November 6, 2025 • 30 mins
A rumor can spark nostalgia—or demand answers. We dive headfirst into the buzz around a possible Vince McMahon tell-all and ask the bigger question: what would a raw, unfiltered account mean for fans who lived the booms, the scandals, and the sale? From there we move into the realities fans feel in their wallets and in their seats: rising WWE ticket prices, empty patches in arenas, and the slow drip of trust when storylines fizzle before they land. Expect candor, a few laughs, and a direct look at how to make wrestling feel real again.
Teddy Long lays out the fundamentals that still move crowds—selling that hurts, finishers that finish, and ring psychology that scales when a smaller wrestler faces a powerhouse. We talk about why authority figures need true on-screen control to anchor weekly shows, and how booking loses gravity when talent overrules the GM mid-segment. If you’ve missed that electric build when a crowd knows the signal and everyone rises for the finish, we’re right there with you.
We also shine a light on where the future can be found: independent promotions and rising talkers who can cut promos that bend a room. Fresh minds in creative, backed by veteran guidance, can restore continuity without slowing the pace. And yes, we rank bookers, weigh the odds of Attitude Era-level heat returning, and debate whether Vince appears at John Cena’s final match. Come for the big questions, stay for the solutions built on ring craft, believable stakes, and a product that respects its audience.
Enjoy the show? Follow, share with a friend who misses real selling, and leave a quick review with your fix for modern wrestling. Your take might shape a future segment.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
And we're back with an all-new road trip after hours
live on a Thursday night.
I'm your host, Mack Davis, andof course, with me right here is
WWE Hall of Famer, Mr.
Teddy Long.
Hey Teddy.
SPEAKER_01 (00:33):
Hey, I just want to say uh that's a great interest.
Uh you changed things up, and uhthat was really nice.
I could sit back and watch theopening, and I really enjoyed
that.
So, you know, if you can justmake me comfortable like that,
I'd appreciate it.
Because I'm always nervous withyou.
I really am.
I never know what you're gonnado.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
No, you don't.
You're absolutely correct.
Yeah, there's a bunch ofactually, Teddy.
I look back today uh throughsome of our older uh openings
that we used in the early daysof the uh the show when we were
doing the podcast.
Oh man, there's some I gottabring those back.
This there's some really goodones in there, uh, especially
the early ones where uh we'redriving down the road and
(01:12):
there's smoke coming out thewindows, and yeah, yeah.
We gotta have a little throwbackto some of those things.
You know, just before we got onair, Teddy, I want to kind of
say this publicly because uhthis is kind of funny to me, but
you were talking about you'regonna go to uh your lady
friend's house, Miss Denise, uh,for Thanksgiving, and she was
asking you about dinner.
Uh first of all, what did youask for?
(01:34):
What do you want for thatThanksgiving meal?
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
Well, we were talking about the turkey, and I
was explaining uh that, but Ireally didn't want that.
I wanted uh those reels that shemade that uh last time.
I brother, I ain't never in mylife had any reels that did just
fall off the bone.
I mean, it wasn't tough.
I I mean it's just like eatingcandy or something, man.
It's unreal.
So I said that, and then sheasked me about the sweet part,
(02:00):
and I told her, I said, Well,you know, banana pudding, I I um
you got me hooked on that.
So uh we were we were talkingabout that today, uh, just
before I called you and we goton the air here.
We were talking me and her weretalking about the banana
pudding.
SPEAKER_00 (02:12):
And I know you were telling her you that you've got
to be careful because you don'teat like this all the time.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
And oh, she she brings me a lot on a plate, too,
you know.
And I have to let her know, youknow, Denise, you know, but you
know, she just wants to makesure I got enough food and she
likes to feed me.
SPEAKER_00 (02:26):
So uh I've seen you in catering before at some of
these uh independent shows, andand Teddy says he doesn't eat
much, but Teddy he eats a littlebit, but he eats a little bit
all day throughout the day.
So it's never he's never younever catch Teddy actually
gouging himself with food.
That I've never seen thathappen, except for the dog.
SPEAKER_01 (02:47):
I I do sit down, you know, when I prayed when I was
going to Cater, and I sit downwhen I first got the TV and I'd
eat a little bit of meal there,but then back and forth ripped
and running, I'd slap bycatering, pick up something,
she's snacking.
SPEAKER_00 (03:01):
I I was also uh mentioning to you that uh my
wife, when when I first met mywife, we'll get into wrestling
in just a second.
When I first met her, you know,women are are really smart, they
know how to how to catch a manif if that's what they're
wanting to do, simply by youfeed his belly with good food.
Man, you you got a guy that thatyou that's the easiest way to
(03:21):
get a guy, really.
It is if you're trying to getone of us, all you got to do is
prepare a good meal, good foodthat you took time with in love
with.
Oh, and we couldn't ask foranything better.
Well, maybe one or two otherthings, but you know, uh that
that's beside the point.
Hey, look, uh Teddy, I mentionedthis, uh, and people have
probably seen the thumbnail, uh,where Vince McMahon uh is in the
(03:45):
image and it's uh is he gonna bedoing a tell-all?
JBL, your buddy JBL has recentlysaid that he believes a book, a
tell-all book, and he means hesays no punches pulled will come
out within the next two years,if not sooner.
(04:06):
Does that surprise you?
SPEAKER_01 (04:09):
Well, what's what's the tell all book about?
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
Well, it's is it's Vince McMahon giving his uh his
view on all the things,nothing's held back.
JBL when he talked about thishonestly, it felt like he knew a
lot more than he was giving into say if he's if he's speaking
on it, then he does know a lotmore than my guess.
Yeah, so and he's he's sayingit's gonna be a tell-off book,
(04:36):
it's gonna be one of the bestbooks ever written, is what he
is along those lines.
I'm just kind of paraphrasinghim, but well, he believes this
is gonna be a just huge, hugebook.
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
Yeah, I well, I believe that too.
You know, uh, like I said, uh,Vince is the creator, he he's
the man that created all this.
And uh for him to you know tellit all, uh, you know, I don't
think he'll go into a whole lotof stuff, but I believe he'll
give us enough, you know, to tolet you know how he started and
you know how did how he mademoney and how he did different
(05:06):
ideas and you know how he madeit work.
So uh that's gonna beinteresting.
I'm I'm I'd I'd I'd like to readthat myself, and I'm not a
reader.
SPEAKER_00 (05:14):
Yeah, and I think anybody, you know, most people
know who Vince McMahon is, uh,you know, if it's through
wrestling or throughentertainment or if it's through
you know the latest news thatgot him all in trouble.
Uh, most people know the nameVince McMahon.
And one of my favorite thingsthat when I watch something like
on uh Netflix or you know, oneof those channels, I'm looking
(05:36):
more times than not fordocumentaries because I like
learning about people and andand what made them tick and
stuff like that.
Vince McMahon, man, to reallyget a look at what what he says
right from the man about hislife, I think would be
incredibly interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (05:52):
And like I said, he's he's he's he's gonna be
truthful with you.
You know what I mean?
Uh you know, he knows what tosay and what not to say.
So, you know, that's like Isaid, that's gonna be
interesting to uh really see theother side of him, you know what
I mean.
Uh that's one thing I wished Icould have done.
I wished I could have traveledwith him, you know, and spent a
lot more time with him than Idid when I was at TV and at
(06:13):
work.
Because I've understood whenyou're with him, you gotta
learn.
You're learning while you'rearound him.
And that's what I know I had todo in order to stay around.
I got to learn how to play thisgame.
So I just wished I'd have hadmore time with him than he.
But he gave me enough of histime and know, and he let me
know in a lot of different ways,you know, where I stood.
And you know what I mean.
So I I appreciate that.
(06:34):
And like I said, if it wasn'tfor him, we I wouldn't be doing
the podcast here with you today.
SPEAKER_00 (06:39):
You know, I'd be curious to find out too what he
has to say about the entire uhthing of him being, you know,
selling the company, then kindof being booted from the
company.
I I would imagine it again, uhJBL made this sound like this is
going to be a tell-all book.
You see, he's not holding back.
So if that's the case, his takeon what went down would be
(07:02):
extremely interesting because hemay get more involved in some of
the family stuff uh than uh hewas prepared to do.
And now this is an opportunitywhere he can address and tell
his side his truth.
So it'll be interesting.
Uh let's see, Zach Minger uhalready popping in here.
And by the way, if you'd like tobe on today's show, all you got
to do is just pop up a messageon the screen and we'll throw it
(07:25):
up there for you.
Talk about it and uh discussanything that you have or any
questions you might have forTeddy or just wrestling in
general.
Zach Minger.
Hey, Zach, good to have you inhere, my friend.
National Nachos Day, Mac andTeddy.
SPEAKER_01 (07:38):
Well, well, thank you very much, Zach.
Enjoy your National Nachos Day.
SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
Plot twist Jones, Sandy hopes everyone is having a
great day.
Same to you, plot twist.
All right, uh, let me see.
There was one other thing Iwanted to bring up with you, and
I'm trying to think, oh, ticketprices.
We're hearing that uh the ticketprices from Nick Khan uh are
adjusted to what people arewilling to pay today, basically.
(08:05):
But their numbers, Teddy, andwe'll get into this a little bit
more because I think there's aletter about this.
I don't want to get in too deep,but it they've got to do
something when it comes toticket pricing because I'm
afraid that what's gonna what'shappening to them now is what
I've said for a while.
You keep pricing the average fanout of the sport and being able
to come to the show, you'reeventually gonna lose that fan.
(08:30):
And it appears to me that someof the latest trends now for WWE
are showing that that's exactlythe case, and they are losing
that trend.
Um when it comes to wrestlingtoday, Teddy, and I know you
don't watch it every show andyou don't watch tons of it, but
what you do watch, what is itthat you feel is missing in
(08:51):
today's product that needs to beput back in and make things a
little bit more exciting uh thanit is now?
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
Well, I don't know.
I think storylines uh play a bigpart.
And I see them, they'll startsomething and then uh they don't
finish it.
So I don't understand, you know,how am I starting to follow
something and then all of asudden it's not there anymore?
But now here comes somethingbrand new that you want me to
start all over again to see now,okay.
(09:19):
Well, what's gonna happen here?
So it just I don't think they'vethey give storylines a long a
long enough time for the fans todigest and kind of see what's
going on.
Um, I see a lot happening withthe selling.
A lot of guys ain't sellingnothing, man.
I mean, it's uh Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
Uh you know, I was doing a podcast, Teddy, with um
I'm sorry, uh Bob Smith.
Uh you met him uh while we no,you didn't meet him.
You weren't there.
I'm sorry.
That was in New York.
Anyway, he used to work withBill Actor and PWI, and we were
talking about uh how peopledon't sell in the fact that
finishers are not real finishersanymore.
(09:59):
I I still say, name me onefinisher that somebody has not
kicked out of or you know,lifted their whatever, you know,
and I don't think anybody can.
I don't think there is afinisher.
It used to be Teddy.
Let's say uh your finisher wasthe you know uh a DDT.
You spent the entire matchworking up to getting that DDT
(10:21):
on your opponent, did you not?
SPEAKER_01 (10:23):
Well, you made the be you made the people wait on
it, yeah.
And you had that and you hadthat signal right there when it
was time for it, you gave it,and the people knew it, and
they're all right.
Here it comes.
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
Yep, yep.
See, that's the part that Ithink that that we're getting so
worried about the match beingexciting and being longer that
they all become the same kind ofmatch.
Everybody's kicking out of thefinishers left and right at the
end, or somebody's running inand causing some kind of problem
at the end of the match.
It needs to go back to being avery simple product where you
(10:54):
just go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
It'll it'll never do that.
Uh you know what I mean?
They're gone now, they're outthere now.
So, like I said, the only thingI think is just too much.
You know what I mean?
Golly, how much wrestling canyou see and watch?
You know what I mean?
So uh not saying cut cut nothingout, but just you know, kind of
trim it down a little bit, putmore time into some storylines
(11:16):
that you know that's gonna workfor you, that's gonna draw
money, put some time into that,you know what I mean?
And yeah, yeah, I I don't know.
I I really I think they just gotso much going on, man, to
they're just going day to day.
SPEAKER_00 (11:27):
Yeah, and you know, and I understand they have to
create a lot of content, andthat's the big thing.
You gotta have content, sothey're gonna churn out that
content, and quality in somecases gets lost because you're
producing too much content.
But I blame that on WWE, though,Teddy, because if you know
that's a problem, then hire morepeople or do what you gotta do
(11:48):
to adjust so the quality of theproduct does not go down in the
process.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, that's just me.
Uh, let's see, Curly Man, by theway.
I saw you pop up here.
I'm gonna throw you up in hereagain.
Uh, curly man, good to see youin here saying hello, Teddy and
Mac.
Curly man, hello, player.
And of course, uh, we have ourlovely, pretty classy lady
popping in again tonight.
Good to see you, Mac and Teddy.
SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
All right, how are you, young lady?
SPEAKER_00 (12:12):
I'm sure she's doing good.
And Teddy, uh, by the way, uh,we're gonna have a special guest
with us.
I'm thinking it's gonna be nextweek.
Uh, hopefully that's the case.
Uh, normally on Tuesday nights,and this was weird this week
because normally you and I, wetalk twice a week on Tuesday
night and a Thursday night.
Well, this past Tuesday, wedidn't do our recording that we
(12:32):
normally do with Bill after onSports Kita's uh wrestle bench
because they're shutting thatchannel down.
And uh so we didn't get any timetogether.
So Bill's gonna stop by and he'sgonna be a part of the show uh
every so often here on Road TripAfter Hours, and he'll be uh
coming in to join us.
But in the meantime, just togive you an idea of what Bill's
(12:52):
got coming up, it was all fromthe brains of Teddy, and this is
coming to one wrestlingvideo.com.
(14:28):
And Teddy, the first one uh inshelter phone.
Go ahead, uh Teddy.
SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
Let me say this before you get started.
Uh, that thing you were doingwith Bill now.
Uh I'm glad he thought aboutthat because I mean, golly, you
got here's Bill Aptor.
The guy, excuse me, the guy'sbeen around 50 years, just as
long as me.
He's talked to everybody in theworld of professional wrestling.
(14:53):
Some people he's talked to aredead and gone.
So Bill After knows stuff thatwe probably may never know
unless he reveals it.
So he knows a lot of secrets,and he's talked with a lot of
people that some stuff I know heknows he might not want to tell
it, but maybe it may be time totell it.
So we're just gonna pick hisbrain and see what Bill After
(15:14):
knows.
And uh, like I said, it's it'stop secret, and he does know a
lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (15:19):
And by the way, as I mentioned, he'll be coming onto
the show.
Uh, when he does come onto theshow, and I again I think this
is next week, so start gettingsome questions.
Uh just rock them around in yourhead a little bit because if
there's something you alwayswanted to know, but you've never
heard the answer to and youthink Bill might know, ask him
the question.
SPEAKER_01 (15:37):
You never could get interviews with people that
nobody else would talk to.
Yes, they wouldn't even talk tonobody but Bill.
SPEAKER_00 (15:45):
And a lot of the guys, too, uh Teddy, and I hear
him say this all the time if itweren't for Bill After and the
Aptor mags during the time thathe was over there, they wouldn't
be the stars that they werebecause it was the magazine and
Bill that helped get their faceout there.
I mean, can you can you imaginetoday having somebody that uh,
(16:06):
you know, you you the onlyoutlet in your sport is a
magazine and you know the topguy.
And how are you not going totake advantage of somebody and
and say, Man, I'd appreciateyour friendship.
You helped me, I'll help you.
Let's see what we can do.
And he did that for so manypeople, which is why he's become
so legendary.
(16:26):
So we look forward to havingBill after on the show soon.
Uh, but Shelby in NorthCarolina, your question was uh
SmackDown dropped below onemillion views last week.
Lowest numbers in history.
What does WWE need to do to getthe fans to come back?
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
And Teddy, you pretty much answer that, but
yeah, I just keep I I don't knowwhat what they need to do.
It's like I say, it's just I youyou know, if you put people in
positions, then you know yougotta give them some leadway to
make the people believe thatthey're really that guy.
And like I said, the authorityfigures there now.
SPEAKER_00 (17:05):
Those both of those guys are great, uh Nick and uh
Nick and uh oh man, if youhaven't scrap, what's that guy,
Lee?
SPEAKER_01 (17:15):
I can forget his name every time, too, man.
But anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (17:19):
Adam Pierce.
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
Adam Pierce.
They are great guys, you know,but I I need to see some real
authoritism.
You know what I mean?
You know what I when I came, youknow, that though the the thing
that really got me over was whenI said, okay, that's so that's
how it's gonna be.
Well, I tell you what, tonight,one-on-one, you know what I
mean?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
So and I thought about that just recently, Teddy,
because Nick Aldous uh was inthe back in one of these recent
SmackDown shows, I'm sayingwithin the last month.
Um, and Sammy uh Zane was stillthe champion.
And he went up to Nick and Nicksays, All right, I just need you
to calm down.
We're not having a matchtonight.
(17:59):
I will not do a match tonight,blah, blah, blah.
And Sammy says, Oh, yes, we are.
I'm going to the ring right now.
It felt to me like they cut himoff.
You know what I'm saying?
They kind of neutered him rightthere.
It's like he is the GM of yourprogram, and the talent is
telling the GM what they'regonna do.
In fact, if you go back and lookat a lot of those shows, he
(18:22):
didn't even have matches linedup.
They were making them on the inthe back all through the night.
It's like a real GM would havehad his lineup, he would have
known what his show consistedof, and he would have stuck to
it, and the storyline would havereflected that in the authority
of that figure.
That does not exist.
And I agree with you 100% whenit comes to the general matters
(18:42):
of the two shows.
They do not have that realauthority where you buy what
they say, and so does the text.
SPEAKER_01 (18:50):
Where you believe it.
SPEAKER_00 (18:51):
Yes, yeah.
All right, uh, question numbertwo is Michael in South
Carolina.
He wants to know do you thinkVince McMahon will be at John
Cena's final match?
There's a lot of rumors goingaround, people suggesting that
he will be.
Uh, Teddy, do you think so?
SPEAKER_01 (19:10):
Well, I don't know.
You never know.
Um, I mean, him and Cena, youknow, they they were they were
real good friends.
And uh at the birthday party,Cena was one of the guys that
was there at the table with me.
So uh I I I wouldn't count itout.
I mean, you know, Vince, he hehas to he has to come back
somewhere.
SPEAKER_00 (19:28):
Yeah, I just don't know if it that I would let him
come back at that point.
If I'm him, I'd want to comeback at that point.
He doesn't need it, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (19:35):
Well, um you don't have to do nothing with him if
he comes back, but maybe if hecomes back, you just show he's
there, you know, to support Cenaor something like that, and
that's it.
SPEAKER_00 (19:43):
Yeah, unless there's bad blood between uh Vince and
some of those at uh WWE, then hemay just say, Well, I'm not
gonna help you.
Why should I?
I mean, I'm removing me from mycompany.
Why would I come help you?
Well, I mean, because you know,the Vince McMahon that I know in
the stories I've heard, I don'tknow that he would go shake
hands with somebody who bit him,you know, and and be polite
(20:05):
about it, especially if it'sonly gonna help them and not,
you know, not him himself.
Oh, maybe you know what I'msaying, though.
Pretty flassy lady in heresaying they need interesting
storylines and real charactersagain.
That's a start, and it isreality.
Uh, you you've got to be able tobelieve what you're seeing on
(20:25):
screen, and that's something Ithink that screams a lot of
times.
We I I love a lot of the talentin WWE.
This is not a knock on thetalent by any means, and they're
talents to do what they do inthe ring.
But some people when when I seeNaya Jax in the ring, and you
got somebody that's about aquarter of her size, you know,
(20:48):
come on.
You know, that you take thebelievability right out of it,
you know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:52):
But you gotta look at it like this.
There are no girls, you know,that's her size.
There do no though, there'sreally no girls out there that's
her size.
So when you got her that big asshe is, and with a smaller
opponent, then that opponentneeds to work like she's small.
She's fucking little, then worklike a little.
You just bump around.
Ain't really nothing you can do.
(21:13):
You can try to get a few punchesin, but now you don't sell that.
She's you know what I mean.
Look at her and then you know,take her down, you know.
So just you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00 (21:21):
That you can work it smart, I agree with that.
But if you're coming out and andlet's say Nia Jax, we all know
how big Nia Jax is, and I'm justgonna say you know, a name, and
and you'll understand, BeckyLynch.
She comes out to the ring andshe's rocking like this, like
she's just the baddest bitchyou've ever seen.
Nia Jax is up in that ring, andyou look like somebody who's
(21:44):
just about to get smeared allover that ring, and that in
reality is what people expect tosee.
So that's that's good heat.
Yeah.
So, all right, so let's see.
Rough cut.
Well, let's see.
Uh there it goes.
Rough cut.
Rick Ruby, good to have you inhere, Rick.
NXT evolved, and TNA is whereit's at to see intriguing
(22:05):
wrestling in ring stories.
I said what I said.
Hey man, look, uh, there's a lotof these shows.
Uh, and I even made a commentabout this.
Teddy, I know you've been on theindependence uh working, and
there's a lot of talent and alot of uh people out there that
are just as entertaining as whatyou see on TV.
And in some cases, maybe evenmore creative than what you see
(22:28):
on TV.
Would you agree with that,Teddy?
SPEAKER_01 (22:30):
Yes, I would.
I then uh there's a guy now thatuh I started when I was out, and
you and I was out in Texas withSWE uh Matt Castellano.
I don't know whether youremember him, but he's over now
with uh Booker with uh Booker Twith Reality of Wrestling.
And I always told him, God damnit, you cut the best promos in
the world.
And I and I saw him on a promouh with reality of wrestling,
(22:53):
and he's doing real good there.
I sent him over there to seeBook Man, and he's a they could
now they could use him, but theywon't give people like that a
chance.
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
That that's a shame.
Max, uh, I remember himspecifically.
Uh he was one of the very few.
He's a friend of mine onFacebook.
He is one of the very few fromthat time.
Man, he had everything.
You could look at him.
He was TV ready when I met him.
He has that look.
He's the the girls will lovehim.
SPEAKER_01 (23:18):
Uh we did some good stuff, man.
Remember where we had him blindand he did the way blinds the
guy with Cloroxy through it.
Oh man, we did good stuff there,man.
SPEAKER_00 (23:28):
Yeah, he's just just great talent.
So I'm glad to hear that.
SPEAKER_01 (23:31):
Yeah, Mass Casalano there.
He's with reality arresting,man.
Great guy.
SPEAKER_00 (23:36):
Very cool.
E Money.
I'm sorry, C Money.
Holla holla.
Holla back at you, C Money.
All right, so we got a few moreminutes here.
Charlton in New Jersey ask.
I'm looking at the uh thechoices and the questions here
going, huh?
I don't know.
Uh, who is the better booker andyou have to rank one to three?
(24:00):
In other words, uh, numberthree, and the one being your
favorite.
Okay.
So let's start from the back.
Uh who's your third?
I can already tell you what thisis gonna be.
Who is your third choice when itcomes to bookers?
Vince McMahon, Triple H, or TonyKhan?
Vince.
No, no, Vince would be yournumber one, I would imagine,
right?
(24:21):
Well, yeah.
Oh, okay.
All right, so we know now Vinceis your number one, who's your
number two?
SPEAKER_01 (24:27):
Uh well, I don't know anything about Tony Khan,
so I've had the opportunity towork with Hunter for a little
bit, so I would say uh Triple H.
SPEAKER_00 (24:35):
All right.
Between this is where it getstricky, between Vince McMahon
and Triple H, who's the betterbooker overall?
Vince McMahon.
I agree with that.
Totally agree with that.
That's that that was a goodquestion.
Samantha on Facebook writes, doyou believe we will ever see
wrestling reach the heightsagain of the attitude era?
SPEAKER_01 (24:58):
Well, yeah, you're gonna have to change power.
That's that's that's what'sgoing on right now.
You know, that the the powerneeds to change, you know.
People need to come into thesport now that a younger mind
and kind of know what the whatwhat the 20th century is all
about.
So uh I think once you know wethey do that and just start up
(25:19):
start new, bring fresh people inand stuff, you know, I think
things might, you know, work outthen.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
I was doing a uh one of the other shows that I do uh
with uh a talent uh and when wewere talking about that, the
suggestion, and this is VinceRusso was the other person, he
has suggested that there arethere are like four people that
really need to go that are inthe top positions really within
the company uh creatively thathe feels like as long as they're
(25:46):
there, nothing's gonna change.
Is that kind of what you'resaying, Teddy?
That that some of the old guardeventually needs to kind of fade
away and let the younger guystake over?
SPEAKER_01 (25:54):
Well, you have to bring in the young mind, you
know what I mean?
And like I said, people in thisbusiness, you have to learn when
to take the cape off.
And a lot of guys don't knowwhen to take the cape off, and
it's really sad.
SPEAKER_00 (26:05):
Yeah.
I just cracking me up.
Rough cut, Rick Ruby.
Uh, we were talking about thebest bookers, and he says, You
mean Dave Meltzer is not in themix?
So Dave Meltzer would not be inthat mix.
Uh, let's see, and uh let's see.
Also, C Money is saying thatVince is not just number one,
but he's number two and numberthree.
I I can't argue that either.
(26:26):
I really can't.
Uh, he's also saying that weneed wrestlers who work.
We can't see through.
Nobody throws a good workingpunch anymore.
Uh, and that's true.
It's because I think nowadays,Teddy, and correct me if I'm
wrong, these guys, they theykind of act like yeah, we don't
have to get as close and be asas tough because people know
(26:47):
it's not real.
SPEAKER_01 (26:49):
Well, what I think really needs to happen now, you
know, you got so much going on.
I think they need to designateone guy, just one guy to watch
every match.
And one veteran guy, got guythat knows what he's what he's
doing and what he's talkingabout.
And each match he watches, andhe's like when a guy don't sell,
he calls him to get on him rightthen.
(27:10):
Just as soon as he comes backthrough that curtain, you get on
his ass right there.
And I don't think that'shappening now.
Somebody, some of the agents maybe saying something to him, but
you know, you're not lettingthem know the importance of
selling.
That's what's gonna draw yourmoney.
Okay, so I I designate one guy,and he has to be a badass.
So let the guy know, hey, thisain't how it goes, this is
(27:31):
fucking how it goes.
And maybe you might punch him.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Did you feel that?
Okay, to you know, give him aworking punch, but guys that
know how to work, they can theycan go there, you know, and not
hurt you.
SPEAKER_00 (27:42):
Oh, yeah.
Look, get a lot of guys, ifthere's not any real contact of
sorts, then you're probably notthrowing the bunch like you
ought to be.
It's almost like a I don't knowhow to explain it.
Don't even know that I want toexplain it, but I will say that
uh it's not that difficult.
And if you even if you do hitsomeone harder than you expect
(28:03):
to hit them, you're not gonnatear their head off.
You're not gonna knock them outif you're smart.
And the fans are gonna believeit more if they see that
contact, and they will if theysee you six inches away from the
guy's face.
And then they're gonna go, uh,that takes me straight out of a
match.
Because a lot of times, some ofthe best matches are places
where we think there islegitimate heat between the two
(28:25):
wrestlers behind the scenes.
Not that it's part of thestoryline, but it's part of the
behind the scenes element thateverybody talks about all the
time.
And you find out, oh, this guydoesn't like this guy, and now
they're working together.
I mean, I bet they're gonnathrow some heavy punches in this
thing.
That's what I want to see.
I don't want to see a six-inchseparation between their face
and the fist.
(28:45):
I want to see contact because Iwant to believe what they are
telling me in the ring.
That's just me.
All right, Teddy, we're out oftime.
I'm gonna get off my soapbox.
Who are we gonna go to tonightfor a t-shirt from Road Trip
After Hours?
SPEAKER_01 (28:58):
Uh, we'll send it to whatever the gentleman's name
there asks me something aboutSmackDown.
SPEAKER_00 (29:04):
Uh okay, that is uh actually uh Shelby.
This is awful.
I don't know if that's a guy ora girl, but Shelby.
Uh my band.
But we'll uh we'll get that outto you.
Uh I will get in touch with youabout the uh contact
information.
We'll send it out.
All we ask is that you justsimply put it on, take a picture
or send it back to us, and we'llthrow it up on the screen when
we get those.
(29:25):
Anything else you need to talkabout, Teddy, before we get out
of here.
SPEAKER_01 (29:28):
No, I think I'm good.
Oh, I'm gonna be in uh Buffalo,New York on uh November 21st.
Yeah.
Um big uh meet and greet.
I'm gonna be there then as a bigwrestling show.
So uh I'll give you moreinformation on it as uh time
goes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:43):
That sounds good.
I got it uh to get up in themorning now and go film for uh
that TV deal that I'm doing.
And I'm gonna be a rodeo clown.
SPEAKER_01 (29:52):
That's good.
That's really good.
I don't know who's doing thisstuff, but tell them tell them I
like them.
They're giving you the right.
That's great.
SPEAKER_00 (30:02):
They're gonna have me out there with the damn bull,
scaring the hell out of me.
I can see it coming.
Yeah, I wouldn't be this.
This may be the last show we do.
We never know.
I'm out of here.
I'm Mac Davis, your host, andthat of course is WWE Hall of
Famer, Teddy Long.
And this has been Road TripAfter Hours.
We'll see you again nextThursday night, seven o'clock
(30:22):
live Eastern time.
Alain
And we're back with an all-new road trip after hours
live on a Thursday night.
I'm your host, Mack Davis, andof course, with me right here is
WWE Hall of Famer, Mr.
Teddy Long.
Hey Teddy.
SPEAKER_01 (00:33):
Hey, I just want to say uh that's a great interest.
Uh you changed things up, and uhthat was really nice.
I could sit back and watch theopening, and I really enjoyed
that.
So, you know, if you can justmake me comfortable like that,
I'd appreciate it.
Because I'm always nervous withyou.
I really am.
I never know what you're gonnado.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
No, you don't.
You're absolutely correct.
Yeah, there's a bunch ofactually, Teddy.
I look back today uh throughsome of our older uh openings
that we used in the early daysof the uh the show when we were
doing the podcast.
Oh man, there's some I gottabring those back.
This there's some really goodones in there, uh, especially
the early ones where uh we'redriving down the road and
(01:12):
there's smoke coming out thewindows, and yeah, yeah.
We gotta have a little throwbackto some of those things.
You know, just before we got onair, Teddy, I want to kind of
say this publicly because uhthis is kind of funny to me, but
you were talking about you'regonna go to uh your lady
friend's house, Miss Denise, uh,for Thanksgiving, and she was
asking you about dinner.
Uh first of all, what did youask for?
(01:34):
What do you want for thatThanksgiving meal?
SPEAKER_01 (01:37):
Well, we were talking about the turkey, and I
was explaining uh that, but Ireally didn't want that.
I wanted uh those reels that shemade that uh last time.
I brother, I ain't never in mylife had any reels that did just
fall off the bone.
I mean, it wasn't tough.
I I mean it's just like eatingcandy or something, man.
It's unreal.
So I said that, and then sheasked me about the sweet part,
(02:00):
and I told her, I said, Well,you know, banana pudding, I I um
you got me hooked on that.
So uh we were we were talkingabout that today, uh, just
before I called you and we goton the air here.
We were talking me and her weretalking about the banana
pudding.
SPEAKER_00 (02:12):
And I know you were telling her you that you've got
to be careful because you don'teat like this all the time.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
And oh, she she brings me a lot on a plate, too,
you know.
And I have to let her know, youknow, Denise, you know, but you
know, she just wants to makesure I got enough food and she
likes to feed me.
SPEAKER_00 (02:26):
So uh I've seen you in catering before at some of
these uh independent shows, andand Teddy says he doesn't eat
much, but Teddy he eats a littlebit, but he eats a little bit
all day throughout the day.
So it's never he's never younever catch Teddy actually
gouging himself with food.
That I've never seen thathappen, except for the dog.
SPEAKER_01 (02:47):
I I do sit down, you know, when I prayed when I was
going to Cater, and I sit downwhen I first got the TV and I'd
eat a little bit of meal there,but then back and forth ripped
and running, I'd slap bycatering, pick up something,
she's snacking.
SPEAKER_00 (03:01):
I I was also uh mentioning to you that uh my
wife, when when I first met mywife, we'll get into wrestling
in just a second.
When I first met her, you know,women are are really smart, they
know how to how to catch a manif if that's what they're
wanting to do, simply by youfeed his belly with good food.
Man, you you got a guy that thatyou that's the easiest way to
(03:21):
get a guy, really.
It is if you're trying to getone of us, all you got to do is
prepare a good meal, good foodthat you took time with in love
with.
Oh, and we couldn't ask foranything better.
Well, maybe one or two otherthings, but you know, uh that
that's beside the point.
Hey, look, uh Teddy, I mentionedthis, uh, and people have
probably seen the thumbnail, uh,where Vince McMahon uh is in the
(03:45):
image and it's uh is he gonna bedoing a tell-all?
JBL, your buddy JBL has recentlysaid that he believes a book, a
tell-all book, and he means hesays no punches pulled will come
out within the next two years,if not sooner.
(04:06):
Does that surprise you?
SPEAKER_01 (04:09):
Well, what's what's the tell all book about?
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
Well, it's is it's Vince McMahon giving his uh his
view on all the things,nothing's held back.
JBL when he talked about thishonestly, it felt like he knew a
lot more than he was giving into say if he's if he's speaking
on it, then he does know a lotmore than my guess.
Yeah, so and he's he's sayingit's gonna be a tell-off book,
(04:36):
it's gonna be one of the bestbooks ever written, is what he
is along those lines.
I'm just kind of paraphrasinghim, but well, he believes this
is gonna be a just huge, hugebook.
SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
Yeah, I well, I believe that too.
You know, uh, like I said, uh,Vince is the creator, he he's
the man that created all this.
And uh for him to you know tellit all, uh, you know, I don't
think he'll go into a whole lotof stuff, but I believe he'll
give us enough, you know, to tolet you know how he started and
you know how did how he mademoney and how he did different
(05:06):
ideas and you know how he madeit work.
So uh that's gonna beinteresting.
I'm I'm I'd I'd I'd like to readthat myself, and I'm not a
reader.
SPEAKER_00 (05:14):
Yeah, and I think anybody, you know, most people
know who Vince McMahon is, uh,you know, if it's through
wrestling or throughentertainment or if it's through
you know the latest news thatgot him all in trouble.
Uh, most people know the nameVince McMahon.
And one of my favorite thingsthat when I watch something like
on uh Netflix or you know, oneof those channels, I'm looking
(05:36):
more times than not fordocumentaries because I like
learning about people and andand what made them tick and
stuff like that.
Vince McMahon, man, to reallyget a look at what what he says
right from the man about hislife, I think would be
incredibly interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (05:52):
And like I said, he's he's he's he's gonna be
truthful with you.
You know what I mean?
Uh you know, he knows what tosay and what not to say.
So, you know, that's like Isaid, that's gonna be
interesting to uh really see theother side of him, you know what
I mean.
Uh that's one thing I wished Icould have done.
I wished I could have traveledwith him, you know, and spent a
lot more time with him than Idid when I was at TV and at
(06:13):
work.
Because I've understood whenyou're with him, you gotta
learn.
You're learning while you'rearound him.
And that's what I know I had todo in order to stay around.
I got to learn how to play thisgame.
So I just wished I'd have hadmore time with him than he.
But he gave me enough of histime and know, and he let me
know in a lot of different ways,you know, where I stood.
And you know what I mean.
So I I appreciate that.
(06:34):
And like I said, if it wasn'tfor him, we I wouldn't be doing
the podcast here with you today.
SPEAKER_00 (06:39):
You know, I'd be curious to find out too what he
has to say about the entire uhthing of him being, you know,
selling the company, then kindof being booted from the
company.
I I would imagine it again, uhJBL made this sound like this is
going to be a tell-all book.
You see, he's not holding back.
So if that's the case, his takeon what went down would be
(07:02):
extremely interesting because hemay get more involved in some of
the family stuff uh than uh hewas prepared to do.
And now this is an opportunitywhere he can address and tell
his side his truth.
So it'll be interesting.
Uh let's see, Zach Minger uhalready popping in here.
And by the way, if you'd like tobe on today's show, all you got
to do is just pop up a messageon the screen and we'll throw it
(07:25):
up there for you.
Talk about it and uh discussanything that you have or any
questions you might have forTeddy or just wrestling in
general.
Zach Minger.
Hey, Zach, good to have you inhere, my friend.
National Nachos Day, Mac andTeddy.
SPEAKER_01 (07:38):
Well, well, thank you very much, Zach.
Enjoy your National Nachos Day.
SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
Plot twist Jones, Sandy hopes everyone is having a
great day.
Same to you, plot twist.
All right, uh, let me see.
There was one other thing Iwanted to bring up with you, and
I'm trying to think, oh, ticketprices.
We're hearing that uh the ticketprices from Nick Khan uh are
adjusted to what people arewilling to pay today, basically.
(08:05):
But their numbers, Teddy, andwe'll get into this a little bit
more because I think there's aletter about this.
I don't want to get in too deep,but it they've got to do
something when it comes toticket pricing because I'm
afraid that what's gonna what'shappening to them now is what
I've said for a while.
You keep pricing the average fanout of the sport and being able
to come to the show, you'reeventually gonna lose that fan.
(08:30):
And it appears to me that someof the latest trends now for WWE
are showing that that's exactlythe case, and they are losing
that trend.
Um when it comes to wrestlingtoday, Teddy, and I know you
don't watch it every show andyou don't watch tons of it, but
what you do watch, what is itthat you feel is missing in
(08:51):
today's product that needs to beput back in and make things a
little bit more exciting uh thanit is now?
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
Well, I don't know.
I think storylines uh play a bigpart.
And I see them, they'll startsomething and then uh they don't
finish it.
So I don't understand, you know,how am I starting to follow
something and then all of asudden it's not there anymore?
But now here comes somethingbrand new that you want me to
start all over again to see now,okay.
(09:19):
Well, what's gonna happen here?
So it just I don't think they'vethey give storylines a long a
long enough time for the fans todigest and kind of see what's
going on.
Um, I see a lot happening withthe selling.
A lot of guys ain't sellingnothing, man.
I mean, it's uh Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
Uh you know, I was doing a podcast, Teddy, with um
I'm sorry, uh Bob Smith.
Uh you met him uh while we no,you didn't meet him.
You weren't there.
I'm sorry.
That was in New York.
Anyway, he used to work withBill Actor and PWI, and we were
talking about uh how peopledon't sell in the fact that
finishers are not real finishersanymore.
(09:59):
I I still say, name me onefinisher that somebody has not
kicked out of or you know,lifted their whatever, you know,
and I don't think anybody can.
I don't think there is afinisher.
It used to be Teddy.
Let's say uh your finisher wasthe you know uh a DDT.
You spent the entire matchworking up to getting that DDT
(10:21):
on your opponent, did you not?
SPEAKER_01 (10:23):
Well, you made the be you made the people wait on
it, yeah.
And you had that and you hadthat signal right there when it
was time for it, you gave it,and the people knew it, and
they're all right.
Here it comes.
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
Yep, yep.
See, that's the part that Ithink that that we're getting so
worried about the match beingexciting and being longer that
they all become the same kind ofmatch.
Everybody's kicking out of thefinishers left and right at the
end, or somebody's running inand causing some kind of problem
at the end of the match.
It needs to go back to being avery simple product where you
(10:54):
just go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
It'll it'll never do that.
Uh you know what I mean?
They're gone now, they're outthere now.
So, like I said, the only thingI think is just too much.
You know what I mean?
Golly, how much wrestling canyou see and watch?
You know what I mean?
So uh not saying cut cut nothingout, but just you know, kind of
trim it down a little bit, putmore time into some storylines
(11:16):
that you know that's gonna workfor you, that's gonna draw
money, put some time into that,you know what I mean?
And yeah, yeah, I I don't know.
I I really I think they just gotso much going on, man, to
they're just going day to day.
SPEAKER_00 (11:27):
Yeah, and you know, and I understand they have to
create a lot of content, andthat's the big thing.
You gotta have content, sothey're gonna churn out that
content, and quality in somecases gets lost because you're
producing too much content.
But I blame that on WWE, though,Teddy, because if you know
that's a problem, then hire morepeople or do what you gotta do
(11:48):
to adjust so the quality of theproduct does not go down in the
process.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, that's just me.
Uh, let's see, Curly Man, by theway.
I saw you pop up here.
I'm gonna throw you up in hereagain.
Uh, curly man, good to see youin here saying hello, Teddy and
Mac.
Curly man, hello, player.
And of course, uh, we have ourlovely, pretty classy lady
popping in again tonight.
Good to see you, Mac and Teddy.
SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
All right, how are you, young lady?
SPEAKER_00 (12:12):
I'm sure she's doing good.
And Teddy, uh, by the way, uh,we're gonna have a special guest
with us.
I'm thinking it's gonna be nextweek.
Uh, hopefully that's the case.
Uh, normally on Tuesday nights,and this was weird this week
because normally you and I, wetalk twice a week on Tuesday
night and a Thursday night.
Well, this past Tuesday, wedidn't do our recording that we
(12:32):
normally do with Bill after onSports Kita's uh wrestle bench
because they're shutting thatchannel down.
And uh so we didn't get any timetogether.
So Bill's gonna stop by and he'sgonna be a part of the show uh
every so often here on Road TripAfter Hours, and he'll be uh
coming in to join us.
But in the meantime, just togive you an idea of what Bill's
(12:52):
got coming up, it was all fromthe brains of Teddy, and this is
coming to one wrestlingvideo.com.
(14:28):
And Teddy, the first one uh inshelter phone.
Go ahead, uh Teddy.
SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
Let me say this before you get started.
Uh, that thing you were doingwith Bill now.
Uh I'm glad he thought aboutthat because I mean, golly, you
got here's Bill Aptor.
The guy, excuse me, the guy'sbeen around 50 years, just as
long as me.
He's talked to everybody in theworld of professional wrestling.
(14:53):
Some people he's talked to aredead and gone.
So Bill After knows stuff thatwe probably may never know
unless he reveals it.
So he knows a lot of secrets,and he's talked with a lot of
people that some stuff I know heknows he might not want to tell
it, but maybe it may be time totell it.
So we're just gonna pick hisbrain and see what Bill After
(15:14):
knows.
And uh, like I said, it's it'stop secret, and he does know a
lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (15:19):
And by the way, as I mentioned, he'll be coming onto
the show.
Uh, when he does come onto theshow, and I again I think this
is next week, so start gettingsome questions.
Uh just rock them around in yourhead a little bit because if
there's something you alwayswanted to know, but you've never
heard the answer to and youthink Bill might know, ask him
the question.
SPEAKER_01 (15:37):
You never could get interviews with people that
nobody else would talk to.
Yes, they wouldn't even talk tonobody but Bill.
SPEAKER_00 (15:45):
And a lot of the guys, too, uh Teddy, and I hear
him say this all the time if itweren't for Bill After and the
Aptor mags during the time thathe was over there, they wouldn't
be the stars that they werebecause it was the magazine and
Bill that helped get their faceout there.
I mean, can you can you imaginetoday having somebody that uh,
(16:06):
you know, you you the onlyoutlet in your sport is a
magazine and you know the topguy.
And how are you not going totake advantage of somebody and
and say, Man, I'd appreciateyour friendship.
You helped me, I'll help you.
Let's see what we can do.
And he did that for so manypeople, which is why he's become
so legendary.
(16:26):
So we look forward to havingBill after on the show soon.
Uh, but Shelby in NorthCarolina, your question was uh
SmackDown dropped below onemillion views last week.
Lowest numbers in history.
What does WWE need to do to getthe fans to come back?
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
And Teddy, you pretty much answer that, but
yeah, I just keep I I don't knowwhat what they need to do.
It's like I say, it's just I youyou know, if you put people in
positions, then you know yougotta give them some leadway to
make the people believe thatthey're really that guy.
And like I said, the authorityfigures there now.
SPEAKER_00 (17:05):
Those both of those guys are great, uh Nick and uh
Nick and uh oh man, if youhaven't scrap, what's that guy,
Lee?
SPEAKER_01 (17:15):
I can forget his name every time, too, man.
But anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (17:19):
Adam Pierce.
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
Adam Pierce.
They are great guys, you know,but I I need to see some real
authoritism.
You know what I mean?
You know what I when I came, youknow, that though the the thing
that really got me over was whenI said, okay, that's so that's
how it's gonna be.
Well, I tell you what, tonight,one-on-one, you know what I
mean?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
So and I thought about that just recently, Teddy,
because Nick Aldous uh was inthe back in one of these recent
SmackDown shows, I'm sayingwithin the last month.
Um, and Sammy uh Zane was stillthe champion.
And he went up to Nick and Nicksays, All right, I just need you
to calm down.
We're not having a matchtonight.
(17:59):
I will not do a match tonight,blah, blah, blah.
And Sammy says, Oh, yes, we are.
I'm going to the ring right now.
It felt to me like they cut himoff.
You know what I'm saying?
They kind of neutered him rightthere.
It's like he is the GM of yourprogram, and the talent is
telling the GM what they'regonna do.
In fact, if you go back and lookat a lot of those shows, he
(18:22):
didn't even have matches linedup.
They were making them on the inthe back all through the night.
It's like a real GM would havehad his lineup, he would have
known what his show consistedof, and he would have stuck to
it, and the storyline would havereflected that in the authority
of that figure.
That does not exist.
And I agree with you 100% whenit comes to the general matters
(18:42):
of the two shows.
They do not have that realauthority where you buy what
they say, and so does the text.
SPEAKER_01 (18:50):
Where you believe it.
SPEAKER_00 (18:51):
Yes, yeah.
All right, uh, question numbertwo is Michael in South
Carolina.
He wants to know do you thinkVince McMahon will be at John
Cena's final match?
There's a lot of rumors goingaround, people suggesting that
he will be.
Uh, Teddy, do you think so?
SPEAKER_01 (19:10):
Well, I don't know.
You never know.
Um, I mean, him and Cena, youknow, they they were they were
real good friends.
And uh at the birthday party,Cena was one of the guys that
was there at the table with me.
So uh I I I wouldn't count itout.
I mean, you know, Vince, he hehas to he has to come back
somewhere.
SPEAKER_00 (19:28):
Yeah, I just don't know if it that I would let him
come back at that point.
If I'm him, I'd want to comeback at that point.
He doesn't need it, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (19:35):
Well, um you don't have to do nothing with him if
he comes back, but maybe if hecomes back, you just show he's
there, you know, to support Cenaor something like that, and
that's it.
SPEAKER_00 (19:43):
Yeah, unless there's bad blood between uh Vince and
some of those at uh WWE, then hemay just say, Well, I'm not
gonna help you.
Why should I?
I mean, I'm removing me from mycompany.
Why would I come help you?
Well, I mean, because you know,the Vince McMahon that I know in
the stories I've heard, I don'tknow that he would go shake
hands with somebody who bit him,you know, and and be polite
(20:05):
about it, especially if it'sonly gonna help them and not,
you know, not him himself.
Oh, maybe you know what I'msaying, though.
Pretty flassy lady in heresaying they need interesting
storylines and real charactersagain.
That's a start, and it isreality.
Uh, you you've got to be able tobelieve what you're seeing on
(20:25):
screen, and that's something Ithink that screams a lot of
times.
We I I love a lot of the talentin WWE.
This is not a knock on thetalent by any means, and they're
talents to do what they do inthe ring.
But some people when when I seeNaya Jax in the ring, and you
got somebody that's about aquarter of her size, you know,
(20:48):
come on.
You know, that you take thebelievability right out of it,
you know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:52):
But you gotta look at it like this.
There are no girls, you know,that's her size.
There do no though, there'sreally no girls out there that's
her size.
So when you got her that big asshe is, and with a smaller
opponent, then that opponentneeds to work like she's small.
She's fucking little, then worklike a little.
You just bump around.
Ain't really nothing you can do.
(21:13):
You can try to get a few punchesin, but now you don't sell that.
She's you know what I mean.
Look at her and then you know,take her down, you know.
So just you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00 (21:21):
That you can work it smart, I agree with that.
But if you're coming out and andlet's say Nia Jax, we all know
how big Nia Jax is, and I'm justgonna say you know, a name, and
and you'll understand, BeckyLynch.
She comes out to the ring andshe's rocking like this, like
she's just the baddest bitchyou've ever seen.
Nia Jax is up in that ring, andyou look like somebody who's
(21:44):
just about to get smeared allover that ring, and that in
reality is what people expect tosee.
So that's that's good heat.
Yeah.
So, all right, so let's see.
Rough cut.
Well, let's see.
Uh there it goes.
Rough cut.
Rick Ruby, good to have you inhere, Rick.
NXT evolved, and TNA is whereit's at to see intriguing
(22:05):
wrestling in ring stories.
I said what I said.
Hey man, look, uh, there's a lotof these shows.
Uh, and I even made a commentabout this.
Teddy, I know you've been on theindependence uh working, and
there's a lot of talent and alot of uh people out there that
are just as entertaining as whatyou see on TV.
And in some cases, maybe evenmore creative than what you see
(22:28):
on TV.
Would you agree with that,Teddy?
SPEAKER_01 (22:30):
Yes, I would.
I then uh there's a guy now thatuh I started when I was out, and
you and I was out in Texas withSWE uh Matt Castellano.
I don't know whether youremember him, but he's over now
with uh Booker with uh Booker Twith Reality of Wrestling.
And I always told him, God damnit, you cut the best promos in
the world.
And I and I saw him on a promouh with reality of wrestling,
(22:53):
and he's doing real good there.
I sent him over there to seeBook Man, and he's a they could
now they could use him, but theywon't give people like that a
chance.
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
That that's a shame.
Max, uh, I remember himspecifically.
Uh he was one of the very few.
He's a friend of mine onFacebook.
He is one of the very few fromthat time.
Man, he had everything.
You could look at him.
He was TV ready when I met him.
He has that look.
He's the the girls will lovehim.
SPEAKER_01 (23:18):
Uh we did some good stuff, man.
Remember where we had him blindand he did the way blinds the
guy with Cloroxy through it.
Oh man, we did good stuff there,man.
SPEAKER_00 (23:28):
Yeah, he's just just great talent.
So I'm glad to hear that.
SPEAKER_01 (23:31):
Yeah, Mass Casalano there.
He's with reality arresting,man.
Great guy.
SPEAKER_00 (23:36):
Very cool.
E Money.
I'm sorry, C Money.
Holla holla.
Holla back at you, C Money.
All right, so we got a few moreminutes here.
Charlton in New Jersey ask.
I'm looking at the uh thechoices and the questions here
going, huh?
I don't know.
Uh, who is the better booker andyou have to rank one to three?
(24:00):
In other words, uh, numberthree, and the one being your
favorite.
Okay.
So let's start from the back.
Uh who's your third?
I can already tell you what thisis gonna be.
Who is your third choice when itcomes to bookers?
Vince McMahon, Triple H, or TonyKhan?
Vince.
No, no, Vince would be yournumber one, I would imagine,
right?
(24:21):
Well, yeah.
Oh, okay.
All right, so we know now Vinceis your number one, who's your
number two?
SPEAKER_01 (24:27):
Uh well, I don't know anything about Tony Khan,
so I've had the opportunity towork with Hunter for a little
bit, so I would say uh Triple H.
SPEAKER_00 (24:35):
All right.
Between this is where it getstricky, between Vince McMahon
and Triple H, who's the betterbooker overall?
Vince McMahon.
I agree with that.
Totally agree with that.
That's that that was a goodquestion.
Samantha on Facebook writes, doyou believe we will ever see
wrestling reach the heightsagain of the attitude era?
SPEAKER_01 (24:58):
Well, yeah, you're gonna have to change power.
That's that's that's what'sgoing on right now.
You know, that the the powerneeds to change, you know.
People need to come into thesport now that a younger mind
and kind of know what the whatwhat the 20th century is all
about.
So uh I think once you know wethey do that and just start up
(25:19):
start new, bring fresh people inand stuff, you know, I think
things might, you know, work outthen.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
I was doing a uh one of the other shows that I do uh
with uh a talent uh and when wewere talking about that, the
suggestion, and this is VinceRusso was the other person, he
has suggested that there arethere are like four people that
really need to go that are inthe top positions really within
the company uh creatively thathe feels like as long as they're
(25:46):
there, nothing's gonna change.
Is that kind of what you'resaying, Teddy?
That that some of the old guardeventually needs to kind of fade
away and let the younger guystake over?
SPEAKER_01 (25:54):
Well, you have to bring in the young mind, you
know what I mean?
And like I said, people in thisbusiness, you have to learn when
to take the cape off.
And a lot of guys don't knowwhen to take the cape off, and
it's really sad.
SPEAKER_00 (26:05):
Yeah.
I just cracking me up.
Rough cut, Rick Ruby.
Uh, we were talking about thebest bookers, and he says, You
mean Dave Meltzer is not in themix?
So Dave Meltzer would not be inthat mix.
Uh, let's see, and uh let's see.
Also, C Money is saying thatVince is not just number one,
but he's number two and numberthree.
I I can't argue that either.
(26:26):
I really can't.
Uh, he's also saying that weneed wrestlers who work.
We can't see through.
Nobody throws a good workingpunch anymore.
Uh, and that's true.
It's because I think nowadays,Teddy, and correct me if I'm
wrong, these guys, they theykind of act like yeah, we don't
have to get as close and be asas tough because people know
(26:47):
it's not real.
SPEAKER_01 (26:49):
Well, what I think really needs to happen now, you
know, you got so much going on.
I think they need to designateone guy, just one guy to watch
every match.
And one veteran guy, got guythat knows what he's what he's
doing and what he's talkingabout.
And each match he watches, andhe's like when a guy don't sell,
he calls him to get on him rightthen.
(27:10):
Just as soon as he comes backthrough that curtain, you get on
his ass right there.
And I don't think that'shappening now.
Somebody, some of the agents maybe saying something to him, but
you know, you're not lettingthem know the importance of
selling.
That's what's gonna draw yourmoney.
Okay, so I I designate one guy,and he has to be a badass.
So let the guy know, hey, thisain't how it goes, this is
(27:31):
fucking how it goes.
And maybe you might punch him.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Did you feel that?
Okay, to you know, give him aworking punch, but guys that
know how to work, they can theycan go there, you know, and not
hurt you.
SPEAKER_00 (27:42):
Oh, yeah.
Look, get a lot of guys, ifthere's not any real contact of
sorts, then you're probably notthrowing the bunch like you
ought to be.
It's almost like a I don't knowhow to explain it.
Don't even know that I want toexplain it, but I will say that
uh it's not that difficult.
And if you even if you do hitsomeone harder than you expect
(28:03):
to hit them, you're not gonnatear their head off.
You're not gonna knock them outif you're smart.
And the fans are gonna believeit more if they see that
contact, and they will if theysee you six inches away from the
guy's face.
And then they're gonna go, uh,that takes me straight out of a
match.
Because a lot of times, some ofthe best matches are places
where we think there islegitimate heat between the two
(28:25):
wrestlers behind the scenes.
Not that it's part of thestoryline, but it's part of the
behind the scenes element thateverybody talks about all the
time.
And you find out, oh, this guydoesn't like this guy, and now
they're working together.
I mean, I bet they're gonnathrow some heavy punches in this
thing.
That's what I want to see.
I don't want to see a six-inchseparation between their face
and the fist.
(28:45):
I want to see contact because Iwant to believe what they are
telling me in the ring.
That's just me.
All right, Teddy, we're out oftime.
I'm gonna get off my soapbox.
Who are we gonna go to tonightfor a t-shirt from Road Trip
After Hours?
SPEAKER_01 (28:58):
Uh, we'll send it to whatever the gentleman's name
there asks me something aboutSmackDown.
SPEAKER_00 (29:04):
Uh okay, that is uh actually uh Shelby.
This is awful.
I don't know if that's a guy ora girl, but Shelby.
Uh my band.
But we'll uh we'll get that outto you.
Uh I will get in touch with youabout the uh contact
information.
We'll send it out.
All we ask is that you justsimply put it on, take a picture
or send it back to us, and we'llthrow it up on the screen when
we get those.
(29:25):
Anything else you need to talkabout, Teddy, before we get out
of here.
SPEAKER_01 (29:28):
No, I think I'm good.
Oh, I'm gonna be in uh Buffalo,New York on uh November 21st.
Yeah.
Um big uh meet and greet.
I'm gonna be there then as a bigwrestling show.
So uh I'll give you moreinformation on it as uh time
goes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:43):
That sounds good.
I got it uh to get up in themorning now and go film for uh
that TV deal that I'm doing.
And I'm gonna be a rodeo clown.
SPEAKER_01 (29:52):
That's good.
That's really good.
I don't know who's doing thisstuff, but tell them tell them I
like them.
They're giving you the right.
That's great.
SPEAKER_00 (30:02):
They're gonna have me out there with the damn bull,
scaring the hell out of me.
I can see it coming.
Yeah, I wouldn't be this.
This may be the last show we do.
We never know.
I'm out of here.
I'm Mac Davis, your host, andthat of course is WWE Hall of
Famer, Teddy Long.
And this has been Road TripAfter Hours.
We'll see you again nextThursday night, seven o'clock
(30:22):
live Eastern time.
Alain
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