April 24, 2025 • 53 mins
Dr. Gamology and Marcus dive into the intersection of gaming and wrestling during WrestleMania week, exploring how wrestling has shaped their gaming mindsets and personal growth journeys.
• Dr. Gamology reveals how he subtly incorporated Triple H's entrance theme philosophy into his book "The Gamer's Journey"
• Both hosts share formative childhood wrestling memories, from Royal Rumble pay-per-views to Saturday morning wrestling shows
• Comprehensive breakdown of the WrestleMania 41 match card for both nights
• Analysis of championship storylines including Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair and Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena
• Discussion of wrestler character development and how it parallels gaming personas
• Exploration of how both wrestling and gaming provide fulfilling character journeys and emotional storytelling
Get "The Gamer's Journey" by Dr. Gamology on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or listen to the audiobook version on Audible.
If you would like to support the show and help us unlock additional possibilities for future episodes and projects, this can now be done through Patreon!
You can watch us play games LIVE and join our communities to get more connection from every episode:
- DrGameology on Twitch - Continue the Journey LIVE in 2025!!
- MarcusB814 on YouTube - BOOMBA
Subscribe on YouTube for more content on the Psychology of Gaming or Follow on Twitch to catch the Live Streams!
For more info, check out DrGameology.com!
More Links Here!
Thanks for Listening, and Continue The Journey!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Gaming Persona podcast.
This is the show that exploreswho we become when we play games
, whether you're saving kingdoms, leading epic raids or just
vibing in cozy indie worlds.
Join me, dr Gamology and mygood friend Marcus, as we search
for all the ways gaming andpersonal growth collide.
Grab your controllers and let'scontinue the journey Now.
(00:21):
Continue the journey now.
So, marcus, what do you want totalk about?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Dude, it's the greatest week of the year it's
WrestleMania week, that's true.
You know, I know this is agaming persona podcast.
We're talking about gaming.
Doc's got WWE 2K25 up.
We're here.
Doc and I are huge wrestlingfans, so if you're not a
wrestling fan and that doesn'tinterest you, well, keep
(00:56):
listening, because maybe you'llbecome one by the end.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Marcus, I need to make this about my book.
What else is new?
There is a paragraph in my bookwhere I talk about the
importance of having a gamingmindset.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
All right, and I don't know if you noticed this
when you were reading orlistening, because I think you
did both actually, but I need torun this by you and you tell me
if you picked up on this,because there is a paragraph
with about four or fivesentences where the first
(01:35):
sentence basically says in myown words, without ripping off
other people's words, that lifeis all about the game and how
you play it.
The second sentence is aboutit's all about control and if
you can take it.
The third sentence is literallyabout what you owe people and
(02:01):
what you owe to yourself, andit's all about your debt and if
you can pay it.
And then the last sentence isabout would you like to guess?
No, I'm gonna let you divulge.
It's all about looking at thethings you've done or haven't
done and being able to believein yourself regardless and get
(02:22):
through the pain and give lifethe pain instead of you taking
it.
It's all about the pain andwho's gonna make it all right.
So even in the gamers journey,triple h makes an appearance,
without me ever saying WWE or 2K, because wrestling has been so
(02:50):
formative for me and themindsets that I use to get
through life.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, so I just I love storytelling and I love
when you have a medium thatallows for characters and
stories to become a mythos.
And the World WrestlingEntertainment as an organization
(03:27):
is also a mythos.
It is heroes and villainsfighting on a grandest stage of
them all and giving us feelingsthat we don't get in our
everyday lives, and I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, wrestling has been around for me for a long
time.
And just so, if you guys arenew to the show, you can get the
gamer's journey written by DrGameology at Amazoncom, barnes
and Noble.
Anywhere you can find a book oreven audible, if you like, the
audio version.
Thanks, moving on.
(04:01):
Wrestling's been around for mesince I was a little kid.
I I grew up.
I don't know how I ever watchedit.
I think my mom put it on and Ifell in love with it and I've
(04:21):
always been.
It's kind of sound really hokey, but I've always the country
that I live in, like I alwayshave.
I just am proud.
It's going to sound so cheesyto say proud to be an American
right and forget about what'sgoing on in the world.
That's not.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, exactly, come on, come on.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
You got.
I am a real American RightExactly so Got.
To say your prayers and eatyour Whe am a real American
Right Exactly so got to say yourprayers and eat your Wheaties.
Marcus Right, exactly so.
My point is I fell in love withwrestling as a kid and my
birthday's in at the end ofJanuary, january 31st to be
exact.
And what happens every year inJanuary, the Royal rumble, and
(05:05):
back in the day that shit was 50to pay-per-view and that was my
birthday present much less thanswitch to ladies and gentlemen
much less and I used to say tomy mom my mom would say, marcus,
what do you want for yourbirthday?
royal rumble, mom.
Well, it's a sund, I don't care, I want to stay up until it's
(05:28):
over and I want, that's what Iwant.
She goes.
Do you know how much that costs?
You want Royal rumble, which is$50 pay-per-view over a present
.
Yep, every year that was mybirthday every year for years.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And one refers to royal rumble that you were able
to watch, marcus oh shit, can'tremember.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I think the first one I ever watched was 1989.
I was five.
Okay, the most memorable, Iwould say is 1992.
For me is that rick flair Ican't remember, but I what year
was was 92 survivor series whenthe undertaker first came I
(06:16):
think so that is the mostmemorable moment ever in all of
wrestling for me is when TedDiBiase's team at the Survivor
Series had a mystery guest.
Nobody knew and then the lightswent out and then you saw Paul
Bearer come out ghostly whiteholding an urn.
(06:36):
And then this guy come and youthought the world was ending
Like this guy, like I was alittle kid.
This guy was scary.
He looked like death himselfand then he just took over and I
was like oh my God.
But I digress.
Hulk Hogan was like theAmerican hero to me and I
(07:01):
remember there's a local mallthat had a Sears and when my mom
had to go to the mall onSaturday mornings because I was
a kid, that was the onlywrestling that I got was
Saturday morning wrestling andthat's how I'd watch it every
day.
Don't ask me to do anything.
And if I was leaving, mygrandma would record it on a VCR
(07:21):
tape for me Because she couldfigure out how to do it.
I couldn't, I was a little kid,but we would go to Sears.
This is the world we lived in.
My mom would leave me sittingin front of the TV.
She would have the guy put iton it.
I think she gave the guy fivebucks and I would sit there and
watch wrestling for an hourwhile her she went through the
(07:45):
mall and did her shopping, andthen she would come back and get
me, can?
you imagine if a parent did thatin 2025?
Moving on, so wrestling hasbeen a part of my life, my whole
life.
Sure, I fell out of it duringthe John Cena era, after Stone
Cold and the Rock like I driftedaway.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And that's okay, but I came back Anyway.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So my point to you is we're bringing wrestling, Two
wrestling fans are talking aboutwrestling tonight.
Wrestlemania 41 happens thisweekend, April 19th and 20th I
don't know when you guys arelistening to this and we're
going to break down the card andI'm going to give my prediction
, and he's going to give hisprediction, and once
(08:33):
WrestleMania happens, we'll goover our results.
I don't know if we'll do apodcast about it or not.
We might, but maybe the resultswill be in Discord.
Who knows?
That is unknown.
But maybe the results will bein discord.
Who knows?
That is unknown.
But, doc, do you want me totake lead or do you want to take
lead?
All right, so we'll start atthe bottom of the card.
(08:55):
So we have Ray Mysterio versusEl Grande.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Americano, that's Chad Gable Everybody.
Yeah, which honestly I hopethat El Grande Americano stays
for a long time do you rememberthat hokey storyline where Hulk
Hogan was also dressed like aLucha American and feuding with
(09:21):
Vince McMahon and Vince McMahonwas like this guy's obviously
Hulk Hogan and they did the liedetector test?
Yes, yeah, this is the samestoryline, just 20 years later,
with different wrestlers.
Right, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So, um, anyway, uh, who do you think is going to win
this match?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I think I would love for Chad Gable to win this match
because I think he's going to.
He has a future.
He's much younger than ReyMysterio.
Rey Mysterio is a hall of fameralready.
He's amazing.
He's done a lot for thebusiness in representing
luchadors in WWE and openingdoors for other people.
(10:12):
But Chad Gable is so talentedand at the moments where it was
really a chance for him to breakthrough, they've just
constantly decided to have himlose.
Yeah, I agree, I think heshould have won the
Intercontinental title fromGunther For him to break through
.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
They've just constantly decided to have him
lose.
Yeah, I agree.
I think he should have won theIntercontinental title From
Gunther.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I completely agree yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I think he got the shaft in that, but I'm actually
going to go with Chad Gable andEl Grande Americano Alright.
Second match is Jade CargillVersus Heel.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Naomi.
I think this is pretty obviousthat Jade Cargill is going to
demolish Naomi.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I think Naomi's going to win.
I think that they're going tobring the heel heat and this is
going to carry us further intothe year with naomi and jade do
you think that during the courseof this match, naomi will admit
that the plan was bianca belair's plan?
I hope so, because she's beenbianca, bel air's been wearing
(11:20):
black and she's kind of doingheelish stuff for everybody who
doesn't know.
Wrestling Heel is a bad guy,baby face is a good guy.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Look at you, keeping our audience up with us, and
you're the explainer this time,for the first time ever in my
life, uh-huh.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Okay, next match for night one is the World Tag Team
Championship match.
Okay, next match for night oneis the World Tag Team
Championship match.
The Monday Night War Raidersversus the New Day.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You know, there's been some interesting stuff in
the commentary for all of theWar Raiders versus New Day stuff
where they keep commenting onEric's neck injury and how
improbable it is that he cameback from a neck injury and how
fortunate it is that he has thework ethic and drive to overcome
(12:17):
that injury and become tagchampions and be the war Raiders
again.
And I don't think that's acoincidence, Marcus.
And do you know why?
Tell me why.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Tell me why.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Because Big E had a neck injury which ruined the
trajectory of the New Day and Ifeel like Big E's going to get
involved in this match somehow.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
So I don't know if Big E's neck is better.
I don't know, but I feel likethey wouldn't have put him on
the mat for the 10 yearcelebration and them the new day
shits all over.
Biggie for him to not beinvolved somehow, some way.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And for me I think the war Raiders win.
I don't think.
I think they've kind of flubbedon the new day a little bit,
like they had the crazy heelheat for a while but then they
kind of just let them just dieand it's kind of been dead for a
little while.
Hopefully this picks it up alittle, but I think they botched
the new day a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I think it could have been a lot bigger than it is I
think that there was just achange in direction a few times
in the last four months withwhat they wanted to do with them
, right.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, okay, us Championship match LA Night yeah
versus Jacob Fatu.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I think Jacob Fatu wins this pretty easily and
convincingly.
Everything he does, they reallyhype him up as an unstoppable
monster.
What do you think?
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I'm going with LA night.
I think he's so over with thecrowd.
I think Jacob Fatu needs alittle adversity.
I think solo Sacoa, or as myson calls him, solo Sacoa, um, I
think Solo interferes and costsJacob the match, which will in
(14:30):
turn make the feud build withSolo and Jacob.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
That's a much better story than what I'm expecting,
so I hope that happens.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
But at the same time, I could see Jacob winning,
because why not put a belt onhim?
Speaker 1 (14:45):
he's hot right now yeah, la knight doesn't need
that belt anymore.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
He's, he's grown yeah , he needs, like the world, the
intercontinental championship.
He needs a little more esteemthan the us title.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Those two are supposed to be equal, but
they're not kind of like how theworld heavyweight and the
undisputed are not equal seethose.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Those I think have become more equal because of the
people that have been holdingthe belt in the stories that
they've been telling with it.
But yeah, there's a cleardifference.
You know, the IC to all I thinkabout is sean michaels holding
that intercontinental titlereally he's who you think of for
(15:33):
the intercontinental title, himand brett hart.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
What about the ms?
And I'm chris jericho man no,sean michaels no, I understand.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
No, I understand Watch AEW.
He's there all the time.
Anyway, this is actually a big,big match for me, because I
actually have a lot of feelingsfor this one.
It's the WWE Women'sChampionship match.
We got Tiffy Time TiffanyStratton versus the Android
Charlotte Flair.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Marcus, I swear to to God, our friendship could be on
the verge of falling apart,depending on how you handle this
match.
Okay, you tell me first.
I can't.
I can't speak first.
There's too much.
There's too much stress, okay,so.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do some
explaining first before I answer.
Well, no, oh no, no, listen,tiffy.
Time needs to continue with thebelt.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's tiffy time right , it is tiffy time.
It is so clearly tiffy time.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
So here's me at my point is charlotte flair has
been a great wrestler, but shegets hurt, hurt and she comes
back.
They give her a title.
She gets hurt, they give her,she comes back, she gets another
title.
She should not have won thewomen's Royal Rumble, she should
not have won.
I was really upset over that,not upset, I'm mad.
(17:00):
But she didn't deserve to win.
She's been great, but she canbarely walk.
Now she walks with a limp, shegets in the ring and her she
can't even bend her leg aroundthe uh rope anymore.
And I'm not like trying tocriticize her, but her job is to
(17:20):
get the next generation overand she's not and everything
that she's shown, everythingthat she has shown through this
build, shows that the fans arenot behind her, and it's time
for her to just lose and go away.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I don't want her to go away.
I think the issue is TiffanyStratton should have been the
baby face for this entire feudand the audience reacted to her
as if she was.
Charlotte came out thinkingthat she was going to just do
whatever she wants.
And you know, there's anotherwrestler in WWE that does this
(18:05):
and I don't think it's good.
And that wrestler is the RockOkay.
Ever since he got on the board,he goes off script, he takes 20
extra minutes and he does notcare who he ruins and who he
props up.
And I think Charlotte Flair isthe same and I think that her
(18:28):
attempt to improv on Tiffany itdidn't work and instead of using
all her skills she's talentedon the mic when she wants to be,
she's talented as heck in thering.
She can do anything she wants,even with her injuries.
Yep, as heck in the ring, shecan do anything she wants, even
with her injuries, yep.
But she has been such a meanperson to tiffany stratton,
(18:54):
pulling stuff from like personallife to try to convince the
crowd to love her.
It just it doesn't feel right.
It feels like we're watchingreal backstage crap get in front
of the camera and I hopetiffany stratton has a great
(19:14):
match.
I hope everyone ends up comingout of it uninjured and I I
really hope that this helpsTiffany have a great ending uh,
moving forward, you know,continuous champion and have a
great run because she earned it.
She did money in the bankreally well with Nia Jax right,
(19:38):
nia Snorlax.
She did that story so well and,like my son and I, we would
watch SmackDown and we were justwaiting for it to happen, just
like the world, the whole world,knew how that story was going
to go, just waiting for it tohappen.
It was executed.
Great Bayley did great.
Candice LeRae did great.
Those are four women'swrestlers that were working
(20:02):
together to tell a story.
Charlotte Flair is not workingtogether to tell that story.
Nope, she's selfish, veryselfish, and it comes through
the camera and it's all I see.
It reminds me of oh my gosh,unpopular opinion, but I'm going
there.
It's the same feeling I getwatching the Last Jedi and
(20:26):
feeling how much Rian Johnsonhated the Force Awakens.
Oh my God.
Yeah, like it's.
It's that petty.
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I go Tiffany.
Yeah, go Tiffany is right, Ithink.
If so, like I'm going to useJohn Cena real quick.
John Cena's heel he is isfabricated if John.
Cena wins the belt, I'm just,we'll get to night two, but if
he wins the belt, people,there's going to be people that
(20:55):
boo, but I feel like it.
If Charlotte flair wins thebelt, that entire allegiance
stadium is going to boo her outof the stadium.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
There is not going to be anybody, or maybe very few
people that are going to cheerthat when you are playing the
heel effectively and I I'm not awrestler right, but but when
you're doing that role right andyou get the boos that are on
purpose, that's a successfulfeeling for them.
(21:30):
Charlotte flair is not gettingthe right kind of booze.
No storyline, she's getting the.
Roxanne perez should have wonthe royal rumble booze, yes, and
that is hurting her ego.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
She can't handle it no, she thought she was going to
come back.
The queen is back andeverybody's going to cower down.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yep, um Tiffany, so I'm going to say it's Tiffy time
.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
For sure my daughter loves Tiffy, Cause she was an ex
gymnast.
Right D one gymnast, yeah.
So the backhands Frank's Juliais like all over that.
So anyway, I'm going to skipthe world heavyweight
championship, because that's areally big one for me, and I'm
going to go to the Triple Threatmatch.
Cm Punk is getting his mainevent.
(22:18):
Actually, we can't talk.
We got to do CM Punk right.
World Heavyweight Championship.
You got Jey Uso, the YeetUniverse, versus Gunther, the
best wrestler in the WWE.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You remember three or four episodes ago where we just
ended with my rant about theheadlock?
Yeah, I hate watching Guntherwin matches, marcus.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I understand that, but you can't deny his in-ring
work and what he does for thestory.
He is a good, he's actually agreat heel.
What he did to Jimmy Uso withthe blood and the carnage and
tying Jey Uso to that rope, wascinema, yeah, cinema.
(23:12):
So who's going win my heart saysjay, but my head says gunther I
am gut, head, heart, butt,balls, feet all in all in jay
uso.
They would not have gone to allof those stops, involved his
(23:38):
family for him to lose.
He's already lost three times.
They can't have him lose again.
If he loses again, it's over.
Now I don't think Jey Uso isgoing to hold the title for a
long time, but he's definitelywinning that moment.
He's the number one most merchseller in the company he's
selling.
He's the most over out ofeverybody.
(24:00):
Yeah, the only thing I don'tknow, and I don't know if
they've announced it.
I just hope they're not openingWrestleMania with Jay.
I want it to be dark when hewins, jay.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I want it to be dark when he wins.
I think, though, that he had aninterview yesterday where he
says he hopes they openWrestleMania.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Oh, all right, Well then, I I didn't see that, but
either way, jay Uso all the way.
He like the Jay Uso actionfigure and it's Cody Rhodes and
Jay Uso, my son's team, versusSeth Rollins and LA Knight.
Yeah, is my team, and we battlein the Monday Night Raw action
figure ring All right, that'samazing.
(24:44):
Yeah, it's so amazing that myson loves it Now my daughter
loves it, my son loves it, nowmy daughter loves it.
And because my daughter's intoit, my wife is slowly starting
to sit on the couch and watch itand her and we were like in my
me and my son are like well,carrie, you got to have a
favorite wrestler, her favoritewrestler, la Night.
(25:06):
Yeah, anyway, no, that's aheadline of night one, the
triple threat match.
Cm Punk gets his dream mainevent at WrestleMania.
You got CM Punk versus SethRollins, versus our tribal chief
, roman Reigns, and the winneris going to get the soul of the
(25:29):
company, as Seth Rollins says,and Paul Heyman is going to get
the soul of the company, as SethRollins says, and Paul Heyman.
The mix of all of this is PaulHeyman is normally in Roman
Reigns' corner, but because CMPunk joined Roman Reigns' team
at War, Games the favor was nowthat Paul Heyman is going to
(25:53):
have it be in CM Punk's corner.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I think Seth Rollins is going to win the match.
I agree.
I think Paul Heyman's leavingwith.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Seth Rollins.
That would be shocking, andwrestling sometimes does the
shocking thing, even if it'shard to explain it and they work
on the explanation.
Later, and maybe a year fromnow, we'll look at what that
explanation was and say it makesperfect sense.
Well, I think I think onWrestleMania night one, we're
(26:33):
not going to be feeling likethis makes perfect sense.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Well, it makes sense.
So Roman Reigns has alreadykind of pushed him aside and
once Paul Heyman is gone, he'sgoing to be on his own, and
Roman Reigns is going to have tobuild his own island, right,
okay, he's going to have to comeback.
Cm Punk is on a differenttrajectory.
(26:58):
I think Paul Heyman was thefocus of this WrestleMania match
, and Seth Rollins is not wrong.
He said that he's been theworkhorse of wrestling for years
, while these two have been justpart-timers or not been there,
and he's not wrong he's alwayshad that chip on his shoulder
(27:21):
too, even going back to brocklesnar being the universal
champion with the red belt, andhe's never changed his opinion
about that and he's neverchanged his opinion about that,
and I wonder if someday he will.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Because I remember back when the Rock and John Cena
were feuding for those twoyears straight and John Cena was
so critical of the Rock forbeing part time and choosing
Hollywood.
And well, what is John Cenadone?
He's part-time, choosingHollywood.
(27:57):
I think that the part-timething is what happens with age
and that for Seth Rollins tofeel this way, it works really
well when you're in your mid-30s.
But when you're in your mid-40sand up, part-time happens to
you whether you want it to ornot.
Right?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
whether you want it to or not, right.
I think that Seth Rollins isgoing to be a champion this year
.
I think that it's going tohappen.
I just think this match is.
I think he's right.
It's for the soul of thecompany.
I think Roman is going to takea step back, I think CM Punk is
(28:34):
on a different trajectory andSeth Rollins is going to go up.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Do you think Roman Reigns will disappear all the
way until SummerSlam again?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I think Roman Reigns is gone for a while.
Yeah, I think Roman Reigns istired.
I think that the bloodlinestory I mean the only thing I
could think of is, if jay usowins, roman reigns is on his own
, roman turns on jay uso and isjay uso versus roman reigns for
the world heavyweightchampionship at summer slam, or
(29:07):
something like that.
You know what I mean, becausejay has a belt and he's like the
big dog, yeah, and Roman isnothing.
You know, I don't know thatanswer, but that's how I see it.
Other than that, what else isthere for Roman to do, like he
doesn't have it in him to holdthe title again?
He looks tired.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
You think so?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, I think he looks great.
Well, he looks great and he'sin great shape, but I'm saying
he doesn't have the eyes likethe hunger anymore in my eyes.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Why would you be hungry when you were the double
champ for four years?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
well, so that's my point.
He's not.
They're not going to give himthe title again.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, yeah.
So, I think he looks at it kindof like he doesn't need it.
He's like he's got the Ula FalaMarcus.
Like Roman reigns, he doesn'tneed the gratification that
comes from somebody else's belt.
He's the tribal chief andnobody's going to take that from
him.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Jacob is going to or J, so he can't chief and
nobody's going to take that fromhim.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Jacob is going to, or J, so he can't.
It's a title.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
That's non transferable.
Okay, moving into night two,all right.
I don't really understand thismatch, except for money, money
reasons.
Logan Paul versus AJ Styles.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Can we have AJ Styles just somehow be in a safe place
and have the arena collapse onLogan Paul?
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Logan Paul is going to win this match.
I hate to say it, I hate to sayit.
Logan Paul is an amazingwrestler.
He's young.
If he's around more often,logan Paul will be a world
champion at some point, if hechooses that.
(31:05):
I'm nauseous, I know.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
I can't stand what you just said, but it's the
truth.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I hope you're wrong.
No, so you think AJ Styles isgoing to win?
Speaker 1 (31:14):
AJ lost to LA Knight last year.
Like, here's the thing you know, when people get to this upper
age and they start focusing onputting people over, usually
that's good for the business.
But if you always are puttingpeople over, you do eventually
get to the point where yourealize John Cena has not won a
(31:35):
match since 2018.
You get what I'm saying.
Like you know, aj Styles waschampion eight years ago and
he's so talented and all-timegreat and it just does not make
(31:58):
sense for him to lose this match.
If wrestling is supposed to bereal I mean, if there are people
in the back writing a story andthe people are actors and they
go in the ring and act out thestory yeah, logan Paul can beat
AJ Styles.
Okay, you know, that's how Ifeel.
I feel like Logan Paul winninga match like this is just a
clear sign that it's scriptedyeah, sin City Street Fight
(32:25):
Damian Priest versus DrewMcIntyre.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I'm just gonna voice my opinion.
I think Drew McIntyre is themost screwed over wrestler in
all of the wwe right I agree, Iagree, I was already going there
.
I'm I'm so excited to hear youthe fact that drew mcintyre is
fighting damian priest and,granted, the back story is there
, but the fact that drewmcintyre, after what he did last
(32:49):
year with everything and theynever let him finish the
bloodline like attack story.
It should be drew McIntyreversus Roman reigns for what
they built for a year, and thisfight is just a.
We need to throw these two guyson WrestleMania.
We're going to have themwrestle each other.
It's a shitty ass match.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
I like Damien priest more than you do?
It sounds like no, I likedamian.
Wait, you like damian?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
priest, I do like damian priest, I really do.
Just drew mcintyre is abovethis okay, yeah, I mean I.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
They were very important pieces to last year's
WrestleMania.
They were the conclusion of theWorld Heavyweight Championship
match and Drew McIntyre he wasthe champion when my son started
watching wrestling with me.
So he's very important to meand I want to see him be
(33:52):
successful and have greatstories to give us.
Sometimes he gets them andsometimes he goes long periods
of time without getting them andI do wish that they would get
that rocket ship back on him alittle bit and let him be great,
cause he is great.
Also, I really love his careerstory.
(34:14):
How he came in.
They tried to chosen one him,but they didn't commit.
They said you're the future,and then they gave him nothing
to work with, made him that'sright kind of awful and then he
had to leave, become amazingeverywhere else he went and then
(34:38):
came back, had a good characterand then the pandemic happened
and he just carried WWE untilRoman Reigns found out that
health-wise it's safe for him toget in the ring too, because
COVID and leukemia, and got tomake sure that we're not going
to die doing the work.
(34:58):
But Drew McIntyre was there andhe was very compelling and then
it just feels like they forgethow awesome he is for big
stretches of time.
So I hope there's nothing onthe line in this match so both
of them can come out of thismatch being awesome and going
(35:21):
places.
I would love to see DrewMcIntyre win.
He's going to.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah, drew McIntyre is winning this match.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Do you feel at all like Damian Priest has lost some
momentum because he's not onthe same show as the Judgment
Day anymore?
Speaker 2 (35:41):
No, I just think that he's a lost puppy.
I don't think they know what todo with him.
I think SmackDown is a goodshow for him.
I think getting him away fromthe Judgment Day is good, but I
think that they just don't havea story.
That's why I'm, I'm is is.
As much as I love WrestleMania,I also love the after
(36:02):
WrestleMania, because that'swhen the year long stories start
, because I focus so much onthese WrestleMania matches for
so long that after WrestleMania,that's when the shit opens up.
Okay.
But I think Drew McIntyre isgoing to beat the living shit
out of Damian Priest becauseDamian Priest has screwed him so
(36:22):
much and Damian Priest is goingto hold his arm up at
WrestleMania.
Okay, it's a big one.
Fatal four-way match for theIce Intercontinental
Championship Braun Breakerversus Penta Cero Meadow Versus
(36:42):
Finn Balor versus Dirty.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Dominic Mysterio, my favorite wrestler in WWE, is
going to win this match.
Marcus, who's that?
Dominic Mysterio?
I agree, yeah, I think, man.
The way that he gets booed justfor holding a microphone is
(37:05):
amazing.
It's, it's masterful.
He's so cool and when he firststarted and he was with his dad,
he seemed like he seemed slowerthan his dad.
You know, very like I got tomake sure I don't fall off these
ropes.
I don't see that anymore.
I love his matches.
(37:27):
He takes pain from everyone andmakes everyone look like a
thousand bucks, a million bucks,um, and I I can't get enough of
watching dominic Mysterio doingcharacter work, doing ring work
.
I I want to see what a championDominic looks like.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
So I think Braun breaker is not retaining.
He's on his way to the worldheavyweight championship.
He's way too good.
He's one of the best in WWE,the IC.
It's time for him to move upinto the big, big boy club.
Okay, Penn Penta is going towin a championship.
I don't think it's here.
I think this story of this matchis Finn Balor and Dominic
(38:11):
because, I think Dominic's goingto win it, and then it's Finn
Balor and the Judgment Day isover and we're going to go into
whatever the next events are.
Dominic versus Finn Balor Great.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
I love that.
I think seeing the Judgment Dayshuffle personnel is actually
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, because I think they're dead.
I used to enjoy watching whatdrama they cost, and with JD
McNuggets or McDouble, becauseeverything, just everything he
is is always a McDonald's thingthe JD McFlurry I get it yeah.
When he pierced his lung.
Like dude, that guy puts it allout and WWE just uses him as a
(38:56):
punching bag.
I hope when JD comes back he'sgoing to go for something,
because he's that good and he'sa workhorse and it's just
unfortunate he pierced his lungs.
So I'm definitely going withdominic, and the amount of booze
that are going to happen inthat stadium is going to be
amazing amazing, but that's hisjob and that's a sign that he's
(39:18):
doing his job well, right?
So his girlfriend well, hisin-ring girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Women's tag team championship bailey and lyra
valkyria versus live in raquel Ithink I would like to see live
in raquel retain they're goingto.
I think that that's reallyexciting too, because if dominic
wins the fatal four way,especially in a way that shows
(39:47):
he's not ultra legion to FinnBauer right, Then that shifts
the power dynamic of thejudgment day to it's live Raquel
and Dom.
And Finn has to try for acouple weeks to coexist.
When he's not the successfulone and he's not he's going to
(40:07):
have a fit and that's the beststory for these people.
Yeah, I.
I see that happened Also.
Bailey and Lyra Valkyria aren'ta tag team, so there's really
no benefit of putting the beltson them.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
That's correct.
There's no benefit.
But what I actually like thistag team a lot because so Lyra
is really good, she's so goodbut she's not over because she's
like they're.
They're not like she doesn'thave it, but Bailey does.
If you watch the match lastweek with Bailey and Lyra like
(40:41):
she's, or for the past couple ofweeks, they've actually looked
really good and they're slowBailey is helping Lyra get over.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Yeah, it's the same as when Becky Lynch went and did
all those NXT shows.
Yes, you know you get.
You get so out of the fourhorse women, right?
We don't have Sasha Banksanymore in WWE.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Mercedes Monet.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
She was my favorite, but you look at Becky and you
look at Bayley.
These are two people that, nomatter who you put them in
matches with, they come outlooking great, but their partner
or their opponent ends uplooking amazing.
And there's another of the fourhorse women that I don't have
the same opinion about um, we'vealready talked about her match,
(41:29):
though on this show I thinkbailey is amazing at elevating
the other person you know, Iagree with you.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I think it's.
This is going to be a goodmatch for Lyra and for C.
After this match.
Liv is the best female wrestlerin WWE in 2024, 2025.
I think she put in work.
She might not be the bestwrestler in general, but I think
she has been the MVP of thewomen's division.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Liv yeah, Liv Morgan's amazing.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Yes.
So I think that after thismatch, what Liv does Raquel and
Bailey does for Lyra, I thinkLyra's going to finally get over
and that's what they need forthe IC title.
Yeah, good, women's WorldChampionship match Io Sky versus
Rhea Ripley versus the heelBianca Belair this is an easy
(42:28):
one for me.
Eo sky baby is walking out.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yeah, we're on the same page here.
Eo is the.
Rhea could be the championforever Any day, right.
Bianca, same thing.
And when I first came back towatching WWE, it felt like
Bianca was always the champright because she had really
strong run two different times.
Um EO being the story like shekeeps getting like shoved out of
(42:58):
the way so that these big,powerful women that can bench
press a thousand pounds canfight.
And EO is just like wait, I'mthe champion.
What powerful women that canbench press a thousand pounds
can fight?
And he was just like wait, I'mthe champion.
What, what's your deal?
Like?
I'm coming out of WrestleManiaas the champion.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yes, eo is my favorite female wrestler in WWE
oh good, I just wish her Englishwas better so she could be
better on the microphone.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
Yeah, you can.
That's, that's a, that's a workin progress, always.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
As far as far as ring work, though, she's the best
she is, she is the best.
She's just as good as Rhea andBianca.
They just have different styles.
So if you look at the videogame idea, you know there's the
whole high flyer versus brawlerversus striker.
This is one of those matcheswhere you have two brawlers and
(43:53):
a high flyer.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Right EO Sky is my second favorite female wrestler.
My number one is Toni Storm inAEW.
She's the best female wrestlerever.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Such a big mistake letting her walk after that.
Charlotte Flair match is TonyStorm in AEW.
She's the best female wrestlerever.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
Such a big mistake letting her walk after that
Charlotte Flair match Mm-hmm,uh-huh yeah, and then Liv
Morgan's in round in the topthird.
But anyway, I think that Io Skywins to build the SummerSlam
match of Rhea Ripley and BiancaBelair.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Who's she going to pin Rhea Ripley and Bianca
Belair?
Who's she going to pin RheaRipley?
Yep, you think Jade Cargill'sgoing to come out and just
neutralize Bianca Belair?
Speaker 2 (44:31):
If it comes out that Bianca was behind it all.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
I think it will.
I think this is going to be avery dramatic match that does a
lot for everybody's story okay,I have one more question okay
who's randy orton wrestling atnight one?
Speaker 2 (44:51):
I mean night two, because they're not going to
leave randy orton out.
I think he's wrestling nickaldis.
I think nick aldis is going tobe wrestling and because he can
wrestle, he just they didn'tneed him for that and he's been
the GM, but it's going to beNick Aldis versus Randy Orton
because I think it's going to bean open challenge and Nick all
(45:13):
this is coming out.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
Good for him If that happens and that's something he
wants to do, and medicallythere's no risk there.
Yeah, I, I so, marcus, andmedically there's no risk there.
Yeah, so, marcus, one of thethings that I love about
watching wrestling is fulfillingyour purpose, like the journey
right.
Like for so many of thesewrestlers their whole life was
(45:39):
about.
I want to be in WWE, I want tohave a match at WrestleMania For
Cody Rhodes.
You know, finish the story isso close to continue the journey
, right.
Like him getting to the mainevent that could have been it,
but then getting to it a secondyear and winning the belt that's
(46:00):
life fulfillment.
I love watching people achievetheir dreams and if that's what
Nick Aldis his dream is, then Ilove that, even if he gets
obliterated by Randy Orton,because there's no way Nick
Aldis beats Randy Orton.
But yeah, I love that If it'ssomebody else, like maybe
(46:20):
someone coming over from AEW orsomething, super shock.
Malachi Black could be MalakaiBlack.
Yeah, I think Nick Aldis gets abigger pop, though, if that's
what ends up happening.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Yeah, alright, the big one, yeah, the big,
undisputed WWE championshipmatch Cody Rhodes versus John.
You can't see me heal Cena.
So John Cena, cody Rhodesbackstory.
After 25 years of John Cena'scareer, he turned bad guy.
(46:56):
And when I say he turned badguy, he turned bad guy and as
much as everybody.
It was unexpected and it wasawesome.
I'm going to bring it back tothe part timer.
(47:17):
I think that they need to focuson wrestlers who can be there
for the season, like last year's, wrestlemania was so much
bigger because the Rock wasthere every other week and the
main characters were there everyweek, so the story could build.
I feel like Cody Rhodes hascarried this whole story on his
(47:40):
shoulders because John Cena'snot there.
Yeah, story on his shouldersbecause John Cena's not there.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Yeah, I think okay, so are we going to do our
predictions?
Sure, this one, I'm kind ofdead walked on.
Okay, I want to see Cody Rhodesretain the title at this year's
WrestleMania.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
You know I have my my belt, that I wear the fanny
pack, that I've brought on acouple of shows.
I have that because of CodyRhodes, right a couple shows.
I have that because of CodyRhodes.
His story was compelling enoughfor me and my son to continue
this really strong bond over WWE.
(48:33):
And John Cena is the past and Ido love seeing records broken
but this is not the same as asports record, because it's
scripted and ultimately, winningthe title 16 times just means
the person in the back decidedit's your time 16 times and some
(48:58):
of those were really unfair toother people and I have loved
John Cena for 20 years and Idon't dislike that.
He turned heel because some ofmy favorite wrestlers of all
time have been heels forsignificant portions of their
career.
It's fun to like the bad guys.
I just don't think defeatingCody Rhodes at WrestleMania is
(49:23):
the way John Cena will winnumber 17.
I think he's going to getreally upset and even more evil
all the way until the end of theyear when he realized that
wasn't the way.
I think he'll save us from someother champion and he will get
number 17 when he realizes thatbeing the champ for the people
(49:51):
is the only way that he willwant to live with himself
outside of wrestling.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
I agree with you, but in a different way.
I think Cody Rhodes has to winit because to solidify Cody
Rhodes title reign he needs towin and retain carrying it in at
WrestleMania.
I don't want to see them popthe John Cena 17 bubble in April
(50:24):
.
He doesn't need to win it inApril.
No, he can win it at Survivor.
Speaker 1 (50:32):
Series In November In November, lose it.
Lose it in December.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
December 13th, td Garden, saturday night's main
event.
This motherfucker is going tobe there for that you want to
see John Cena lose the title?
no, it's Saturday night, sothey're coming.
I think Smackdown's going to TDGarden August 15th and Raw is
(51:01):
in Providence July 7th, so thetickets aren't on sale yet.
I asked Ryan which one he wantsto go to, he said he wants to
go to SmackDown.
So we'll go to SmackDown inBoston.
But my point is I don't thinkJohn Cena needs to win it.
I think that John Cena sold hissoul, but we didn't hear
anything else about it from theRock, right?
Cena sold his soul, but wedidn't hear anything else about
(51:22):
it from the Rock, right?
I think John Cena loses andsays to the Rock like what the
fuck?
I was supposed to win this.
And that starts the like turnback.
It's not going to happen rightaway and I think John Cena is
going to make Cody Rhodes' lifemiserable.
Speaker 1 (51:59):
Cody Rhodes will lose the title heavyweight title at
some point.
I don't think he's going tohold the Cody Rhodes belt.
Speaker 2 (52:03):
Oh, you think the world heavyweight title is going
to be john cena's number 17?
No cm punks.
I'm just saying that, like johncena's gonna win the title from
cody at some point, okay, but Idon't think it needs to happen
here.
I think the story is john cenaturned bad.
He didn't get what he wanted.
He has.
He realizes, like you said, hehas to be good yeah, but I think
(52:24):
that's an eight month story,correct.
Speaker 1 (52:27):
Yeah, I mean eight months, when you're showing up
once every three weeks right.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
So this has been like a dream come true podcast for
me tonight.
Oh yeah, yeah, like I've alwayswanted to talk wrestling on a
podcast, but nobody I everpodcasted with was a wrestling
fan on the new, and now wepodcast together and it's the
(52:55):
biggest week of the year forwrestling.
Speaker 1 (52:57):
So Well, that's exciting.
I'm glad you got to finish yourstory, marcus my story's just
begun with you, buddy okay, wellthen we're not finishing
anything, just continue thejourney.
Welcome to the Gaming Persona podcast.
This is the show that exploreswho we become when we play games
, whether you're saving kingdoms, leading epic raids or just
vibing in cozy indie worlds.
Join me, dr Gamology and mygood friend Marcus, as we search
for all the ways gaming andpersonal growth collide.
Grab your controllers and let'scontinue the journey Now.
(00:21):
Continue the journey now.
So, marcus, what do you want totalk about?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Dude, it's the greatest week of the year it's
WrestleMania week, that's true.
You know, I know this is agaming persona podcast.
We're talking about gaming.
Doc's got WWE 2K25 up.
We're here.
Doc and I are huge wrestlingfans, so if you're not a
wrestling fan and that doesn'tinterest you, well, keep
(00:56):
listening, because maybe you'llbecome one by the end.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Marcus, I need to make this about my book.
What else is new?
There is a paragraph in my bookwhere I talk about the
importance of having a gamingmindset.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
All right, and I don't know if you noticed this
when you were reading orlistening, because I think you
did both actually, but I need torun this by you and you tell me
if you picked up on this,because there is a paragraph
with about four or fivesentences where the first
(01:35):
sentence basically says in myown words, without ripping off
other people's words, that lifeis all about the game and how
you play it.
The second sentence is aboutit's all about control and if
you can take it.
The third sentence is literallyabout what you owe people and
(02:01):
what you owe to yourself, andit's all about your debt and if
you can pay it.
And then the last sentence isabout would you like to guess?
No, I'm gonna let you divulge.
It's all about looking at thethings you've done or haven't
done and being able to believein yourself regardless and get
(02:22):
through the pain and give lifethe pain instead of you taking
it.
It's all about the pain andwho's gonna make it all right.
So even in the gamers journey,triple h makes an appearance,
without me ever saying WWE or 2K, because wrestling has been so
(02:50):
formative for me and themindsets that I use to get
through life.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, so I just I love storytelling and I love
when you have a medium thatallows for characters and
stories to become a mythos.
And the World WrestlingEntertainment as an organization
(03:27):
is also a mythos.
It is heroes and villainsfighting on a grandest stage of
them all and giving us feelingsthat we don't get in our
everyday lives, and I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, wrestling has been around for me for a long
time.
And just so, if you guys arenew to the show, you can get the
gamer's journey written by DrGameology at Amazoncom, barnes
and Noble.
Anywhere you can find a book oreven audible, if you like, the
audio version.
Thanks, moving on.
(04:01):
Wrestling's been around for mesince I was a little kid.
I I grew up.
I don't know how I ever watchedit.
I think my mom put it on and Ifell in love with it and I've
(04:21):
always been.
It's kind of sound really hokey, but I've always the country
that I live in, like I alwayshave.
I just am proud.
It's going to sound so cheesyto say proud to be an American
right and forget about what'sgoing on in the world.
That's not.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, exactly, come on, come on.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
You got.
I am a real American RightExactly so Got.
To say your prayers and eatyour Whe am a real American
Right Exactly so got to say yourprayers and eat your Wheaties.
Marcus Right, exactly so.
My point is I fell in love withwrestling as a kid and my
birthday's in at the end ofJanuary, january 31st to be
exact.
And what happens every year inJanuary, the Royal rumble, and
(05:05):
back in the day that shit was 50to pay-per-view and that was my
birthday present much less thanswitch to ladies and gentlemen
much less and I used to say tomy mom my mom would say, marcus,
what do you want for yourbirthday?
royal rumble, mom.
Well, it's a sund, I don't care, I want to stay up until it's
(05:28):
over and I want, that's what Iwant.
She goes.
Do you know how much that costs?
You want Royal rumble, which is$50 pay-per-view over a present
.
Yep, every year that was mybirthday every year for years.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And one refers to royal rumble that you were able
to watch, marcus oh shit, can'tremember.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I think the first one I ever watched was 1989.
I was five.
Okay, the most memorable, Iwould say is 1992.
For me is that rick flair Ican't remember, but I what year
was was 92 survivor series whenthe undertaker first came I
(06:16):
think so that is the mostmemorable moment ever in all of
wrestling for me is when TedDiBiase's team at the Survivor
Series had a mystery guest.
Nobody knew and then the lightswent out and then you saw Paul
Bearer come out ghostly whiteholding an urn.
(06:36):
And then this guy come and youthought the world was ending
Like this guy, like I was alittle kid.
This guy was scary.
He looked like death himselfand then he just took over and I
was like oh my God.
But I digress.
Hulk Hogan was like theAmerican hero to me and I
(07:01):
remember there's a local mallthat had a Sears and when my mom
had to go to the mall onSaturday mornings because I was
a kid, that was the onlywrestling that I got was
Saturday morning wrestling andthat's how I'd watch it every
day.
Don't ask me to do anything.
And if I was leaving, mygrandma would record it on a VCR
(07:21):
tape for me Because she couldfigure out how to do it.
I couldn't, I was a little kid,but we would go to Sears.
This is the world we lived in.
My mom would leave me sittingin front of the TV.
She would have the guy put iton it.
I think she gave the guy fivebucks and I would sit there and
watch wrestling for an hourwhile her she went through the
(07:45):
mall and did her shopping, andthen she would come back and get
me, can?
you imagine if a parent did thatin 2025?
Moving on, so wrestling hasbeen a part of my life, my whole
life.
Sure, I fell out of it duringthe John Cena era, after Stone
Cold and the Rock like I driftedaway.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And that's okay, but I came back Anyway.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So my point to you is we're bringing wrestling, Two
wrestling fans are talking aboutwrestling tonight.
Wrestlemania 41 happens thisweekend, April 19th and 20th I
don't know when you guys arelistening to this and we're
going to break down the card andI'm going to give my prediction
, and he's going to give hisprediction, and once
(08:33):
WrestleMania happens, we'll goover our results.
I don't know if we'll do apodcast about it or not.
We might, but maybe the resultswill be in Discord.
Who knows?
That is unknown.
But maybe the results will bein discord.
Who knows?
That is unknown.
But, doc, do you want me totake lead or do you want to take
lead?
All right, so we'll start atthe bottom of the card.
(08:55):
So we have Ray Mysterio versusEl Grande.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Americano, that's Chad Gable Everybody.
Yeah, which honestly I hopethat El Grande Americano stays
for a long time do you rememberthat hokey storyline where Hulk
Hogan was also dressed like aLucha American and feuding with
(09:21):
Vince McMahon and Vince McMahonwas like this guy's obviously
Hulk Hogan and they did the liedetector test?
Yes, yeah, this is the samestoryline, just 20 years later,
with different wrestlers.
Right, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So, um, anyway, uh, who do you think is going to win
this match?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I think I would love for Chad Gable to win this match
because I think he's going to.
He has a future.
He's much younger than ReyMysterio.
Rey Mysterio is a hall of fameralready.
He's amazing.
He's done a lot for thebusiness in representing
luchadors in WWE and openingdoors for other people.
(10:12):
But Chad Gable is so talentedand at the moments where it was
really a chance for him to breakthrough, they've just
constantly decided to have himlose.
Yeah, I agree, I think heshould have won the
Intercontinental title fromGunther For him to break through
.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
They've just constantly decided to have him
lose.
Yeah, I agree.
I think he should have won theIntercontinental title From
Gunther.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I completely agree yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I think he got the shaft in that, but I'm actually
going to go with Chad Gable andEl Grande Americano Alright.
Second match is Jade CargillVersus Heel.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Naomi.
I think this is pretty obviousthat Jade Cargill is going to
demolish Naomi.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I think Naomi's going to win.
I think that they're going tobring the heel heat and this is
going to carry us further intothe year with naomi and jade do
you think that during the courseof this match, naomi will admit
that the plan was bianca belair's plan?
I hope so, because she's beenbianca, bel air's been wearing
(11:20):
black and she's kind of doingheelish stuff for everybody who
doesn't know.
Wrestling Heel is a bad guy,baby face is a good guy.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Look at you, keeping our audience up with us, and
you're the explainer this time,for the first time ever in my
life, uh-huh.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Okay, next match for night one is the World Tag Team
Championship match.
Okay, next match for night oneis the World Tag Team
Championship match.
The Monday Night War Raidersversus the New Day.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You know, there's been some interesting stuff in
the commentary for all of theWar Raiders versus New Day stuff
where they keep commenting onEric's neck injury and how
improbable it is that he cameback from a neck injury and how
fortunate it is that he has thework ethic and drive to overcome
(12:17):
that injury and become tagchampions and be the war Raiders
again.
And I don't think that's acoincidence, Marcus.
And do you know why?
Tell me why.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Tell me why.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Because Big E had a neck injury which ruined the
trajectory of the New Day and Ifeel like Big E's going to get
involved in this match somehow.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
So I don't know if Big E's neck is better.
I don't know, but I feel likethey wouldn't have put him on
the mat for the 10 yearcelebration and them the new day
shits all over.
Biggie for him to not beinvolved somehow, some way.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And for me I think the war Raiders win.
I don't think.
I think they've kind of flubbedon the new day a little bit,
like they had the crazy heelheat for a while but then they
kind of just let them just dieand it's kind of been dead for a
little while.
Hopefully this picks it up alittle, but I think they botched
the new day a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I think it could have been a lot bigger than it is I
think that there was just achange in direction a few times
in the last four months withwhat they wanted to do with them
, right.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, okay, us Championship match LA Night yeah
versus Jacob Fatu.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I think Jacob Fatu wins this pretty easily and
convincingly.
Everything he does, they reallyhype him up as an unstoppable
monster.
What do you think?
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I'm going with LA night.
I think he's so over with thecrowd.
I think Jacob Fatu needs alittle adversity.
I think solo Sacoa, or as myson calls him, solo Sacoa, um, I
think Solo interferes and costsJacob the match, which will in
(14:30):
turn make the feud build withSolo and Jacob.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
That's a much better story than what I'm expecting,
so I hope that happens.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
But at the same time, I could see Jacob winning,
because why not put a belt onhim?
Speaker 1 (14:45):
he's hot right now yeah, la knight doesn't need
that belt anymore.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
He's, he's grown yeah , he needs, like the world, the
intercontinental championship.
He needs a little more esteemthan the us title.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Those two are supposed to be equal, but
they're not kind of like how theworld heavyweight and the
undisputed are not equal seethose.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Those I think have become more equal because of the
people that have been holdingthe belt in the stories that
they've been telling with it.
But yeah, there's a cleardifference.
You know, the IC to all I thinkabout is sean michaels holding
that intercontinental titlereally he's who you think of for
(15:33):
the intercontinental title, himand brett hart.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
What about the ms?
And I'm chris jericho man no,sean michaels no, I understand.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
No, I understand Watch AEW.
He's there all the time.
Anyway, this is actually a big,big match for me, because I
actually have a lot of feelingsfor this one.
It's the WWE Women'sChampionship match.
We got Tiffy Time TiffanyStratton versus the Android
Charlotte Flair.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Marcus, I swear to to God, our friendship could be on
the verge of falling apart,depending on how you handle this
match.
Okay, you tell me first.
I can't.
I can't speak first.
There's too much.
There's too much stress, okay,so.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do some
explaining first before I answer.
Well, no, oh no, no, listen,tiffy.
Time needs to continue with thebelt.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's tiffy time right , it is tiffy time.
It is so clearly tiffy time.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
So here's me at my point is charlotte flair has
been a great wrestler, but shegets hurt, hurt and she comes
back.
They give her a title.
She gets hurt, they give her,she comes back, she gets another
title.
She should not have won thewomen's Royal Rumble, she should
not have won.
I was really upset over that,not upset, I'm mad.
(17:00):
But she didn't deserve to win.
She's been great, but she canbarely walk.
Now she walks with a limp, shegets in the ring and her she
can't even bend her leg aroundthe uh rope anymore.
And I'm not like trying tocriticize her, but her job is to
(17:20):
get the next generation overand she's not and everything
that she's shown, everythingthat she has shown through this
build, shows that the fans arenot behind her, and it's time
for her to just lose and go away.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I don't want her to go away.
I think the issue is TiffanyStratton should have been the
baby face for this entire feudand the audience reacted to her
as if she was.
Charlotte came out thinkingthat she was going to just do
whatever she wants.
And you know, there's anotherwrestler in WWE that does this
(18:05):
and I don't think it's good.
And that wrestler is the RockOkay.
Ever since he got on the board,he goes off script, he takes 20
extra minutes and he does notcare who he ruins and who he
props up.
And I think Charlotte Flair isthe same and I think that her
(18:28):
attempt to improv on Tiffany itdidn't work and instead of using
all her skills she's talentedon the mic when she wants to be,
she's talented as heck in thering.
She can do anything she wants,even with her injuries.
Yep, as heck in the ring, shecan do anything she wants, even
with her injuries, yep.
But she has been such a meanperson to tiffany stratton,
(18:54):
pulling stuff from like personallife to try to convince the
crowd to love her.
It just it doesn't feel right.
It feels like we're watchingreal backstage crap get in front
of the camera and I hopetiffany stratton has a great
(19:14):
match.
I hope everyone ends up comingout of it uninjured and I I
really hope that this helpsTiffany have a great ending uh,
moving forward, you know,continuous champion and have a
great run because she earned it.
She did money in the bankreally well with Nia Jax right,
(19:38):
nia Snorlax.
She did that story so well and,like my son and I, we would
watch SmackDown and we were justwaiting for it to happen, just
like the world, the whole world,knew how that story was going
to go, just waiting for it tohappen.
It was executed.
Great Bayley did great.
Candice LeRae did great.
Those are four women'swrestlers that were working
(20:02):
together to tell a story.
Charlotte Flair is not workingtogether to tell that story.
Nope, she's selfish, veryselfish, and it comes through
the camera and it's all I see.
It reminds me of oh my gosh,unpopular opinion, but I'm going
there.
It's the same feeling I getwatching the Last Jedi and
(20:26):
feeling how much Rian Johnsonhated the Force Awakens.
Oh my God.
Yeah, like it's.
It's that petty.
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I go Tiffany.
Yeah, go Tiffany is right, Ithink.
If so, like I'm going to useJohn Cena real quick.
John Cena's heel he is isfabricated if John.
Cena wins the belt, I'm just,we'll get to night two, but if
he wins the belt, people,there's going to be people that
(20:55):
boo, but I feel like it.
If Charlotte flair wins thebelt, that entire allegiance
stadium is going to boo her outof the stadium.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
There is not going to be anybody, or maybe very few
people that are going to cheerthat when you are playing the
heel effectively and I I'm not awrestler right, but but when
you're doing that role right andyou get the boos that are on
purpose, that's a successfulfeeling for them.
(21:30):
Charlotte flair is not gettingthe right kind of booze.
No storyline, she's getting the.
Roxanne perez should have wonthe royal rumble booze, yes, and
that is hurting her ego.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
She can't handle it no, she thought she was going to
come back.
The queen is back andeverybody's going to cower down.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yep, um Tiffany, so I'm going to say it's Tiffy time
.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
For sure my daughter loves Tiffy, Cause she was an ex
gymnast.
Right D one gymnast, yeah.
So the backhands Frank's Juliais like all over that.
So anyway, I'm going to skipthe world heavyweight
championship, because that's areally big one for me, and I'm
going to go to the Triple Threatmatch.
Cm Punk is getting his mainevent.
(22:18):
Actually, we can't talk.
We got to do CM Punk right.
World Heavyweight Championship.
You got Jey Uso, the YeetUniverse, versus Gunther, the
best wrestler in the WWE.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You remember three or four episodes ago where we just
ended with my rant about theheadlock?
Yeah, I hate watching Guntherwin matches, marcus.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I understand that, but you can't deny his in-ring
work and what he does for thestory.
He is a good, he's actually agreat heel.
What he did to Jimmy Uso withthe blood and the carnage and
tying Jey Uso to that rope, wascinema, yeah, cinema.
(23:12):
So who's going win my heart saysjay, but my head says gunther I
am gut, head, heart, butt,balls, feet all in all in jay
uso.
They would not have gone to allof those stops, involved his
(23:38):
family for him to lose.
He's already lost three times.
They can't have him lose again.
If he loses again, it's over.
Now I don't think Jey Uso isgoing to hold the title for a
long time, but he's definitelywinning that moment.
He's the number one most merchseller in the company he's
selling.
He's the most over out ofeverybody.
(24:00):
Yeah, the only thing I don'tknow, and I don't know if
they've announced it.
I just hope they're not openingWrestleMania with Jay.
I want it to be dark when hewins, jay.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I want it to be dark when he wins.
I think, though, that he had aninterview yesterday where he
says he hopes they openWrestleMania.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Oh, all right, Well then, I I didn't see that, but
either way, jay Uso all the way.
He like the Jay Uso actionfigure and it's Cody Rhodes and
Jay Uso, my son's team, versusSeth Rollins and LA Knight.
Yeah, is my team, and we battlein the Monday Night Raw action
figure ring All right, that'samazing.
(24:44):
Yeah, it's so amazing that myson loves it Now my daughter
loves it, my son loves it, nowmy daughter loves it.
And because my daughter's intoit, my wife is slowly starting
to sit on the couch and watch itand her and we were like in my
me and my son are like well,carrie, you got to have a
favorite wrestler, her favoritewrestler, la Night.
(25:06):
Yeah, anyway, no, that's aheadline of night one, the
triple threat match.
Cm Punk gets his dream mainevent at WrestleMania.
You got CM Punk versus SethRollins, versus our tribal chief
, roman Reigns, and the winneris going to get the soul of the
(25:29):
company, as Seth Rollins says,and Paul Heyman is going to get
the soul of the company, as SethRollins says, and Paul Heyman.
The mix of all of this is PaulHeyman is normally in Roman
Reigns' corner, but because CMPunk joined Roman Reigns' team
at War, Games the favor was nowthat Paul Heyman is going to
(25:53):
have it be in CM Punk's corner.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I think Seth Rollins is going to win the match.
I agree.
I think Paul Heyman's leavingwith.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Seth Rollins.
That would be shocking, andwrestling sometimes does the
shocking thing, even if it'shard to explain it and they work
on the explanation.
Later, and maybe a year fromnow, we'll look at what that
explanation was and say it makesperfect sense.
Well, I think I think onWrestleMania night one, we're
(26:33):
not going to be feeling likethis makes perfect sense.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Well, it makes sense.
So Roman Reigns has alreadykind of pushed him aside and
once Paul Heyman is gone, he'sgoing to be on his own, and
Roman Reigns is going to have tobuild his own island, right,
okay, he's going to have to comeback.
Cm Punk is on a differenttrajectory.
(26:58):
I think Paul Heyman was thefocus of this WrestleMania match
, and Seth Rollins is not wrong.
He said that he's been theworkhorse of wrestling for years
, while these two have been justpart-timers or not been there,
and he's not wrong he's alwayshad that chip on his shoulder
(27:21):
too, even going back to brocklesnar being the universal
champion with the red belt, andhe's never changed his opinion
about that and he's neverchanged his opinion about that,
and I wonder if someday he will.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Because I remember back when the Rock and John Cena
were feuding for those twoyears straight and John Cena was
so critical of the Rock forbeing part time and choosing
Hollywood.
And well, what is John Cenadone?
He's part-time, choosingHollywood.
(27:57):
I think that the part-timething is what happens with age
and that for Seth Rollins tofeel this way, it works really
well when you're in your mid-30s.
But when you're in your mid-40sand up, part-time happens to
you whether you want it to ornot.
Right?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
whether you want it to or not, right.
I think that Seth Rollins isgoing to be a champion this year
.
I think that it's going tohappen.
I just think this match is.
I think he's right.
It's for the soul of thecompany.
I think Roman is going to takea step back, I think CM Punk is
(28:34):
on a different trajectory andSeth Rollins is going to go up.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Do you think Roman Reigns will disappear all the
way until SummerSlam again?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I think Roman Reigns is gone for a while.
Yeah, I think Roman Reigns istired.
I think that the bloodlinestory I mean the only thing I
could think of is, if jay usowins, roman reigns is on his own
, roman turns on jay uso and isjay uso versus roman reigns for
the world heavyweightchampionship at summer slam, or
(29:07):
something like that.
You know what I mean, becausejay has a belt and he's like the
big dog, yeah, and Roman isnothing.
You know, I don't know thatanswer, but that's how I see it.
Other than that, what else isthere for Roman to do, like he
doesn't have it in him to holdthe title again?
He looks tired.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
You think so?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, I think he looks great.
Well, he looks great and he'sin great shape, but I'm saying
he doesn't have the eyes likethe hunger anymore in my eyes.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Why would you be hungry when you were the double
champ for four years?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
well, so that's my point.
He's not.
They're not going to give himthe title again.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, yeah.
So, I think he looks at it kindof like he doesn't need it.
He's like he's got the Ula FalaMarcus.
Like Roman reigns, he doesn'tneed the gratification that
comes from somebody else's belt.
He's the tribal chief andnobody's going to take that from
him.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Jacob is going to or J, so he can't chief and
nobody's going to take that fromhim.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Jacob is going to, or J, so he can't.
It's a title.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
That's non transferable.
Okay, moving into night two,all right.
I don't really understand thismatch, except for money, money
reasons.
Logan Paul versus AJ Styles.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Can we have AJ Styles just somehow be in a safe place
and have the arena collapse onLogan Paul?
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Logan Paul is going to win this match.
I hate to say it, I hate to sayit.
Logan Paul is an amazingwrestler.
He's young.
If he's around more often,logan Paul will be a world
champion at some point, if hechooses that.
(31:05):
I'm nauseous, I know.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
I can't stand what you just said, but it's the
truth.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I hope you're wrong.
No, so you think AJ Styles isgoing to win?
Speaker 1 (31:14):
AJ lost to LA Knight last year.
Like, here's the thing you know, when people get to this upper
age and they start focusing onputting people over, usually
that's good for the business.
But if you always are puttingpeople over, you do eventually
get to the point where yourealize John Cena has not won a
(31:35):
match since 2018.
You get what I'm saying.
Like you know, aj Styles waschampion eight years ago and
he's so talented and all-timegreat and it just does not make
(31:58):
sense for him to lose this match.
If wrestling is supposed to bereal I mean, if there are people
in the back writing a story andthe people are actors and they
go in the ring and act out thestory yeah, logan Paul can beat
AJ Styles.
Okay, you know, that's how Ifeel.
I feel like Logan Paul winninga match like this is just a
clear sign that it's scriptedyeah, sin City Street Fight
(32:25):
Damian Priest versus DrewMcIntyre.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
I'm just gonna voice my opinion.
I think Drew McIntyre is themost screwed over wrestler in
all of the wwe right I agree, Iagree, I was already going there
.
I'm I'm so excited to hear youthe fact that drew mcintyre is
fighting damian priest and,granted, the back story is there
, but the fact that drewmcintyre, after what he did last
(32:49):
year with everything and theynever let him finish the
bloodline like attack story.
It should be drew McIntyreversus Roman reigns for what
they built for a year, and thisfight is just a.
We need to throw these two guyson WrestleMania.
We're going to have themwrestle each other.
It's a shitty ass match.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
I like Damien priest more than you do?
It sounds like no, I likedamian.
Wait, you like damian?
Speaker 2 (33:16):
priest, I do like damian priest, I really do.
Just drew mcintyre is abovethis okay, yeah, I mean I.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
They were very important pieces to last year's
WrestleMania.
They were the conclusion of theWorld Heavyweight Championship
match and Drew McIntyre he wasthe champion when my son started
watching wrestling with me.
So he's very important to meand I want to see him be
(33:52):
successful and have greatstories to give us.
Sometimes he gets them andsometimes he goes long periods
of time without getting them andI do wish that they would get
that rocket ship back on him alittle bit and let him be great,
cause he is great.
Also, I really love his careerstory.
(34:14):
How he came in.
They tried to chosen one him,but they didn't commit.
They said you're the future,and then they gave him nothing
to work with, made him that'sright kind of awful and then he
had to leave, become amazingeverywhere else he went and then
(34:38):
came back, had a good characterand then the pandemic happened
and he just carried WWE untilRoman Reigns found out that
health-wise it's safe for him toget in the ring too, because
COVID and leukemia, and got tomake sure that we're not going
to die doing the work.
(34:58):
But Drew McIntyre was there andhe was very compelling and then
it just feels like they forgethow awesome he is for big
stretches of time.
So I hope there's nothing onthe line in this match so both
of them can come out of thismatch being awesome and going
(35:21):
places.
I would love to see DrewMcIntyre win.
He's going to.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah, drew McIntyre is winning this match.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Do you feel at all like Damian Priest has lost some
momentum because he's not onthe same show as the Judgment
Day anymore?
Speaker 2 (35:41):
No, I just think that he's a lost puppy.
I don't think they know what todo with him.
I think SmackDown is a goodshow for him.
I think getting him away fromthe Judgment Day is good, but I
think that they just don't havea story.
That's why I'm, I'm is is.
As much as I love WrestleMania,I also love the after
(36:02):
WrestleMania, because that'swhen the year long stories start
, because I focus so much onthese WrestleMania matches for
so long that after WrestleMania,that's when the shit opens up.
Okay.
But I think Drew McIntyre isgoing to beat the living shit
out of Damian Priest becauseDamian Priest has screwed him so
(36:22):
much and Damian Priest is goingto hold his arm up at
WrestleMania.
Okay, it's a big one.
Fatal four-way match for theIce Intercontinental
Championship Braun Breakerversus Penta Cero Meadow Versus
(36:42):
Finn Balor versus Dirty.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Dominic Mysterio, my favorite wrestler in WWE, is
going to win this match.
Marcus, who's that?
Dominic Mysterio?
I agree, yeah, I think, man.
The way that he gets booed justfor holding a microphone is
(37:05):
amazing.
It's, it's masterful.
He's so cool and when he firststarted and he was with his dad,
he seemed like he seemed slowerthan his dad.
You know, very like I got tomake sure I don't fall off these
ropes.
I don't see that anymore.
I love his matches.
(37:27):
He takes pain from everyone andmakes everyone look like a
thousand bucks, a million bucks,um, and I I can't get enough of
watching dominic Mysterio doingcharacter work, doing ring work
.
I I want to see what a championDominic looks like.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
So I think Braun breaker is not retaining.
He's on his way to the worldheavyweight championship.
He's way too good.
He's one of the best in WWE,the IC.
It's time for him to move upinto the big, big boy club.
Okay, Penn Penta is going towin a championship.
I don't think it's here.
I think this story of this matchis Finn Balor and Dominic
(38:11):
because, I think Dominic's goingto win it, and then it's Finn
Balor and the Judgment Day isover and we're going to go into
whatever the next events are.
Dominic versus Finn Balor Great.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
I love that.
I think seeing the Judgment Dayshuffle personnel is actually
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, because I think they're dead.
I used to enjoy watching whatdrama they cost, and with JD
McNuggets or McDouble, becauseeverything, just everything he
is is always a McDonald's thingthe JD McFlurry I get it yeah.
When he pierced his lung.
Like dude, that guy puts it allout and WWE just uses him as a
(38:56):
punching bag.
I hope when JD comes back he'sgoing to go for something,
because he's that good and he'sa workhorse and it's just
unfortunate he pierced his lungs.
So I'm definitely going withdominic, and the amount of booze
that are going to happen inthat stadium is going to be
amazing amazing, but that's hisjob and that's a sign that he's
(39:18):
doing his job well, right?
So his girlfriend well, hisin-ring girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Women's tag team championship bailey and lyra
valkyria versus live in raquel Ithink I would like to see live
in raquel retain they're goingto.
I think that that's reallyexciting too, because if dominic
wins the fatal four way,especially in a way that shows
(39:47):
he's not ultra legion to FinnBauer right, Then that shifts
the power dynamic of thejudgment day to it's live Raquel
and Dom.
And Finn has to try for acouple weeks to coexist.
When he's not the successfulone and he's not he's going to
(40:07):
have a fit and that's the beststory for these people.
Yeah, I.
I see that happened Also.
Bailey and Lyra Valkyria aren'ta tag team, so there's really
no benefit of putting the beltson them.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
That's correct.
There's no benefit.
But what I actually like thistag team a lot because so Lyra
is really good, she's so goodbut she's not over because she's
like they're.
They're not like she doesn'thave it, but Bailey does.
If you watch the match lastweek with Bailey and Lyra like
(40:41):
she's, or for the past couple ofweeks, they've actually looked
really good and they're slowBailey is helping Lyra get over.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Yeah, it's the same as when Becky Lynch went and did
all those NXT shows.
Yes, you know you get.
You get so out of the fourhorse women, right?
We don't have Sasha Banksanymore in WWE.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Mercedes Monet.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
She was my favorite, but you look at Becky and you
look at Bayley.
These are two people that, nomatter who you put them in
matches with, they come outlooking great, but their partner
or their opponent ends uplooking amazing.
And there's another of the fourhorse women that I don't have
the same opinion about um, we'vealready talked about her match,
(41:29):
though on this show I thinkbailey is amazing at elevating
the other person you know, Iagree with you.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I think it's.
This is going to be a goodmatch for Lyra and for C.
After this match.
Liv is the best female wrestlerin WWE in 2024, 2025.
I think she put in work.
She might not be the bestwrestler in general, but I think
she has been the MVP of thewomen's division.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Liv yeah, Liv Morgan's amazing.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Yes.
So I think that after thismatch, what Liv does Raquel and
Bailey does for Lyra, I thinkLyra's going to finally get over
and that's what they need forthe IC title.
Yeah, good, women's WorldChampionship match Io Sky versus
Rhea Ripley versus the heelBianca Belair this is an easy
(42:28):
one for me.
Eo sky baby is walking out.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yeah, we're on the same page here.
Eo is the.
Rhea could be the championforever Any day, right.
Bianca, same thing.
And when I first came back towatching WWE, it felt like
Bianca was always the champright because she had really
strong run two different times.
Um EO being the story like shekeeps getting like shoved out of
(42:58):
the way so that these big,powerful women that can bench
press a thousand pounds canfight.
And EO is just like wait, I'mthe champion.
What powerful women that canbench press a thousand pounds
can fight?
And he was just like wait, I'mthe champion.
What, what's your deal?
Like?
I'm coming out of WrestleManiaas the champion.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yes, eo is my favorite female wrestler in WWE
oh good, I just wish her Englishwas better so she could be
better on the microphone.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
Yeah, you can.
That's, that's a, that's a workin progress, always.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
As far as far as ring work, though, she's the best
she is, she is the best.
She's just as good as Rhea andBianca.
They just have different styles.
So if you look at the videogame idea, you know there's the
whole high flyer versus brawlerversus striker.
This is one of those matcheswhere you have two brawlers and
(43:53):
a high flyer.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Right EO Sky is my second favorite female wrestler.
My number one is Toni Storm inAEW.
She's the best female wrestlerever.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Such a big mistake letting her walk after that.
Charlotte Flair match is TonyStorm in AEW.
She's the best female wrestlerever.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
Such a big mistake letting her walk after that
Charlotte Flair match Mm-hmm,uh-huh yeah, and then Liv
Morgan's in round in the topthird.
But anyway, I think that Io Skywins to build the SummerSlam
match of Rhea Ripley and BiancaBelair.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Who's she going to pin Rhea Ripley and Bianca
Belair?
Who's she going to pin RheaRipley?
Yep, you think Jade Cargill'sgoing to come out and just
neutralize Bianca Belair?
Speaker 2 (44:31):
If it comes out that Bianca was behind it all.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
I think it will.
I think this is going to be avery dramatic match that does a
lot for everybody's story okay,I have one more question okay
who's randy orton wrestling atnight one?
Speaker 2 (44:51):
I mean night two, because they're not going to
leave randy orton out.
I think he's wrestling nickaldis.
I think nick aldis is going tobe wrestling and because he can
wrestle, he just they didn'tneed him for that and he's been
the GM, but it's going to beNick Aldis versus Randy Orton
because I think it's going to bean open challenge and Nick all
(45:13):
this is coming out.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
Good for him If that happens and that's something he
wants to do, and medicallythere's no risk there.
Yeah, I, I so, marcus, andmedically there's no risk there.
Yeah, so, marcus, one of thethings that I love about
watching wrestling is fulfillingyour purpose, like the journey
right.
Like for so many of thesewrestlers their whole life was
(45:39):
about.
I want to be in WWE, I want tohave a match at WrestleMania For
Cody Rhodes.
You know, finish the story isso close to continue the journey
, right.
Like him getting to the mainevent that could have been it,
but then getting to it a secondyear and winning the belt that's
(46:00):
life fulfillment.
I love watching people achievetheir dreams and if that's what
Nick Aldis his dream is, then Ilove that, even if he gets
obliterated by Randy Orton,because there's no way Nick
Aldis beats Randy Orton.
But yeah, I love that If it'ssomebody else, like maybe
(46:20):
someone coming over from AEW orsomething, super shock.
Malachi Black could be MalakaiBlack.
Yeah, I think Nick Aldis gets abigger pop, though, if that's
what ends up happening.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
Yeah, alright, the big one, yeah, the big,
undisputed WWE championshipmatch Cody Rhodes versus John.
You can't see me heal Cena.
So John Cena, cody Rhodesbackstory.
After 25 years of John Cena'scareer, he turned bad guy.
(46:56):
And when I say he turned badguy, he turned bad guy and as
much as everybody.
It was unexpected and it wasawesome.
I'm going to bring it back tothe part timer.
(47:17):
I think that they need to focuson wrestlers who can be there
for the season, like last year's, wrestlemania was so much
bigger because the Rock wasthere every other week and the
main characters were there everyweek, so the story could build.
I feel like Cody Rhodes hascarried this whole story on his
(47:40):
shoulders because John Cena'snot there.
Yeah, story on his shouldersbecause John Cena's not there.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Yeah, I think okay, so are we going to do our
predictions?
Sure, this one, I'm kind ofdead walked on.
Okay, I want to see Cody Rhodesretain the title at this year's
WrestleMania.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
You know I have my my belt, that I wear the fanny
pack, that I've brought on acouple of shows.
I have that because of CodyRhodes, right a couple shows.
I have that because of CodyRhodes.
His story was compelling enoughfor me and my son to continue
this really strong bond over WWE.
(48:33):
And John Cena is the past and Ido love seeing records broken
but this is not the same as asports record, because it's
scripted and ultimately, winningthe title 16 times just means
the person in the back decidedit's your time 16 times and some
(48:58):
of those were really unfair toother people and I have loved
John Cena for 20 years and Idon't dislike that.
He turned heel because some ofmy favorite wrestlers of all
time have been heels forsignificant portions of their
career.
It's fun to like the bad guys.
I just don't think defeatingCody Rhodes at WrestleMania is
(49:23):
the way John Cena will winnumber 17.
I think he's going to getreally upset and even more evil
all the way until the end of theyear when he realized that
wasn't the way.
I think he'll save us from someother champion and he will get
number 17 when he realizes thatbeing the champ for the people
(49:51):
is the only way that he willwant to live with himself
outside of wrestling.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
I agree with you, but in a different way.
I think Cody Rhodes has to winit because to solidify Cody
Rhodes title reign he needs towin and retain carrying it in at
WrestleMania.
I don't want to see them popthe John Cena 17 bubble in April
(50:24):
.
He doesn't need to win it inApril.
No, he can win it at Survivor.
Speaker 1 (50:32):
Series In November In November, lose it.
Lose it in December.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
December 13th, td Garden, saturday night's main
event.
This motherfucker is going tobe there for that you want to
see John Cena lose the title?
no, it's Saturday night, sothey're coming.
I think Smackdown's going to TDGarden August 15th and Raw is
(51:01):
in Providence July 7th, so thetickets aren't on sale yet.
I asked Ryan which one he wantsto go to, he said he wants to
go to SmackDown.
So we'll go to SmackDown inBoston.
But my point is I don't thinkJohn Cena needs to win it.
I think that John Cena sold hissoul, but we didn't hear
anything else about it from theRock, right?
Cena sold his soul, but wedidn't hear anything else about
(51:22):
it from the Rock, right?
I think John Cena loses andsays to the Rock like what the
fuck?
I was supposed to win this.
And that starts the like turnback.
It's not going to happen rightaway and I think John Cena is
going to make Cody Rhodes' lifemiserable.
Speaker 1 (51:59):
Cody Rhodes will lose the title heavyweight title at
some point.
I don't think he's going tohold the Cody Rhodes belt.
Speaker 2 (52:03):
Oh, you think the world heavyweight title is going
to be john cena's number 17?
No cm punks.
I'm just saying that, like johncena's gonna win the title from
cody at some point, okay, but Idon't think it needs to happen
here.
I think the story is john cenaturned bad.
He didn't get what he wanted.
He has.
He realizes, like you said, hehas to be good yeah, but I think
(52:24):
that's an eight month story,correct.
Speaker 1 (52:27):
Yeah, I mean eight months, when you're showing up
once every three weeks right.
Speaker 2 (52:35):
So this has been like a dream come true podcast for
me tonight.
Oh yeah, yeah, like I've alwayswanted to talk wrestling on a
podcast, but nobody I everpodcasted with was a wrestling
fan on the new, and now wepodcast together and it's the
(52:55):
biggest week of the year forwrestling.
Speaker 1 (52:57):
So Well, that's exciting.
I'm glad you got to finish yourstory, marcus my story's just
begun with you, buddy okay, wellthen we're not finishing
anything, just continue thejourney.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!