sure you
shoot us a message We appreciate you being here. Michael.
(01:07):
There's a lot to get to here on this podcast,
and we will the first. How's your week, Ben, Now,
thing's been going.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It's been great, man, great season happening at work. Made
a quick trip to Florida this week, and the weirdest
thing happened. So let me tell you a super quick story.
I won't take up too much time. My flight got
delayed twice. Okay, I was supposed to be home from
Florida by like nine o'clock and my flight got delayed
(01:38):
till like almost ten o'clock. So eat dinner in the terminal,
headed to my gate, just to set up camp, hanging
out for a little bit, shooting some emails off, doing
the whole thing. It's like, man, I need a drink
because obviously can't take a drink with you through security.
So as I'm walking to one of the little shops,
(02:00):
there's a guy walking towards me, and I'm like, that
guy looks familiar. I'm not sure had shorts on, T shirt,
I think like like a forward hat or whatever. I'm like, oh,
that guy looks familiar, and he starts kind of talking
to himself a little bit. He looks up, realizes I
think he's in the wrong wing of the terminal. He's
(02:20):
like ah, So he turns around and I went I
think that's Grayson Waller. And I'm like, no, okay. So
you start panicking a little bit because you're like, do
you say something? Do you not say something? So I
run up beside him and I'm like, hey man, just
super low key, like are you Grayson Waller. He's like, yeah, man,
you know, whatever the accent is or whatever. And I'm like,
(02:44):
and I always said that if I met somebody in
an airport or something like that, I'd be super chill,
low key, wouldn't ask for a picture, wouldn't just take
up their time. And I just said, hey, man, really
really love what you do, appreciate you, thanks for everything
you do. Oh thinks man, you know, and we said
have a good night. That's cool. So I'm like, whoa,
that was awesome okay. And I turned around and l A,
(03:07):
Night's right across the way. So I'm guessing that they
were all loading up getting ready to head to Texas
for the show last night, because this would have been
Thursday night. So so I walked over same thing with
Night just said hey man. Now this time I knew
(03:28):
it was him because he he's pretty uh immistakable. Dude
is yoked man like he's he's cut, and just said,
hey man, thanks for what you do. Appreciate it. He
smiled at me, he said thanks, and I went on
with my night. Yeah. So then I walk away and
I stop in the middle of this big atrium in
(03:48):
the terminal of the Orlando Airport and I'm like, what
did I come out here for? And so then after
kind of pingponging for a minute, I got my drink
and went and that back down. But it's cool, how
you know, a delayed schedule ended up making for a
fun little memory in the Orlando Airport.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Well, just so you guys know, you can never use
the phrase a pick or it didn't happen to Michael
because he doesn't take pictures. So do not ever walk
up to Michael and ask for a photo. Okay, Gracie,
you cannot have a photo with Michael la night. No,
you're not getting a picture with Michael Glavin. Just so
you know, they can for fifty bucks if they want.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
They can't.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Glossy excellent, We'll bring those with you to wrestle Mania
forty because it's official. A wrestle chat podcast is going
to be in Philly for wressel Mania forty. You got
the word yesterday and many, many surprises are on the way.
I will say this, if you're not currently following us
on Instagram, and I would say YouTube as well, you should.
(04:52):
If you're watching in one of those places right now
and you haven't hit subscriber, you haven't hit follow, do
that and stay connected with us all through wrestle Mania forty.
Hit one of those buttons and that notification bell. There'll
be some sporadic times that we're just gonna go live
and you never know who will be on the other
end with us. And clearly it's not gonna be Grayson
Waller or La Night as long as Michael, You're not
(05:14):
gonna live that down, am I No? Never, So he
texted me that. The only thing I said was you're
on a wrestling podcast. Now. That is not an option.
A picture is always a must, You're always marketing, you're
always working. Just so if you run into a wrestler
by the way.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Or it's a long term play where it's like, hey,
are you that guy that didn't bug me in the airport. Yes,
I am. I'd love to do an interview with you.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Maybe that's it. Maybe because they're not there's not many
people who wouldn't bug them, right, yeah, yeah, Grayson La
if you're watching hop on with us, we'd love that.
Or we'll see you in Philly here in just a
couple of weeks. If you're not following us, let's say Instagram,
it's wrestle Chat podcast. The link for that and YouTube
(06:02):
all in the description of this episode, so you can
check that out. Clearly, The Rock is going to be
a big focus on today's show, and how could he
not be When you've got the biggest name in entertainment
dedicating so much time to the product, you can't avoid
taking notice. Last night's SmackDown from Dallas, Texas, it's no exception.
The broadcast was preceded with you know, another fifteen minute
(06:24):
ego Leyden Instagram reel of word vomit from The Rock
doing his best tough eatament impression in his ten gallon hat. Michael,
I know how much of those can I'm not sure
how many of those that you can make it through
until you say, you know what, I'm just gonna wait
until there's an edit on Fox or WWE. How far
did you make it this week?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I made it about three minutes in and honestly, he
was keeping my attention with the delivery. But because it
looks like he's shooting a little bit, you know, John
Cena ruined it for everybody and me, well, that's a
random comment. What do you mean by that? Well, John
Cena called him out for writing notes on his wrist.
And now and now we get fifteen minutes of the Rock.
(07:07):
We're editing every every sentence three times before he decides
where he's going next. So and I'm not throwing any
shade because he still did, you know, a shoot promo
better than I could. But but yeah, after hearing all
the repetitive stuff, I was like, I can't do this
right now. And then later you sent me the edit.
The edit was fantastic, So but yeah, But but here's
(07:34):
the thing. I am not gonna complain because for years
we wanted Rock back in the fold. He would show
up for five minutes, you know, And I'm not saying
that in a negative or poking kind of way. You know,
he'd show up for a little bit, go back do
his thing elsewhere. I'm just super stoked to have him
in the fold that I'll take twenty minutes of repetitive
(07:59):
shoot promo and what he's doing because just aura, the
aura that he's carrying right now is just massive.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And there's a different aura with a cowboy hat too.
I will say that we are having a hard time
though producing this crew, and I can only imagine the challenge.
But it's either at the beginning that you have all
these guys in the ring together and jams up the
rest of the show, or we get a telenovela and
it just goes off the air, just like last night.
(08:29):
The biggest production we've ever produced live it's this podcast,
So you know, listen, no shade coming from either me
or Michael. But how do we get the storytelling to
fit into the allotted times so we actually get to
see the story? I mean, there's not even photos of
what happened after the slap last night, and I don't
(08:50):
know if that's on purpose or if it's just everybody scrambling.
What do you make of all this, Michael.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I'm not sure. I think the core of it is
you have four guys who are used to when they're
booked on a show, meaning isolated, not together in a
ring there they're given time to milk every second for
themselves or just themselves. Then when you multiply that by four,
(09:16):
that each guy has taken sixty seconds to respond to
the last statement, you know, it's probably a muscle memory thing.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
It's probably not protensional.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And honestly, the crowd is super hot. That was super
hot last night with all them in the ring, with
all the different chants, and they want to feed off
of it. But at the same time, anybody who's been
to a live show knows there is a giant red
clock with the time that sits on the production side.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
How do you not see it?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
How do you not see it?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, Rock is just waiting for somebody to yell cut.
He does what he does until somebody yells cut. He's
been in Hollywood for so long. I mean, you remember that.
We don't do that on SmackDown Rock. After the you know,
the local Fox News started rambling about Joe Biden's State
of the Union address. I was still, you know, reeling
of how abruptly the show ended. I got to thinking, now,
(10:06):
what slap cody that sent things over the edge and
got us to the main event of WrestleMania forty. But
now A Rock got a receipt. So where do we
take this from here? Because we still got a couple
of weeks before we get to Philly and a few
more SmackDown scheduled with both men in attendance, what do
we do after the receipt has happened? Where do we
(10:27):
go for? Are we actually going to get a one
on one or you think, nah, that's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I think at this point we're in the window that
we can't really risk anybody getting injured. You know, Seth
is still fresh off of injury. Don't want to take
any chances there. Very true, Rock will probably still have
some a little bit of ring rust on him, so
I'm sure he's training and doing stuff. We're in that
window now that we got to start protecting the guys
(10:54):
leading into the big show. So I don't think that
we're gonna see any one on one matches, But I
think we're going to see a lot of storyline push.
I'm going to attack you, You're going to attack me. You know,
some run ins here, run ins there. I think we're
just going to see that that extra seasoning that gets
thrown on top of what's happening already. And the thing is,
(11:15):
I think that's great. I don't think we need matches
to preemptively build this. That was kind of a mistake
of the regime gone by. Is I mean, for instance,
how many times did we see Roman Brock? You know
what I mean. I think it's okay just to settle
it on the day of and until then, just keep
raising the stakes.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I want you guys to know that the chat is open,
so we want you to chime in on what you
guys think about, you know, the slap from Cody last
night and where that exchange is going to lead to
with all four.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Men, because we've got a lot to get to before
wrestle Mania forty. Chat is open. Wherever you're watching this
right now, the chat is open, so let us know
where you're or where you're watching this from, say hi,
let us know what you think about the segment last night.
We still got a lot more Rock to get to
and now this episode is not all about the Rock,
but there is more to discuss about him, including his
(12:07):
involvement in the WWE Hall of Fame. Our first tag
team for this class was just announced. We'll talk about
that and a couple of major additions to aew all.
When we come back here on the Wrestle Chat Podcast Live.
Thank you guys for hanging out with us this morning.
(12:28):
The Wrestle Chat Podcast Episode forty eight is live. Appreciate
you being here. Remember the chat is open. We invite
you to join in and be a part of the
show this morning. Let us know where you are from,
where you're watching, what you think, what you want to
talk about, because this is called Wressell Chat for a reason.
We want to chat with you guys too, so let
us know what you think about everything that's going on
(12:48):
right now. We just got another inductee into the twenty
twenty four WWE Hall of Fame class, the US Express
Mike Rotunda and Barry Wendham, the father and the Uncle
Bray Wyatt, both men together when they got the call
from Triple H Michael in this form where these guys
were these guys a part of your childhood at all?
(13:10):
With the two of them together some.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yes, I know more of micro Tunda from more of
the Attitude era I believe as a IR s if
I'm if I'm correct, but uh but yeah, still have
gone back and learned a little bit about them here
and there, and the whole overarching look of the way
this class is shaping up to be is really exciting
(13:33):
for me because I almost feel a little bit of
a shift away from not holistically political acknowledgments of the
Hall of Fame, but more like actual guys, you know
what I mean. And uh, and so I was excited
to see the US express, you know, getting inducted in.
What a cool thing to post for us to see,
(13:56):
to share that news live and in the moment such
you know, somebody commented on it and said, this is
just such a wholesome thing that the Internet needed, and
I completely agree. Great moment to be a part of.
Thanks to the WWE for sharing that moment with us.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Well, you know, you when you get together like that,
you I'm sure they had an idea of what was coming,
or at least had a thought, but you've got a
real reactions from both guys. But you saw the trail
down down the face of Mike and knowing that he
lost his son last year, and uh, I mean, we
don't we still don't know if Bray is going to
(14:32):
be in this year's or not, with you know, still
the comm and I mentioned that we aren't done with
the Rock, and Fightful even talked about Uh. They loaded
up a post that shed some light on the Great
Ones involvement in the Hall of Fame selections this year.
So I wonder what his thought is on putting Bray
in with his father as well. That could be pretty cool,
(14:52):
sources within This is what the Fightful post said. Sources
within WWE have told us that The Rock has had
input on this year's WWE Hall of Fame inductees. One
indicated to us that that would be evident in the
planned inductees if the planned inductees are revealed as scheduled.
We weren't given any additional info as to what that means.
(15:14):
Another source said The Rock had input on all of
this year's inductees, though we've not confirmed that to be
the case. I will say this has nothing to do
with the inductees, but Rock's involvement in things. Michael and
I were on a call this week that led us
to believe that he's making a lot of decisions pointing
his finger and people are going that direction. And I'm
(15:36):
just thankful that he pointed his finger. I mean, he
may have been shoeing a fly, but it kind of
came our direction that allowed us to Peter russ on
many a forty this year that could have very have
no clue at all. But what does this mean to
you with a Rock being so heavily involved in the
Hall of Fame now here.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Here's what I know from watching a lot of the
documentaries and listening to Rock over time. He is a
fan of the business and a student of the game,
and there's going to be more of a pure and
holistic approach to the way he does, you know, approaches
(16:15):
decision making and how he chooses to land the plane
on some things. And with that, you know, we saw
a little bit with Triple Hs he started to shift
over to the back office versus you know, in the ring,
in the various jobs that he's done. And now that's
just going to be turned up even more now that
(16:35):
Rock is in there as well, because you've got one
guy that's over pretty much all content, and then you
got one guy that's sitting on the board at the
fifty thousand foot going, man, I think this is what
we should do, and I think that is going to
be two thumbs way up for what comes out the
other side of that decision making, so you know, some
(16:56):
of it is subjective and that's okay, But I think
as as fans, we're gonna have a lot more moments
of going you know what, that makes sense, and I'm
glad that that's happening. And that's due to guys like
Rock being in positions of power.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Now, well, you you touched on this that you got
Triple H on one side and Rock on the other,
and I love that they kept up the perception even
on screen on television, but then with the feud, the
AEW rivalries was Rock and Triple H. I'm glad they're
keeping that up because it keeps people interested in where
things are going to go. But personally, just business wise,
(17:36):
I kind of have a feeling that back behind closed doors,
those who are going, man, it's so cool you and
I are working together doing this and progress. You know,
let's when we're out in front of people, let's still
look and act like that we are, you know, like
it could be attitude air and we could go at
it at any time. But here behind closed doors, we're
doing what's best for business. And I personally don't know
(17:57):
that there are two better guys that I would put
not only this company, but this business in the hands.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Off absolutely, you know I'm gonna I'm gonna push back
on that a little bit. Those guys have spent so
long in competition with each other. I don't think that
turns off with any amount of time. I'm not saying
they hate each other. I think there's a healthy respect there,
especially on the business side. But I'll bet you there's
(18:27):
some conflicting ideas that there's some friction. And so I'm
very confident that the two of them are professional and
that they handle each other and and and deal in
grace with each other. But I don't think there's buddy
buddy joking around going on behind the scenes, because I think,
like I said, they spent years trying to outdo the other.
(18:50):
I don't think that's something you turn off.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
No butt slaps in MG's mind, none of that going on.
There's some talk of the Rock being involved in the
next Saudi show. The next time that they travel to
that to the Sandy Desert is at the end of May.
Those shows have traditionally been one off Starred Layden shows. However,
more recently they've fit those occasions into the storyline, which
(19:13):
I've appreciated. The shows are already massive, the Saudi crew
shelling out some serious coin and presumably bringing it in
as well. What would the Rock do for an already
packed WrestleMania like show in Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
That's a great question, and you're entering pure fantasy booking.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
That's what this is about.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I don't even know, because if we follow the trend
of what some of the past Saudi shows have been,
they've almost been revisiting some old rivalries or combining together
some classic matchups again, and so looking kind of at
the landscape, and you're putting me on the spot if
I'm being honest.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Sure, I don't, I don't. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You know, Triple Hs is retired, Sean Michaels is retired.
I mean, unless they want to give us.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Rock Ogan again, you know, and then I'm good. I'm good.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Let's not do that.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Were fantasy booking. I guess that it would be a fantasy, right, but.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Uh, let's just put it this way. I don't care
who it is. I think it would go over really well.
I would literally take any matchup. Uh, you know, when
it's kind of like John Cena anymore, Rock is is
getting up there in age. He is still in fantastic shape,
and I have no doubt that he can go. But
(20:39):
but time makes fools of us all and you know
you only got so many left. You know that that
bump card doesn't go backwards, it only goes forwards. And so, uh,
whatever I can get from the Rock at this point,
no complaints from me.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah, he's all right, he's all right shape. It'll do.
Chat is open chatting his open here, chime in. What
do you guys think? Drop a comment and we'll feature
it here and we'll talk about it too. So wherever
you're watching, whether it be on Facebook, if you're on YouTube,
you're on Twitter, if you're on Instagram, a drop a comment,
let us know where you're watching. Let us know what
(21:15):
you think about Rock being involved in the Hall of
Fame or in Saudi shows as well. We've got some
sena rumors that we need to get to, some prime
news with Logan Paul and his brother Jake, plus some
big moves for a e W. We're gonna get to
them all here in about sixty seconds. Thanks so much
for hanging with us here on the wrestle Chat Podcast
Live Today, John Cena. He made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon,
(21:42):
My Favorite, My Personal Favorite Jimmy of Late Night, The
Late Night World and Till Little Jimmy Gets a Show.
But Sena was on Fallon promoting his new Amazon or
Netflix show whatever there was, and he claims, I am
free WrestleMania Weekend. You have any idea how long next
two weeks SmackDown segment would go? If we then had
(22:03):
Sena show up with the Rock and with Roman and
with Cody and with Seth. Is that what's in store
for us here? You know, four weeks out from wrestle
Mania forty Michael.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Potentially, And you know what, if I'm a writer on
the SmackDown side, I'm like, week off, bro, let's go.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
I think it's just too as you go. Just want
to let everybody know you're all on standby, Just hang out.
We'll let you know if you're gonna go wrestle or not.
Rock you guys roll get out there.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, you know, I would think that, you know, with
the close ties that Sina has, Yeah, with everybody on
the WWE side, You're not just gonna make a comment
like that in big interviews without kind of having something
reliable to go on. So I think Seena is gonna
(22:56):
do something. I mean, you've got two nights of WrestleMania now,
you know, and year's gone by. Yeah, you're your card
stacked enough. You gotta be careful with time. Do you
really have to be careful with time when you're on
two nights at four six ten hours a piece? No,
So are we gonna get, you know, just a wholesome
scene of segment where he you know, does something sketchy
(23:19):
to Austin theory. Again, sure, let's go for it. And again,
I hate to sound like the squeaky clean face fan,
but we ain't got a lot of time with John
left either, And he said as much. It's you know,
his exact quote was, I know it's not tomorrow that
I'm done, but it's not gonna be you know, forever either.
(23:39):
So I'll take whatever from John Cena. I can get
bald spot and all. Love you, buddy, I ain't got
much room to talk.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Your bald spot's a little bit bigger, a little bit bigger,
squeaky clean face loving, no picture taking, Michael Lavin, appreciate you, dude.
The chat is open, stays open the entire show so
you want to chime in let us know what you think.
Would you like to see John Cena a part of
wrestle Mania forty. That's our question right now. Would you
(24:09):
like to see him as part of wrestle Mania forty,
regardless of what he's involved in, whether it's with with
you just mentioned Austin theory again, if it's with Grayson Waller,
if it's with anybody else, or if it's I don't
perceive him being thrown into this this this title perier
unless he's there to be a ref. It could be
(24:30):
a special guest ref. I'd be okay with that too, man,
it's some star power. Chime in, what are your thoughts?
Would you want to see Sena now involved with Rock Rollan,
Cody Seth but just or just involved in something at
wrestle Mania forty. Let's chat. We still had a little
bit of time left switching gears to ae W though, Man,
I'll say I haven't been in love with those tunnels.
They had him at the very beginning, then they got
(24:51):
rid of them. But this new set they just did
a refresh. It's actually looking pretty tasty. The colors, the
adjustment to the AEW logo, the brand new Dynamite logo,
the new intro music, and the graphics. They've had those
led boards that go around the ring and around you know,
the the apron of the ring and the ones that
go around the outside of the barricade. They've had those
(25:13):
for a little bit now. But those combined with the
new graphics, I'll say it is looking sharp. Do you
have any feelings being a production guy, Michael, any feelings
on the new AEW set and the brand new aw
Dynamite open.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
A lot of echoing your thoughts. I do think it
looks pretty sharp. It's it's interesting. It feels like ae
W is on this expediated track of all of the
phases that WWE went through, you know, when AEW first
came out up till you know recently, it's had that
(25:49):
in the vibe, that that attitude era vibe with some
more hard edge logos and and all that. And now
all of a sudden we've seen this switch to a
very very corporate polished look reminiscence of when the WWE
network logo was revealed, moving away from the WWF scratch logo,
(26:10):
and so it does it is kind of fun to
see that arc in their branding and things like that.
But I definitely think it's a step in the right direction.
It definitely makes AW look more professional, more polished, and
really puts that shiny spin on all the guys bleeding
(26:30):
in the midst of all the broken glass and everything.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Because there's a lot of it, that's for sure, a
new intro graphics. Those aren't the only thing that AAW
has shelled out the money on recently. If you watched
Dynamite on Wednesday, you saw the fulfillment of a rumor.
Zuchka Okada is now an elite and a part of
the elite with Matthew and Nicholas Jackson, And if the
(26:55):
reports are true, Boylecotta is getting paid one of the
highest paid in all in all of professional wrestling. It's
around two billion yen, which translates to four right around
four and a half million dollars a year and US dollars.
How does this impact the landscape of free agency when
(27:16):
it comes to wrestling, because there's a lot of free
agentci that are really good still floating around out there.
What does this mean for guys you know that are
looking to land the plane in one of the Big
two right now?
Speaker 2 (27:29):
That's real interesting. So on the tail end of that
news story, there was one person that came out and said,
that's not accurate. There's no way, but the greater landscape
of all of wrestling news right now still says that
that's the truth.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
And I got it from Forbes. I got my report
from Forbes.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Master what I'm saying, Get what I'm saying. And so
assuming that that is the truth. When you and I
were briefly discussing it as I was traveling and stuff,
You're talking about a company that was forty or fifty
something million dollars in the hole last year. That means
(28:09):
that ten percent of your desk excuse me deficit went
to one guy in his new contract going into this year.
When you put it in that context, you're like, WHOA.
Now here's where things get controversial, depending on who you're
fans of, what company you like in this that whatever.
(28:31):
For AW being a primarily American brand, Okada is not
going to move the needle for the majority of their
fan base. Is he famous yes, is he a beyond
amazing talent, yes, But most of his success has been
(28:54):
across the pond, And when you bring him into AW,
you know, even in the on the couple episodes we've
seen so far, that needle is not moving. Now are
his matches going to be fantastic? Yes they are. Is
he going to be great for TV? Yes, yes he is.
Does it move the needle to fill the half empty arenas?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
No? I don't think it's where you you got to
get a story. And I know that a lot of
people say. I mean even I think I heard. I
didn't see it. I just heard someone comment on it
that Seamus made a post saying if you if you
want drama, watch a soap opera. Wrestling is about both parts.
It always has been, it always will be if you
let go of what if you listen, There's a lot
(29:37):
of time in WWE when the story was really heavy
and the action in the ring was really light, and
guess what, it wasn't great. And there are times right
now where aew is really great in the ring. I mean,
the matches are undeniable. I could do without the barbed wire,
the chairs and the glass. I could just do a
great match, which you often get with a guy like
Daniel Bryant. Daniel Bryanton brian'son why do I always have
(29:59):
a hard time with his name Brian Danielson, Thank you.
That's yeah. The one I just gave wasn't even an option,
and I've just made it up. But you understand what
I'm saying is like most of the time with those guys,
it is a wrestling match. You see Brian and o'catta
go at it, then we're probably going to get most
of it inside the ropes and it's going to be great.
(30:21):
But the other half has to be there too. What's
the story? And I think that's where you see growth
with a guy like Okada and bringing eyeballs is well,
do we have a story with him? Do we have
a story that? I mean, him being teamed up with
the Elite is cool? What's next? What are you going
to do with it? So looking forward to seeing what
they do. They're speaking of getting paid Logan Paul further
solidifying his ties with WWE and his sports drink Prime
(30:47):
not paid for it moment, but we are wide open
to it. Dead center of the Ring Matt at all,
WWE pl e's that's got to be a big payday
for WWE and it's a move toward, you know, the
u FC model they've been doing. Ad Matt placement for years,
and I know you have some strong feelings about this, Michael,
I personally if it's kept to one. I mean, we
(31:10):
used to have a you know, a big w c
W in the middle of the ring, and then they
put stuff on ring poles and some other places as well.
We've we've now seen with the led boards that change
out at ple E's oftentimes with trying to think what
the uh pop tarts pop Tarts seems to be on
and ray Masterio has to be in the match at
(31:30):
every single pl e uh that you could change out this,
you're not changing out. It's dead set in the middle
from the time the first match to the to the
main event. There's going to be a prime drink logo
right in the middle of the ring. You're feeling, you're
feeling strong about this, dude, Okay, that says it all.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I love a clean, blank ring, Matt. It allows you
to focus on. Okay, first of all, we're not we're
not getting a sponsorship even though we want it. Their
money is gone. Okay, they gave it all to Wwe.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Take free drinks right now. I'm paying for this. Come on, yeah,
that's true.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
I'll take free drinks he can send those. No, but
I like I like a clean, blank ring Matt. I
think it allows you to focus on the story. I
think it allows you to focus on the wrestling itself.
Do I hate it? No, I think it's gonna be fine.
We do know that if you were listening to what
Logan did say that it is for p l ees only,
(32:35):
so we don't have to see that on a week
to week basis, which I think is a good thing.
I think there's an operational element to it too, because
anybody who's been to a show knows that they go
through several ring mats in a night, and so to
have that number of mats for promotional availability probably doesn't
make sense. But for plees that that's cool. I am
super happy, you know, speaking out of both sides of
(32:57):
my mouth, super happy for Logan the I. While he's
definitely not my favorite due to some things in the past,
it looks like him really and his brother have have
turned this great corner of being very smart, mature businessmen
that know how to grind and man, if you can't
respect that, then you're not paying attention. And so super
(33:20):
stoked for him and ks I and bt W KSI
sells an r KO pretty well and so good good
for him as well, but no, super happy for Logan
and ks I great, you know, monumental deal that was
made with Prime sounds like I'm gonna have to start
(33:41):
investing more than Prime as well.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Well. Speaking of the of of Logan and his brother
as well, I mean, if they weren't already raking in
the money, Logan's brother, Jake, announced that he is going
to be in a match, a boxing match with the
most dangerous man on the planet, Tyson at fifty seven
years old. No, no, no, not on pay per view
(34:05):
either on Netflix live from AT and T Stadium, the
home of the Dallas Cowboys. I've often felt, as as
have many others, that these Jake Paul fights are much
like pro wrestling. You know, there's a there's a planned
outcome in this. However, could you see Mike Tyson taking
(34:27):
a fall just for money? No?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
I don't know. I've always been on the fence whether
boxing is is rigged or not. But in this situation,
here's what I do know.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
This was my first thought, Ask anyone who's been knocked
out by Mike Tyson if it's rigged?
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, exactly Here here was my thought when it all
went down. It doesn't matter who wins or loses that bout.
Mike Tyson is gonna come out on top. Okay, because
if if Jake beats it him, oh big deal, you
beat a fifty seven year old man, Okay, great. If Tyson,
you know, hands it to Jake, well he's iron Mike Tyson. Yeah,
(35:10):
that that adds up. And so you know Jake's there
for the payday. You know Mike's there to uh to
maintain that. So it's gonna be a cool fight. In
my opinion, Tyson will still come out on top. If
you've seen any of his videos, it doesn't really look
like he's lost much of a step. So I'm.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
I feel bad for the guy he's sparring with. It's
that's loaded up with pads, unlikely, that guy has a
broken hand. Well, that guy's got a broken rib and
he's got six inches of padding next to him. Yep.
I would not want to. I wouldn't want to get
bumped by Mike Tyson. Like I just would like just
you know, walking by him, just getting I don't mean
like wrestling bump, I just mean getting getting bumped by
accident by Mike Tyson, I think that might hurt record
(35:56):
of it. I mean and talk about we didn't even
get into paydays for Netflix. I mean, those guys are
shelling out the money, but I would I would anticipate
that our fee is going to go up, but probably
viewership is going to go up as well. And that's
going to be between between this fight, which is gonna
(36:16):
it looks like they'll have more of these and WWE
moving over. That's gonna be a big deal for Netflix
in twenty twenty into twenty twenty four into twenty twenty five.
So does it for this week? Anything else we need
to hit before we roll out of here? Michael? Anything
we missed?
Speaker 2 (36:31):
I don't think so. I think it's been another great
week in professional wrestling. We're packed. We're quickly approaching WrestleMania. Man,
I'm so stoked for it to be here, the biggest
Wrestlemanian history. It is going to be one to remember,
and boy, I just can't wait to be.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
There, looking forward to it. Wrestle Chat podcast will be
there live that week. We're gonna get there like on Thursday,
So there's events going on from Thursday all the way
through the weekend. Make sure you follow us on Instagram
wrestle Chat Podcast. Follow us on YouTube as well. Wherever
you're watching this, if you're on right now or if
you're listening to it afterwards, look in the description of
(37:09):
this and follow us on Instagram. The link is in
there because we're going to sporadically just go live from
different events that we're at, and you never know who
could be standing next to us. We've already established. Yes,
I'm bringing it back up. It will not be La
Night and it will not be Grayson Waller. We don't
take pictures for them, but anybody else welcome on the
(37:29):
show at any point during wrestle Mania Week. It's going
to be a lot of fun and that's only four
weeks away. Looking forward to it. I'm the ant man,
He's Michael Glavin. We'll see you maybe sometime during the week,
but definitely back here next weekend. The wrestle Chat Podcast
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