6 YEARS AGO: Full Preview & Predictions for WWE Stomping Grounds

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's show, I'm joined by my co host antonvid Marco.
We break down everything from ww this week and run
down the Stomping Grounds pay per view match by match
to give our predictions. Then I'll get started right after
a word from our sponsor.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the WWE Podcast, your place for the most
passionate wrestling analysis on the web.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Just turn Roman Heel. What is WWE waiting for another
wrestling podcast?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Put you to sleep? You can count on the WWE
Podcast to get you engaged and asking for more.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
I've been watching wrestling for over twenty years and that
was one of the best matches I've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
If you're easily offended, this may not be the show
for you.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Whatever happened to the men being able to physically retaliate
against the women in WWE, This is a fantasy environment.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
This is unlike any other wrestling analysis. So without any
further delay, let's get this show started right now.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Welcome to the WWE Podcast. On this Thursday, June twentieth,
twenty nineteen, the last day of spring, so summer actually
starts tomorrow, the longest day of the year for daylight anyway,
and after that, sadly things start to turn the other
way until we get to the winter beginning of winter

(01:22):
in December. So longest day of the year tomorrow. Enjoy it.
It'll be light at least where I am until probably,
Like I mean, you can see the sunlight up until
nine fifteen at night. It's just nuts. So enjoy that,
and enjoy this podcast as well, because we have a
great one for you might be And I keep saying this,
but I keep topping myself. The longest show in the

(01:43):
history of the WWE podcast, My co host Anthony DeMarco
and I we chatted for over two hours about the
status of WWE, the current product, Ron spack Down dove
a little bit into the past because a lot of
the past is now relevant for what's going on now.
So some some cool tidbits there, and of course we

(02:04):
give our our predictions for the Stomping Grounds pay per
view this Sunday, so we get you all ready for
that with some interesting selections and what is a pay
per view that on paper looks very predictable, and so
we've got a couple of swerve picks for you there
and I think you'll enjoy it. But again, guys, if,
by the way, if you guys don't like ads in

(02:24):
the show, and you're like, oh my god, too many ads.
Easy way to resolve that, number one, You could just
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(02:45):
just straight wrestling audio to your ears. And you just
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not resillion, that's not I don't even know if that's
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(03:07):
if you want ads to go away, here's your place
to do it. So thank you guys once again for
joining me, though, and please check out wwepodcast dot com,
where I have published numerous articles over the past couple
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enjoy them. It's always a good read, not coming from me,
not just my brain, other people's brains, which is a

(03:29):
good thing. And so the site is growing in content,
it's growing in general. This podcast is growing, as you
guys know, and that's all thanks to you. So this
will be the final show of the week, but I'll
be starting a new week in just a few days
on Sunday, when I do my Wrestling Nostalgia and or
what If segment. I haven't decided yet, so what I've done,

(03:49):
what I've decided to do, just so that you guys
know my schedule is on Sunday, I'll be doing my
typical what if and or Wrestling Nostalgia segment, and then
I will be taking Monday off from doing audio, and
then Tuesday I'll be doing a raw show. Wednesday I'll
be reviewing SmackDown Live. Thursday will be my typical co
hosting spot, and then I'll take Friday and Saturday off,

(04:10):
So you guys will get me four days a week
this week. I did experiment with five. I think four
is more realistic for me just in terms of time
and I have other projects going on, So I think
that Sunday, Monday or Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday. So Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
will be your audio audio pleasure of wrestling, and so

(04:34):
I'll be off three days a week working four days
a week for you. So just so you guys know,
and thank you guys for listening. Thank you guys for
making this a great show, a big show, and much
more to come. As you guys know, this show is
just getting started. So no further Ado, Let's just get
you to the conversation with myself and Anthony and everybody.
Enjoy your weekend. I'll be back Sunday. Take care. Okay,

(04:56):
welcome to the WWE podcast. And this week I have
my third co host in the rotating cast of three,
Anthony DeMarco, who is officially on the show as a
co host for the first time, and it's a blast
to have him here. So Anthony, welcome to the show,
and congrats on being the official co host of the
ww podcast.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Thank you so much, Matt. It's a real honor to
get this position. I'd just like to thank everyone who
voiced their opinion, who supported me and want to be
wanted me to be a permanent co host, So thank
you all, and especially thank you Matt.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
No, it's it's it's always great when I have an
opinion that agrees with the masses, and you were one
of the three that people were like, hell, you got
to bring them back on, you got to make make
him a co host. You guys had good chemistry, and
so I was like, yes, all right, so I don't
have to pick somebody that I didn't feel was the
best choice. And I got my wish. So it's a

(05:50):
it's a blast to have you on, and we certainly
don't have any shortage of things to talk about this week.
There are a lot of things going on in WWE.
The some of them good, some of them not. With
the lowest SmackDown rating in the history of WWE, that's
a non holiday. That is a telling tale sign for WE.

(06:12):
And you can't really blame it on any kind of
sporting event. You can't blame it on Memorial Day, fourth
of July. And so we'll get to SmackDown live. But
so ay, let me just ask you this, out of
this entire week in WWE, what are some of the
things that really stood out and that you're like, we
need to talk about this.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well, I think the biggest thing, and I'll start with
a positive, is I actually like Seth Rollins's kind of
changing character with the chair shot the business that he's
on right now, it kind of adds a new element
to his character. I feel like he was getting a
bit stale there for a bit and it was just
kind of getting repetitive. But it kind of gives him
almost like a Steve Austin anti hero type of thing

(06:57):
that I'm really liking, and I guess and then on
a bit on the negative side of it, it's just
kind of like the Shane McMahon in your face over
over and over and over and over and over and
over again of raw and SmackDown. It's just the same thing.
It's like it's just getting repetitive a bit, and I'm
just kind of kind of getting tired of it. So

(07:18):
there's my big positive and there's my big negatives for
this week so far.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
And so I want to touch on that. I mean,
I'm with you about the Shane McMahon deal. I was
a proponent and still I am a proponent of Shane
McMahon staying heal. I think he's doing a very good
job as a heel. But the problem is, Shane McMahon
is not the future, right. Shane mcman' is a forty
nine year old son of the promoter who is the
head of this stable that has no name that I

(07:45):
know of, that is that should be, And it's starting
to transition to focusing on the wrestlers, Drew McIntyre and
Elias who's just kind of there. So yeah, I'm with
you about the Shane deal. I understand what they're going
forward with the heat, but at some point this is
going to need to come to an end. There needs
to have a faction that stands up to them and

(08:07):
just dismantles them and they all go their separate ways.
But I'm with you on that. The chair shots with
Seth Rollins, I'm all for too. I mean, that was
a nice change, a nice big difference from what we
have seen from Seth in the past of just kind
of like talking and there was no real aggression. There
was no sense of urgency from Seth. It felt like,
and he has seemingly snapped and become the chairman of

(08:31):
WWE and gone around and just pummeled anybody that has
thought about being a special guest referee for Baron Corbyn.
So I really liked that aggressiveness from Seth to it
needed to be done. As you said, Seth has been
feeling a bit stale and adding this to his his
character is just another layer that we need to see

(08:53):
from Seth. We needed that, and I was glad to
see it Monday night and obviously bleeding into Tuesday night.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, and it brings almost like a realistic sense to
the character. Because anyone who's constantly being shadowed by a monster,
by a guy like brock Lesner and toyed with the
potential cash, and then you have Baron Corbin just always
kind of like busting his balls in the background and
like taking cheap shots at him. So it makes sense

(09:21):
that eventually any normal person would come to this conclusion
where you would snap eventually. So I like that it
shows it's more like of a realistic feel from Seth
Rawlins as opposed to just the repetitiveness that we both
alluded to. But then to just go back to the
shame thing a bit. I really do like what Chanine's doing.
I've always been a big Shane McMahon fan, and I

(09:44):
like the whole faction thing. I think factions are kind
of a lost art in the WWE these days, or
if they are, if they do get assembled, they're quickly
died out like that awful faction the League of Nations
way back in twenty fifteen or what was it. But yeah,
I like it. I like that now it's transitioning onto
Drew McIntyre. But I think just as a result of

(10:06):
this stupid wildcard rule, it's kind of getting diluted a
bit that we're seeing it on both shows for more
than once per show. So I just wish they would
tone it down of it because I loved the idea,
I love the people in it, I love McIntyre, I
love the revival, but I just think it's getting a
bit too diluted.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
And you mentioned wildcard. What are your thoughts on the wildcard.
I'm hearing a lot of conflicting opinions, very strong opinions
one way and the other. What are your thoughts on
this wildcard rule?

Speaker 3 (10:37):
If it was used to the pure definition of it,
just like three random wrestlers per week could go on,
maybe I could get behind it. Like I told you
the first time I was on the show, before I
was a permanent co host. I grew up in the
ruthless Aggression era, and that's when the brand split was
in full force, and that was like no one crossed

(10:58):
over brands and the only time you saw crossovers was
at the Royal Rumble. Now I understand it's not like
that anymore, but and I know they're more loosely with
the rules, so like I'm trying to be open to
the idea, you know, times change, but it's not even
random three on each shows. It's now four or five
or six, and it's always the same four or five

(11:20):
or six. They're just using the wild card to use
the same wrestlers weekend week out on both shows. It's
not changing. It's always Samy Zing going to SmackDown, Alexa
Bliss going to SmackDown, Drew going to SmackDown. It's always
Roman coming to Raw, Kevin Owen's coming to Raw, Bailey
coming to Raw. It's not being creative, and I thought

(11:40):
the whole point was to give more creativity to the
writing and make it more unpredictable, but it's actually become
the exact opposite. It's predictable, same thing, same thing, every week.
And I absolutely hate it. Honestly, I can't stand it.
And we're not seeing other wrestlers being you so like
we've barely seen Cedric Alexanderson's he came up, and you're

(12:04):
supposed to be like the big graduation from cruiser Weight
to Raw. So yeah, I just think it's done more
harm than good.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
And it's also I think an admission, although it would
never be admitted, but it's kind of been a subset
admission by WWE that they're of their failure to create
big stars that can hold down both brands, so they
have to take their biggest stars and put them on
both shows. And as you just said, you already know
who's going to be there. So this this quote, this

(12:33):
idea that the wild card is supposed to add this
this unpredictability factor that anything could happen at any time,
it's done the opposite because you know which stars are
going to show up, and they've taken their top stars
and just just diluted the entire product with those stars.
And now you've overexposed them on both shows twice a week.
So it's not you're doubling down on the problem by

(12:56):
doing this, which is it's really unbelievable when you think
about it, that this rule was supposed to be doing
the opposite of what it's actually doing. And if it was,
as you said, implemented to a t in the exact
way that it was meant to. Yes, this could be
a very cool idea if NXT stars could do it.

(13:16):
Have we seen an NXT star come up and utilize
this wildcard rule? I mean anybody. And furthermore, and I've
said this before and I won't get too much more
into it, but how is this done. Nobody has explained
to the fans how it's decided who shows up. They
just I don't understand as it first come for surf
first to the building. Nobody's explained this, so that furthermore

(13:38):
is diluding this whole wild card thing, which is just
it's nonsensical. But as you said, I would love them
to go back to totally Sprint lands, Sprint split brands,
I'll get it right. And they just have one world
living in it of itself and an island another island,
and they never ever ever cross has unless there's an

(14:01):
absolute big reason to do it. Maybe it's WrestleMania. As
you said, I remember when Goldberg and brock Lesner were
on separate brands, and I mean back in two thousand
and four when they had their terrible match of WrestleMania twenty.
But I remember how crazy it was to see, Oh
my god, Goldberg's on SmackDown. He's not supposed to be here,
and it just felt like it felt much more exciting
when it genuinely felt as if somebody was invading the

(14:23):
other opposing brands show. So we don't have that. Nothing's surprising.
You know who's going to be there. And this whole
thing is not even a wild card. It's just a
it's a quasi brand split, but really there's no brand
spit anymore.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
So oh yeah, and that's exactly it. And it just
feels like they knew the ratings were down, so they
wanted a reason to get top superstars from both brands
and just use them on Raw and smack them. Like
look look at this past week on Raw, Daniel Bryan
Russeth rawlins of that kind of match, zero build to it,

(14:59):
no law behind it, Like it makes no sense and
you're just wasting it. And was it a good entering match?
Of course it was. It's two of the best wrestlers there,
but you're just wasting this to get cheap ratings, in
my opinion, because you advertise this big time match and
I just I can't. I think you're you're a big
proponent of this. I don't care if the match is

(15:21):
super good. If the story is garbage or in this case, nonexistent,
I'm not gonna care about it. I won't. I've never
been a big guy of like, Okay, well we'll throw
two really technical guys together out of nowhere and you'll
draw attention. No, I'll get behind a really good story
even if I know that the in ring product won't

(15:43):
be its best, Like shit, Shane mcmanhn versus Vince McMahon
at Wrestling A seventeen that like, we knew that the
entering product wasn't gonna be too good, But I to
this day go back and watch that match because I
remember the build to it, and the build of Shane
coming to his mother's aid and all this in the
street fight and Dad versus Son and this and that

(16:06):
and now with this wildcard world like except for like
the same stories of Roman against Shane or a Lexa
Bliss against Bailey, and then somehow, some way, Kevin Owens
and Sammy Zine always weasel their way in as just
guys who lose. Because that's why I just feel like
they are now guys to put over the good guys.
I don't know, it's it's just really bothersome to me

(16:29):
that they're just using this to be creative, but it's
the opposite, and it's just the same thing, weak and
weak out and just the stories have just gotten so
diluted and just poorly written.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
And and we're not gonna beat it at horser But yeah,
I mean, we've said everything there is to say in
terms of the wild card execution, and I don't think
we're being unfair. This is just the truth. I mean,
the fact that you can bring a team over and
only consider them as one out of the four wild
cards is preposterous, because why doesn't everybody just say they're

(17:00):
a team and oh, we're all just considered one. So
I mean, like, it's just the ridiculousness of this and
the fact that they don't ever take the time to
just give us basic details of how this works is
maddening and insults fans intelligence. And it's lazy, sloppy booking
to allow themselves leeway to book however they want without regulation,

(17:21):
to fit whatever story they want to fit at the time,
even if there's no parameters for it. It's it's the
worst possible storytelling that you could make if you're if
you're an author of any book. It's just terrible. So
moving on, though I want to, I'm going to move
away from this because I could, I could run about
the wild card for a while. I'm not gonna do that.
So what about Dolf Ziggler? Do you are you? Are

(17:43):
you thinking like, hey, does Dolf Zigler even belong in
the main event picture? Do you think that Dolf Ziggler
is deserving? Do you like that he is saying it
should have been me? What's your take on Ziggler and
Kofi Kingston.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
Oh? Well, I've always like Dolf Ziggler because he's kind
of a diverse character. You can kind of give him
anything and he'll spin it into gold if you will.
But I, as we talked about when I came on
the show about a month ago, I really liked at
the beginning. I feel like this should have been me
saying the promos. It's starting to get a little bit repetitive,

(18:20):
but I still like it. But even though he's kind
of referring back to like his screaming thing, now, the
one thing about golf, and I'm happy that he's getting
a second match because I thought it was just gonna
be a one and done in a super Showdown. But
I still feel like he's just a placeholder challenger, and
it just it gets that feeling because he doesn't really

(18:42):
like even though he's the number one contender for the
w Championship, he's still kind of just on the side
of it. Like he comes out at the first segment
of the show, he wrestles a match against Zevier Woods,
and he's done, and then the guy who he's challenging
for the belt on Sunday is often a completely irrelevant
tag team match. So even though I like for the

(19:02):
most part what he's doing and I think that he
should have been there, no play intended, even though I
think that he belongs to be there, it just it
gives off this feel. And this is more on the
writing than him, that I'm not taking him seriously as
a potential winner and they're just kind of finding a
placeholder challenger until they can find something more concrete heading

(19:24):
into SummerSlam.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, he does. He feels like a placeholder. And I
said this last night on the show that I did
with for the SmackDown review, is that Dolf Ziggler he
the thing is his character has been educated to fans
for how many years now that he can wrestle his
ass off, he can sell his ass off, he can
cut a good promo. He's not a bad character. He's

(19:50):
not bad on the mic. He's decent on the mic.
I mean, aside from his screaming. And even when he's screaming,
you're still paying attention. There are certainly worse guys in
the business on the promo than Dolf Ziggler. I would
say good to above average. And so the problem, though is,
no matter what how good his problem is, no matter
how good he is in the ring, you just know,
because of years and years and years of booking, that

(20:13):
Dolf Ziggler is going to lose the big match, because
we have been educated to believe that, and I have
no reason to believe otherwise until proven wrong. Dolf Ziggler's
character has been a victim of creative booking and just
just booking that has destroyed the credibility of his character.
Anytime he tells us he's going to win, he has
to win. I will beat you. It's like, but you're

(20:34):
not going to Like Dolph, Let's be real, you're not
gonna win. We all know you're not going to win.
And that's the problem with his character. Beyond the fact
that he is one of the best in the ring
and has been for quite some time, and is a
he can make his opponent look like a million bucks.
That's a huge asset. But as you just said, uh,

(20:55):
Kofi Kingston, I think is on a roll and he
is a a people's champion, no pun intended. And anytime
that and I've said this before too, anytime Kobe Kingston
or anytime a champion wins the championship at WrestleMania, it's
a championship win that needs to stick for six months.
And I really believe that you can't just have a

(21:16):
champion win it WrestleMania and then have them lose the
next month or two months after, because then it really
means nothing. WrestleMania is the reset button, Wrestlemani's the end
all be all, And on top of it, it doesn't
hurt that Kobe Kingston's a black man. I mean, let's
be honest, he is the perfect candidate right now for
WWE's progressive ideology to play. Kate, Hey, we have an

(21:37):
African American champion. I mean, I don't think he's being
used for that, but it certainly doesn't hurt that he
is the face of WWE right now. There's a lot
of things going against Dolf Ziggler, and those are just
a couple of them. But overall, look, I am a
fan of Dolph Ziggler to a point. You know, I'm
not gonna go there and scream my face off like
a thirteen year old girl for him. But I think
that he has a lot of good qualities and it's

(21:59):
just unfortunate that they didn't strike while the iron was hot.
And when I think the iron was the most hot
for him was I think it was the night after
WrestleMania at twenty seven, don't quote me on maybe twenty
seven to twenty eight, and he cashed in and won
the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto del Rio And he
was a placeholder champion then and he feels like a
placeholder contender now.

Speaker 3 (22:19):
Yeah, because I if memory shouldn't correctly, they ended up
at the end of that feud, it culminated in a
double term turn with him and Alberto do Rio, if
I'm not mistaken, where like in one match they swapped
heel and face positions and honestly, like that whole feud,
Like I just hated Alberto do Rio. I thought he

(22:40):
was the most boring thing I'd ever seen, and they
were just kind of recreate Eddie Guerrero to be honest,
but yeah, to get back on Dolf Ziegler, like it's
just kind of been the same thing over and over
and over again with them. I did think they were
kind of rejuvenating it with his initial phase run when
they first the brand split in twenty sixteen or the

(23:02):
second brand splint, I must say, because he was the
initial number one contender to Dean Ambrose at the time
on SmackDown to the w W Championship. They actually had
a title match at SummerSlam that year, and then he
kind of had that feud with the Mizz of the
Intercontinental Championship, and I thought that there was going places,
and then it just kind of died again. And then

(23:23):
he did the whole like the no music thing, the
no entrance themes thing, and then he walked out after
winning the US titles. So I just found that his
character has been kind of hard to follow. He's all
over the place. He was somewhat relevant when he teamed
with Braun and McIntyre last year when he was on Raw.
It's just and I feel bad because I do like

(23:44):
the wrestler for the most part, but it's just been
way too hard to follow because it's been all over
the place. He's been faced, he's been heel, he's been
kind of cocky and arrogant, or now he's kind of psycho.
It's just too much, and I just I don't see
how there's any way that he actually wins this title
or how I can even take him seriously.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
You can't. And that's a good point too, that his character,
there's zero consistency in his not just as you said
heal and face, just his personality, like we don't know
who he is outside of a great in ring wrestler.
We just don't know who he is. And I'm sure
that him as a as a person is extremely frustrated

(24:26):
with Creative just not giving him a clear path and saying, yeah,
you're this this month, this next month, but you know,
we'll see how this goes and then we pull back
and then there's just stop, start, stop, start, go over here,
go over there, And when you get to that point,
no matter how good you are in the ring, fans
get complacent. They just go who cares? I mean, like this,

(24:47):
this guy's clearly not the guy that WW is gonna
get behind. How can we get behind him if we
know that he's going nowhere? And that's exactly where Dolf
Ziggler is. And it's really unfortunate because I really think
he could have been He could have been a top
top guy had they given him a serious run and
go all in with him at one point. But they

(25:08):
never have. So let's let's get to something that we
like and something that I like. And I think I
brought this up last time, but it is a shining
light in my week of WWE, and that's a Firefly
fun House. Now I can't remember. Are you a fan
of the Firefly fun House?

Speaker 3 (25:25):
Yes? Very much?

Speaker 1 (25:26):
So Okay, now now that we're what almost two months,
probably closing in maybe on two months of this, are
you still as big of a fan? Are you ready
to just say, oh my god, just debut you already?
Where do you stand with this?

Speaker 3 (25:38):
I've loved it. There was a point where that one
episode of him when he was like dancing and it
was almost like a your music video and I looked
at my girlfriend, I'm just like, did we take LSB
and I didn't know, but on his ears note, there
was a point where I was like, Okay, it's hanging old.

(26:00):
But it actually worked out perfectly because they dropped the
whole fiend thing for a bit and there's either two
or three weeks where you didn't really see him, and
now he pulls you back in. And this episode was
just amazing because now it's kind of it's starting to
make a lot more sense that, like, from what I'm
taking from it is that he's saying like he was
always rejected, so he created this altered ego to protect

(26:22):
himself from it, And I just think it's amazing. I
think they're really pushing the boundaries here of PG. Again,
I think you shared the same concern, or the only
concern I may have is that I just hope that
when he finally does debut, they execute it properly, because
they've built it so well better than anything they've done

(26:43):
in the last number of years that it would just
kill me to see them just butcher it when he
finally does debut. But as of right now, I think
it's the best thing they have going.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
WWA cannot under any circumstances screw this up. They can't.
This is one of the best things, as you said,
that they have had going in. I can't remember the
last time. When is the last time that WWE has
utilized Vignette's videos, promos, whatever to this extent to where
there's this much anticipation for not only the video itself,

(27:18):
but also when is he going to debut? I can't wait.
What's gonna happen? How's it going to be? Is he
going to come out in a sweater vest? Is he
gonna come out as a fiend? How's it going to work?
Is he gonna be like Finn Balor and kind of
a regular guy but bring out the demon when he
needs to? I don't know, And I think that's the
interesting part, but also the part that I'm scared of,
Like I'm nervous that they are going to really really

(27:38):
mess this up and they can't. And bray Wyatt has
done an amazing, amazing job going all in with this character.
Like when I look at bray Wyatt, I believe that
he's like that in real life. He's gotten me to
that point where I believe that he is this crazy.
Of course I still know it's fantasy, but at the

(27:59):
same time, and I'm watching I Get Lost, and that's
what I miss watching w w A, and I just
I watch this this firefly finouse every week and I'm
looking for Easter eggs and I'm looking for hints, and
there are there's so many layers to every episode that
he's done that you could spend hours every week dissecting
just that episode because of just all the all the

(28:21):
different things that he's put in each episode, between the
characters' names and the things that he says, the looks
that he gives, the way he says things. There are
so many different things that you could dissect that it's
just it's so complex, but it's easy to follow at
the same time. And he is he's a he's a
master at making you just pulling you in right now.

(28:43):
He's he's masterful at that. And he has got us hooked.
And it's been two months, I think around two months,
probably a little bit less, but it's been to the
I don't think it's I'm not to the point of,
oh my god, I'm sick of this. Let's just get
him in the in the ring. I want this to
go as long as it needs to go. And I
want creative behind the scenes and Vince McMahon to make

(29:05):
sure they have all of their ducks in a row
and have a long term plan for Bray Wyatt, not
just well, we're debuting against I don't know Matt Hardy
and see how he does. No, no, No, they need
to have a vision and stick by their guns and
go all out with this character and see their plan through,
which hopefully is a three to six month maybe even

(29:27):
longer plan for Bray White. I need this to succeed.
Bray needs us to succeed in Wwe cannot flop on this.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
Yeah, and I'm really hoping that when he does come out,
it's not just him, you know, squashing people like just
no names or really bottom card guys. Because you mentioned
this the last time we spoke about it. He's already
an established wrestler. Sure he's been repackaged to the fullest extent,
but people know who Brainwytt is. He's been a WW champion,

(29:57):
he's been around since twenty twelve or whatever it is.
He can just come in and you know, squash like
Apollo Cruise or whatever. When the guy's chasing the twenty
four seven title, he has to come in and get
into a few that's worthwhile, like come in and attack
Roman Reigns or take or fight with Kofi Kingson. I

(30:18):
want him to come in and make an impact, because
already his story of the Firefly Funhouse is making such
an impact that he's not even in the ring. So
I don't want him to show up on either Raw
or SmackDown or at this straat both and take a
back seat. I want him to come in and I
want this story to be the focal point of the

(30:39):
show because I think it can be, and I think
people want it to be. And he's just such a
mastermind at it as you brought up, and he's good
in the ring. We've seen him be good in the ring.
I just think that when he comes out, they better
pick their spot properly, because it can't just be a
storyline on the back burner. It has to be front
and center. It has to be in a major your

(31:00):
storyline or possibly for a title. I don't know what
they're gonna do, but I just know that they have
to make it worthwhile. It can't just be an afterthought, No.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
It absolutely can't. WW has no choice on this one.
And I don't say that lightly. I don't know if
I've set that in quite a while, but if they
botched this, there's gonna be I think a lot of
angry fans that that are. I mean, they might I
don't want to say the rebel, but you could turn
a lot of fans off very quickly if this is

(31:33):
is failed. And it's failed on the part of WWE,
and Bray White has put so much effort into this
and has done an amazing job. So let's touch on
the women's division, and I just have to put some
quick thoughts. So in general, you know, for a while,
it felt as if Becky Lynch, I think has been
cooled off and I think that she has been kind

(31:53):
of just flopping out there since WrestleMania. I alluded to
a few weeks ago that maybe it's because she hasn't
had the great dance partner of Ronda Rowsey hanging around,
which I think is a big contributing factor. And you
have Lacy Evans who's been put front and center against
Becky Lynch. And while some people may really really dislike

(32:16):
Lacy Evans and thinks she's undeserving, and yes, she had
a terrible match against Charlotte A number of weeks ago.
Of course it was awful. It was probably the worst
match of the year. But you need to establish new
stars and build new stars. You can't just have all
the time stars against stars. You need to have people
that are up and coming, and after WrestleMania is the

(32:37):
perfect time to do it, to build that new star
for the new year. And I think overall, Lacy Evans
has done a good job as the heel. I don't
think she's masterful in the ring. She does need work,
but that'll come in time. She's got her promo down
better than most do when they come up from NXT,

(32:58):
even though she does speak a little litle bit slow,
and Becky Lynch alluded to that pretty well on Monday
net Raw. But I think she's She's got a good presence.
I don't mind her right now is the challenger because
I want to see Lacy Evans get her ass kicked
and that's what I want to feel. And Becky Lynch,
on the other hand, has kind of felt luke warm.

(33:21):
I haven't got that spark, that energy that I want
a as Becky Lynch really had when she turned heel
and turned her really into the biggest babyface in WWE,
but has since cooled off and right now she's I
don't think going to be getting back to that status
when she's in a program with Lacy Evans. However, right
now I'm fine with Lacy Evans going against Becky Lynch.

(33:43):
We all know Lacy Evans isn't going to win the championship,
at least not at this time. So those are my thoughts.
What do you think about the women's division, and not
just even Becky and Lacy Evans, but the SmackDown women's
division as well well.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
I think the women's division as a whole has kind
of I won't see torpee, but it hasn't been as
good as it was pre Wrestlingia because leading up to WrestleMania,
I would argue that it was much more entertaining than
the men's division. But since WrestleMania, you know, Charlotte's kind
of she's been there, but now like the past few weeks,
she's kind of not been around. Sasha Banks has been

(34:16):
on a hiatus. We haven't really seen Naomi or Ember
Moon in prominent roles, so it's kind of just been Bailey,
Becky and Lacy Evans. Becky I find she's gotten really stale.
You know, I feel like her promos have just become
the same thing, calling people blokes or what have you.

(34:38):
And I won't say that I'm happy that she's cooled
off to this extent, but I am also because I
think people took Ronda Rousey for granted and they didn't
realize just how good Rowsey was in promos and in
the ring, and as you said before, she was a
great dance partner for Becky. I personally really like Lacy Evans.

(35:01):
Obviously she does need work in the ring, but I
think she's hammered down her character perfectly. Her promos are good,
you understand her standpoint, and she's just not quite there
to elevate Becky's game. I just think that Becky's become
just repetitive and it's the same thing and we know
that people have held you down and blah blah blah,

(35:24):
and I don't know. I just I've had a hard
time getting behind Becky lately. But as for Lazy, I
think she's been the best part of the women's division
up until Alexa Bliss getting back into entering competition. Because
I think that Alexa Bliss Bailey storyline is much more
intriguing aside from the fact that Alexa Bliss is a
raw competitor fighting for the Smackdowens title, but we already

(35:46):
touched the wildcard rule. But as a whole, I think
that storyline of Bailey and Alexa is much more intriguing
than Becky and Lazy right now.

Speaker 1 (35:56):
Yes, and I'm glad you brought up Becky and Alexa
because that's something I wanted to talk to about as well.
But just to finish up on Becky and Lacy, I
really think that they as you said, Lacy Evans has
her character. She down more than most do and more
than some more established stars do. And she has come

(36:17):
up from NXT and made it impact, made it impact quickly,
and that's what you want. And she feels different than
most of the women. That's what you want to you
want to differentiate yourself from the pack. She's done that.
She's the sassy Southern bell or whatever cute nickname they
give her. But she plays the part. She goes all in.
That's what I want, and she does it, and she's

(36:37):
got a really good looking finish. I like the woman's right,
it's it's nice. It's kind of the female version of
Big Shows WMD Weapon of Mass Destruction. I'm fine with it.
I think it's it's unique. And you know, on top
of that, Becky, as you said, has kind of just
spun her wheels. I mean that's kind of a that's

(36:59):
a good analogy. She's just there running on old fumes,
not giving us something new to get behind her on.
She's just still kind of in WrestleMania post match mode
instead of looking ahead and just saying the same things
you said, it good. I mean, she's just saying, everybody's

(37:20):
held me down. I've done this all my life. I've
put dopes down like you. Okay, well come up, we
need something more, Becky. Please. Right now, I'm starting to
lose a little bit of interest in Becky Lynch. She's
nowhere near how hot she was. If you would put
her out a ten from how hot she was the
night after the Royal Rumble, I'd say she's about a
three or a four right now. That's based on crowd reaction,

(37:43):
that's just based how I feel sitting at home watching her.
I mean, I'm interested when she comes out, but I
don't have that unpredictable feeling. I don't have the rebellious nature,
that instinct that I felt when Becky Lynch came out.
She's just kind of another one of the women, and
she happens to be champion, and I don't want that

(38:03):
for Becky Lynch. As far as Bailey and Alexa go Man,
that promo they had on SmackDown. While they clearly booked
it for a work shoot promo, it came across very
real and I'm sure that a lot of that, some
of that material was instinctual and from their own brains

(38:23):
in the moment, and that's what I love too. When
Alexa noted to Bailey, Hey, you know you peaked an NXT?
What have you done since you got here? And boy
is that true? Since Bailey got here outside of her
being the I don't know she was some surprise tag
team partner. I forget what pay per view. She has
just gone up, down, up, down, down, down, down, down down,

(38:47):
and her and Sasha going back and forth and the
love you Hate You mode for a year and a
half and the Bailey this is your life that she
had with ironically Alexa Bliss a year and a half ago.
None of that didn't hurt anything. And the promo they
had it brought it all back together. It made Bailey
human again. It It really also kind of made me

(39:10):
side with Alexa because she had a lot of good
valid points that as a heel I typically don't. I'm
not supposed to. I feel like I agree with and
you know, see that they see their side of it.
But they both had some scathing things to say. And yes,
of course it was a workshoot promo, but I don't know,
I loved it. What did you think about that on

(39:31):
SmackDown Lives?

Speaker 3 (39:32):
Oh, it was really good. It felt real, it felt authentic.
I liked it. I well, in general, I've liked the
Nikki cross element to it. I like that, like, you know,
the whole manipulation on the part of Alexa Blizz and yeah,
I just think that a lot of it felt like
it came from the gut with them. It's made me
care about Bailey. It's not just like she you know,

(39:56):
she was the cartoon character and at first it was fine,
but then the fire die I know quick, but lately,
like I like seeing her come out just in street
clothes and jeans and a T shirt and regular girl
heels or whatever, and it just felt like she's more
relatable now, and so it makes me care about Bailey,
it makes me want to support her. And Alexa well,

(40:17):
she's just always been great as a heel and getting heat.
But yeah, I'm really invested in this match. I'm looking
forward to this match as opposed to the raw one
where I just really couldn't care at this point. But yeah,
I really like what Bailey and Alexa have done and
that problem they had on SPACT that was amazing.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
And it, like you said in One Fell Swoop, they
made me care about this program more than they have
ever since they started having a few, and that was
years ago too. This this is not something I want
to see all the time. I don't need this workshoot
style every single time. But when it's done in dribs
and drabs here and there, when you don't see it coming,

(41:00):
that's when it's the most effective. So just because it
was super effective this week doesn't mean I want to
see it every single week. I don't mind the you know,
the typical WWE created promo. Sometimes that's not a bad
thing to have. I don't want to make it feel
like they're reading lines. But I also don't need the
shoot aspect all the time. Because it just it takes

(41:22):
me out of the moment. I need I need it occasionally.
So yeah, the street clothes thing, and while Alexi said
it looks like you're working at you know, forever twenty one,
which made me laugh, it did humanize her, just as
it did with Drew McIntyre, not constantly seeing him in
street clothes or in in his wrestling gear and having
him just wear jeans and his shirt or whatever. Just

(41:45):
the simple thing of that humanizes people quickly. And Bailey
was a cartoon character Bailey Buddies. I just like to
hug people. I come out and I'm all colorful. I
want to who's Bailey? I need to know who you
are as a person and what your mission is. Apparently
you're done giving hugs, but your Bailey buddies are still here.
I don't know. I don't know. But the Nicky Cross

(42:07):
thing is interesting too. And for Bailey to say to NICKI, Hey,
do you remember Naya Jax? What did Alexa do to
Nia JACKX? Do you remember Mickey James? What did she
do to Mickey James? How do you not see this coming?
And interestingly too, I don't know if this was by
design or not but Niki Cross never actually punched, kicked,

(42:29):
did anything too to Bailey to pull her off of Alexa.
Other than just pull her off. There was no actual
physical exchange between the two, So whether Nicki Cross turns
on Alexa or not remains to be seen. But it
was just interesting that they never actually had a physical
exchange in that moment that she could have and there was.

(42:49):
There was also a pause or a hesitation by Nicki
after Bailey had started attacking Alexa, So that's just something interesting.
But yeah, to take Nicky Cross into this, it does
add another layer. I don't know what the endgame is
for Nicky, but I hope it ends with Nicky not
looking like a fool.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
You know, Matt, you said something in there that I
wanted to touch on because it doesn't have to do
with the women particularly, but you said that it worked
this week, So I hope they don't keep using it
and gets diluted because they think we've touched on. When
Vince McMahon likes something, he beats that thing to death.
And one thing that I don't understand why he keeps

(43:27):
going to is Sammy Sane and Kevin Owens. You know,
I don't understand why that these two constantly have to
be paired together as just glorified trolls, and because they
have relatively big names attached to them that like their
losses will automatically put over the over guys. And it's

(43:48):
just been something bothering me that like these guys, like
I've has had seen them, been building matches like final
time ever culmination of for her best friends, they won't
meet again now one's on raw, ones unsmacked up, but
then for some reason they're always just put back together
as giant trolls. And it's just it's bothered me that,

(44:10):
like it's been going on for so long now, because
now we're coming up on two years that the whole
thing started with the angle against ironically Shane McMahon, that
that's all that they've been and since the days where
Sammy Sing was actually a somewhat relevant mid card guy
and Kevin Owens was a competitor against aj Styles for
the US title and the Universal Championship, and now I

(44:34):
just feel like because their whole slightly heeled comedic act work,
but that's all they use these guys for, and I
just feel like these guys are being wasted big time.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
Now I'm gonna try to remain a little calm here,
because last night I went, I went off on this
topic that that Kevin Owens and Sammy Zy they are
sorely underutilized, and that is being the most mild that
can be. They have such an upside. I don't care
if Vince McMahon looks at Kevin Owens and says, look
at him, he's got a beer gut. He can't be

(45:08):
the face of the WWE. I mean, I feel like
that's what Vince McMahon is thinking. And I don't know
why they put him as Universal champion. And since that
time after Triple H handed it to him, if we
all forgot he lost to Goldberg and then we have
he just spiraled down into an abyss. And once he

(45:28):
was doing these promo videos to come back, if you
want to call him promo videos. He's in a bowling
alley with his kids, he's at a movie theater and
he comes back as a baby face and I'm like,
all right, cool, Like I want to see how this
Kevin Owens babyface run goes. And they cut that so
quickly that I well, I mean, everyone said all they
shouldn't have done it that quick, and I'm kind of

(45:49):
torn because we all knew the other shoe was gonna
drop and it was a matter of time when he
turned here. Okay, so he turns heel, He's back to
where we all thought he was going to be anyway.
But then they just have him lose and lose and lose.
What has Sammy done since he came back and was
a critic of the critics, which I think has gotten
good momentum and I actually enjoy It's something different, unique,

(46:10):
And they bring out an electric chair one week, which
made no sense, but they had an interaction with fans
and it seemed legitimate. It didn't seem like they were
plants in the audience. You get to ask Sammy zaying
questions and he attacks the fans and he's the critic
of the critics. I think that was great, it was original.
I am enjoying it, and they gave him a lot
of time to do it. And yet braun Stroman comes

(46:33):
out flattens him. You know, Kofi Kingston beats him like there,
And I know wins and losses don't really matter too
much in the in the world of professional wrestling. This
fantasy environment but I can't get behind characters that lose
and lose and lose and lose, and two guys that
could easily either one be a top guy and I'm

(46:55):
talking champion, just as Samoajo. And maybe we'll touch on
Samoojo too. You can put some o Joe in this
argument too. All three guys, why are they being just
just pushed to the side, not given an opportunity to
take the ball and just go to the end zone
when they could easily do it. All three are very

(47:16):
experienced independent scene. They've had their independent scene run. They
know who they are, they are, they understand the business,
they understand the psychology. They can work a crowd, they
can have amazing matches, and yet they lose week after
week after week. And maybe, and I said this last night,
maybe it's because for Kevin Owens anyway, that he's being

(47:39):
punished by management for not going to Saudi Arabia. I
don't know, I don't know the reasoning, but it is
maddening that three, these three guys who could if my god,
maybe they're eyeing AW because if they ever go to
AW and are allowed to just creatively do whatever they want,
look out. I mean I'm sure they feel handcuffed. I'm
sure all three feel frustrated, so I'll just stop there.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
Well, yeah, and we saw glimpses of the old Kevin
Owens when he was like that vicious heel and he
could really be a force to you. Reckon with sam
he's ay, it feels as though like, unless he's just
riding shotgun with Kevin Owens, he's a nobody to them.
And it's kind of weird because when he first came
back and he was the critic of the critics, you
thought like, Okay, they're finally gonna let him go off

(48:24):
on his own, but no, he just somehow inexplicably used
the wild card rule again, jumped a SmackDown, and now
him he's basically riding shotgun with Kevin. Like I just said.
As for Samoa Joe, it's just it's feeling like bray
Wyan all over again, where he's like this vicious, like
evil heel and like no one can stop him. And

(48:46):
then he I remember you talked about how like Somojo
has this aspect that even when he loses, he makes
you believe that he's gonna come back better than ever.
But even when he loses now, he always has that
like look of shock on his face. I don't know
if you know what I'm talking about, where he gets
rolled up and he's like completely distraught. But it happens

(49:07):
so often. He loses so much that that look on
his face it's not even realistic anymore. It's always funny
to me because you're just like, how is he shocked?
This always happens to me. He always loses. And I
know that they put the US title back on him,
which I am happy about because I think he's a
guy that could benefit from it and the title could

(49:29):
benefit from him as well. I still find it ridiculous
that he got it because Raymond Steer has vacated it.
I remember you touched on it, Like, when has that
ever happened before? The title never just gets vacated and
then handed to someone. It always has to be fought for,
like what happened with Roman Rains when he had to
go away for his leukemia. So even though they put

(49:50):
the belt back on Joe, it doesn't mean anything because
they just handed it to him. But another thing is like,
do titles mean anything anymore? Obviously, the two major titles
of the Universal and the WWE means something. But again,
Finn Baler, besides his win against Andradi a Super Showdown,
I don't even know if I've seen him on television,

(50:12):
let alone win a match since he's been drafted the SmackDown.
Samoa Joe is the US champ, but I don't think
he's won a match since being the US champ. And
as for the tag team titles, well, Hawkins and Ryder
literally lost it their first titled event since WrestleMania, and
that's just ridiculous to me, Like, I think people have

(50:33):
forgotten that they had these titles and that's why they
eventually just put them back on the Revival. So yeah,
I think Joe at this point is just a very
big victim of just how badly they use the titles
right now.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
It's a crime. I mean, I feel like this could
be a felony of sorts, Like there's got to be
some kind of penal code for this. It's awful. And
Samoa Joe is a guy that would easily be a
top guy, you know. And when I said that about
Smojo and his promos, he he is. You could have
him lose and his promo the next night would make

(51:09):
you feel like he won and you want to see
him you lose again. He's got that ability, and that
is an ability I don't really know anybody has that
I can think of beyond Smojoe. It is such a
good quality. But he loses and loses and loses. It's
it's as if his one win was a fluke win
and it happened to be for a championship and since then,

(51:31):
I mean, he constantly loses. At WrestleMania, I said, Okay,
here we go. He beat Raymisterio in like a blink
of an eye. They're gonna finally strap the rocket to him.
He's just gonna tear through in the SmackDown Live roster
and they're just gonna have him be a bulldozer. And
he loses and loses and loses on roll ups and

(51:51):
roll ups and roll ups, and it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous
that Smojo would lose on a roll up, the guy
that nearly beat brock Lesner straight up. So but as
far as the tag team champions go, if we're going
to jump into that realm the revival, yeah, I think
it's simply because they are associated with Shane McMahon and
they want to get more heat on that faction that

(52:13):
they have the gold and they were told if you
bring the gold, you can come to the party. Well,
they brought the gold and now they're invited to that
backstage champagne lobster whatever it was that Roman reigns ended
up crashing. But on the flip side, I'm really liking
Rowan and Brian as champions on SmackDown Live and Heavy Machinery.

(52:37):
I really think that they are good, formidable opponents for
Daniel Brian and for Rowan. Rowan, who has been reinvented
from the really the third wheel of the Wyatt family
and has been re educated to us as a legitimate threat,
a legitimate big man, a guy that can take a
lot of punishment, kick out of finishers, and is the

(52:58):
heavy for Daniel Bryan. And I'm really liking this duo
the Planet's champions. I think that Daniel Brian has done
a great job with his veganism brought to the max
to be arrogant and an obnoxious and they're doing a
really good job despite the fact that they are not
being booked to be anywhere near the focal point of

(53:19):
the show. They are always a highlight of the show
because Daniel Brian is so believable and his delivery is
always very smooth. It's easy to understand and it's they're
arrogant and the fact that Daniel Bryan has been able
to pull the wool over fans eyes and in a
way that you resent Daniel Brian now, a character that
we never thought we'd hate again is just a tribute

(53:43):
to the genius and mastery that is Daniel Brian and
he's and Rowan is certainly benefiting from this, and that's
always a plus.

Speaker 3 (53:51):
Yeah, Daniel Brian is brilliant. I think he's one of
the best talkers right now. He's a great wrestler and
he's just great in whatever rule he does. He's really
taking the ball and run with it in his full
blown Heel Vegan mode. And I think Rowan is really excelled.
He got a shot and he's really like taken advantage
of it, and I really it's good to see how

(54:12):
well they're doing because it seemed as though before WrestleMania
SmackDown was loaded with tag teams and now all of
a sudden, there's none. You know, Jeff Hardy got hurt
so they're so the Hardy Boys don't exist right now.
The USOS went to Raw, the New Day have basically
been taken out because of what's gone on with Kofe,
the bar inexplicably dismembered, and now Cizarro is off being

(54:37):
some weird character on Raw that we'll get to. But yeah,
I really like what they've done on SmackDown Rowan and
Brian that is. I like how Brian has alluded to
the fact that SmackDown has no formidable tag team challengers.
As for Heavy Machinery, I really like them. They feel
like an old school type tag team. I find them

(54:58):
funny too, and they're well plays comedy because it's organic
they don't go out of their way to but they
also are good in the ring. I find them entertaining,
and I think it's a good kind of feud because
obviously Heavy Machinery are rather heavier set guys. So Daniel
Brian can kind of like, you know, grasp onto that
about like the whole vegan thing and being healthy and

(55:20):
not stuff in your face with gluten. But yeah, that's
been a really bright spot. I've always liked Daniel. Brian
Rowan's been nice touch and they've had good chemistry with
heavy machinery.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
Yeah. And while we're on that subject, as you said
about Cizarrow, though I don't know what they're doing with Ciarrow.
I don't think Cesarrow knows what they're doing with Czarrow.
It's just another iteration of them trying to find and
Cesarrow trying to find who he is. We all know
he is freakishly strong in the ring, he's a great competitor,

(55:52):
he is in incredible shape. All of that is true,
check check check. The problem is he has never been
able to orgain it, connect with the fans on a
level that's outside of the tag team of the bar.
And even the bar didn't really like it. Never connected
with me, like I understood who they were, but I
never was saying, oh hey, yeah, I understand what you

(56:14):
I mean, I connect, I feel what you're doing. They
just kind of came up with the catchphrase that you
know we are we aren't the bar, we set the bar,
you know whatever, And they never just felt like they
were something that would be long term. They were just
in good in ring competitors announce Czar, as you said,
is doing this whatever he's doing with new music, Okay,

(56:35):
he's refreshed with new music. I'd like to see a
promo from him to let us know who he is.
But his in ring competition on Monday Night certainly spoke
for itself. And that's where he does most of his
talking is in the ring.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
And in his crazy strength that he you know, what
he showed against bron Strohman was just otherworldly. Uh. And
you know he has that ability to go toe to
toe with anybody and put on a five star match
if given the time. So, I mean, obviously that match
was really more focused to Brown bron Strowman, who tossed
everybody around for you know, half the match until he

(57:11):
was eliminated by two guys who were already eliminated, and
then hit you know about three finishers on him before
he was taken out of the match. So what did
you think about that match and what did you think
about Cizarrow getting kind of repackaged.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
Well, the match was good, the match was entertaining. I
think it was like a cool aspect that it was
the elimination factor. As for Cizarrow, I think it's never
been in doubt how good he is in the ring.
I remember, even before the bar he had one or
two really really good matches with John cenn Raw, and
people were always kind of waiting for him to break out,

(57:45):
and then when he got paired with Seamus, I was
personally a fan of the Bar. I liked them. I've
always liked Shamus, and I found that they were also
kind of like an old school like brutish tag team.
But ever since he's been repackaged, it kind of made
me realize why he was an a tag team because
I don't know who he is. I don't know what

(58:06):
his character is, and I found it weird because they
feel like there was even confusion between him and the
creative because when he first started coming out on Raw
solo post WrestleMania without Seamus, he came out using Seamus's
music and then they quickly switched it to new music.

(58:27):
But then for the biggest while, he was still coming
out with the bar wrestling attire and doing the sign
coming to the ring while the commentators were making no
reference to the Bar. And it's only been the past
few weeks where he's got rid of the sign and
got rid of the attire, so it's almost been me
just not taking him seriously because obviously he's good in

(58:47):
the ring, and no one can take that away from him,
But it's just the whole character direction just doesn't make sense.
He hasn't said a word since coming over to Raw
and being dismembered from the bar. So I can get
behind him because I just don't know who he is.
I don't know why he's there. I don't know why

(59:07):
him and Shamus broke up. I know, for real reasons.
I think Seamus left to go fill him teenage mutan,
Ninja turtles or something. But just tell me, why, tell
me what happened, Just tell me anything, you know. It
could be as easy as when Bobby Rood and Chad
Gables split and Ruge just said, ah, he was weighing
me down and I shed two hundred pounds of nothing. Okay,

(59:28):
at least I get it, at least I know why.
But like, I have no reason as to why won
the most successful tag teams over the last two and
a half years randomly dismembered. So yeah, but it's just
been kind of hard for me to get behind him
when it's like there's been no explanation as to why
he's solo.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
It's kind of a funny point, I mean, when you
see Cesarro outside of a tag team, you just said it.
I mean, you go, oh, that's why they put him
in a tag team, and him and Seamus before they
became the bar. We're having a best of seven series
and if you remember, they got to game seven, if
you will, they got to the seventh match, of course,

(01:00:08):
and I believe that match ended in a draw.

Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
And so Mick Foley decided to put them together, and
they reluctantly were together for I don't know how many
months before they finally started to gel and just accepted
each other, and the fans got behind him for a while.
It was Boo Shamus, yay Cesarrow, Boo Shamus yay Czarrow,
and then they just kind of morphed into one and
you know, outside of their catchphrase, they didn't say a

(01:00:33):
whole lot. It was just their catchphrase. And so now
that he's on his own, he needs to tell us
his identity and tell us it fast. While you while
you kind of alluded to it, and I agree that
I'll get behind him because I like Cesarrow as an
in ring performer. I respect him so much and he's
so good that I'll get behind him until they tell

(01:00:54):
me otherwise. But I'm not going to get super excited
about who he is or where he's going until I'm
told who he is, until they tell me something. But
WWE doesn't care about detail, and Vince McMahon you can
hear him backstage. Oh, people don't remember that. People don't care.
They just want to be entertained. Well, here's how you
entertain people by telling them detail and rewarding them for

(01:01:15):
paying attention to detail. But that's not gonna happen. You know,
we'll never get an explanation, just as and I don't
know why I keep bringing this up, but it irks me.
Charlotte got a SmackDown Women's Championship title match a week
before WrestleMania, yet and she won. I mean there was
no zero explanation against Oscar for that. I mean things
like that. How can you overlook that? How can you

(01:01:38):
not tell fans why this is happening or how it's happening. Obviously,
Cizarro and Seamus breaking up I don't think is on
the scale of Charlotte winning the SmackDown Women's Championship a
week before WrestleMania. But it's that same logic, that same
mentality that WWE has creatively vince McMahon that we don't

(01:01:58):
need to tell him, we'll come up with something later,
gonna ask, Well, we're asking, we're asking why wouldn't we
want to know? And it's a fundamental problem with WWA.

Speaker 3 (01:02:09):
And you know what, I like that you brought up
the lack of logic because this is something and it's
been amplified by the wildcard rule that's been bothering me.
Why is it that heels who have never come into
contact before, or heels that have had past beef with
each other, just because their heels they're friends? Like why

(01:02:29):
do Sammy Zin and Kevin Owens inexplicably have the back
of Baron Corbyn? Why is it that like Baron Corbyn
can bump into Bobby Lashley backstage and all of a
sudden their buddies and it goes on to SmackDown Seam
mc mahan's walking into the building, Sammy Zane and Kevin
Owens are there to greet him and kiss his ass.
Do we not remember what went on a year and

(01:02:53):
a half ago that lasted six months between Sea McMahon
and Kevin Owens and Sammy Zin. It's just like I
understand the premise of it that eventually heels will side
with heels and babyfaces will side with baby faces, But like,
let me know why you guys are siding like with
each other. I always found it cool when heels would

(01:03:15):
come into contact with each other and they would actually
like have a bit of beef and say like, oh,
you know, like I don't like you, but the the
enemy of my enemy is my friend or whatever it is.
But like, just give me something, like I just can't
get behind like, okay, they're together because they're two heels. No,
why are they together? Why is this guy backing this guy?

(01:03:36):
And it's just it's too much of just like it's
just lazy, like oh yeah, like you mentioned Evince we met.
Oh yeah, they will remember that Sammy Sane and Kevin
Owens and made the shame McMahan's life a living hell
for five or six months on end. It's just like,
give me something. It just can't be so easy as
heels are friends of heels and babyfaces are friends of babyfaces.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
I think maybe the logic would be, if you're if
I'm talking to Vince McMahon, why are all heels automatically friends?
Maybe his explanation would be, well, fans aren't gonna care
about two heels fighting each other. There's no investment there.
They have nobody to get behind. And that's probably what
he would say, is that's the reason that no one
would care who wins if they got in in any

(01:04:22):
kind of argument or program, because no one would care. However,
you could create a new star and see who the
fans would organically get behind by putting two heels together.
They did that, maybe you remember or not with Kurt
Angle and Triple H when Kurt Angle was getting with
Stephanie McMahon and getting a little close, but Triple H

(01:04:42):
was still the heel. So do you side with Angle?
Do you side with Triple H? And ww left it
up to the fans to decide. That's how you create.

Speaker 3 (01:04:49):
It, Yeah, and exactly culminated at Sumrslim two thousand and
a triple threat match with The Rock, and it actually
happened where the Kurt Angle and Triple H brawled for
about ten minutes before the Rock even got to the ring.
And now I'm not I'm not like you are right,
because why would heels like go against each other? The

(01:05:10):
fans might get behind it. I'm not saying that, but
it's it's also it's more so in the fact that, like,
why are Sammy Zing and Kevin Ohens so behind helping
Baron Corbin out? Why can heels trying to undercut each other?
Like I liked it a bit when Baron Corbin tried
to like take advantage of Drew McIntyre in a Number
one Contenders match something like that. I just I want

(01:05:33):
a bit more of, like a bit more meat behind
the storyline, Like explain to me why they're helping him.
I'm not saying that they have to, you know, go
against each other, because you are right there. I don't
think there would be too much emotional investment in it
from the fans. But at the same time, it can't
just be Okay, well, they're both bad guys, so he's
gonna automatically come out to help him, like what happened

(01:05:55):
at the end of Raw, where like all these different
people were coming out, like the Ussos came out to
help the Fate the the New Day just because they're
both good guys, like in the Daniel Brian and seth
Rawlins match. I just don't like how, just like all
these different storylines will intertwine, and people will side with

(01:06:15):
each other just because ones are booked at baby faces
and the other ones are booked as heels, and that's
the only explanation we get for it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
I think it's just reasons. I mean, that's just reasons.
I mean that you're right that there are no inexplicable
rational reasons why heels and heels and faces and faces
are all just we Oh, well, you're on my side
of the land. Here, on my side of the train tracks,
we all like you. Once you cross over, we automatically

(01:06:45):
dislike you. I mean, it's not reality, that's not life,
but it's the it's the life of WWE's interpretation of
professional wrestling. So now I do want to get to
stomping grounds. But before I get into stomping grounds, is
there anything else that maybe I didn't touch on from
this week that you wanted to get to.

Speaker 3 (01:07:02):
Well, there was one little tidbit of SmackDown that happened backstage,
and it was the whole Apollo Cruise Androtti part where
you know, Androtti basically god Selina Vega to goat in
Apollo Cruz and then he attacked him. And I actually
liked that story and I'm just like, oh, you know,

(01:07:22):
this is like a cool, fresh storyline. And then it
made me realize, like, you know, because of the wildcard rule,
all these guys got in this week a WWE programming
was a minute and a half of a backstage segment.
But that's why I liked the brand split, because guys
like Androtti and Apollo Cruz would get screen time and

(01:07:43):
it was fresh feuds. And those are two guys that
Androtti much more so than Apolo Cruz, But those are
two guys that are very good in the ring and
I think have potential, but they're just buried because Raw
and SmackDown are constantly being taken up by the same
guys and the same storylines. And I just feel like,
if they just let the brand split alone, these are

(01:08:04):
two guys that could actually have a really good undercard
feud and maybe eventually culminating an Intercontinental Championship match or
Number one Contenders match. And again, like, where is Finn Bowler?
And I think he's also a victim of this wildcard rule.
So that whole segment backstage made me realize that I
want to see your wrestlers, and I like a lot

(01:08:26):
of the wrestlers are not using and just kind of
makes me despise the wild card that much more.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
We keep coming back to the wild card, but a
lot of a lot of the source of the problem
is the wildcard that's been implemented, and that is a
side effect, a negative side effect. Another that we can
just tally up on this bandwagon of just terrible ideas,
is that, yes, because you are now bringing in the
same predictable wrestlers into each show. Now, that takes away

(01:08:57):
from the guys that would have gotten the screen time
to build new stars for the guys that are already here,
to just kind of run the same main storyline through
and have the leftovers on SmackDown and the real the
progression of the storylines on Raw and then oh, the
leftovers are smacked down. It's the same thing over and
over and over now since it's been implemented. And guys

(01:09:18):
like Andrade, who, as you said, Andrade is so damn
good in the ring. He's so damn good. Zelena Vega
adds so much to his character. I love that pairing.
They are so good together. Apollo Cruz, who I think
inarguably may have been one of the I'd say least
successful NXT call ups since NXT has been a thing,

(01:09:42):
and he was actually, I believe one of the first
NXT call ups. Yeah, that could be that the spark
for Apollo Cruz that he needs in his career going
against Andrade, who could make him look really good in
the ring. It was and it is a few that
I want to see, but it's a blink of an
eye in in terms of the airtime that it's given
because we got to worry about Shane McMahon and his

(01:10:04):
faction or is Roman Reigns gonna come out here? I mean,
it's the same thing as Seth Ronin's going to attack
somebody from behind with a chair, which I like, But
again it's it's over exposing the top guys when I
want to see less of them, which makes it more
special to see them, and I want to see newer
stars built. That's the cycle of professional wrestling, and right

(01:10:24):
now we're not getting that.

Speaker 3 (01:10:27):
Yeah, that's that's exactly because I remember days of pay
per views, especially when they were Brad exclusive pay per views,
where I would look forward to some of the undercard
matches and I would look forward to the US title
feuds and the Intercontinental Championship feuds, Like I find it
kind of crazy that, like, yes, the match was great,
but the US Number one Contender Championship match of the

(01:10:50):
Fatal five Way where Ricochet ended up winning, I find
it kind of insulting to that whole group of wrestlers
that they were given just to build a feud with
Samojo for a title before a pay per view event.
And as I brought up several times already, but Finn
Baller holding one of the most prestigious titles on the

(01:11:11):
main roster is just irrelevant and we just don't see
him and there's not even a challenger for him, Like,
no one brings up the Intercontinental Championship. And that's after
years and years and years of the Miz repeatedly saying
that he was trying to elevate it and make it relevant.
And again, I just think it all comes back to
the Wild Carnival because they're just devoting so much time

(01:11:32):
to the same three or four storylines and then recycling
it and as you said, Raw gets the main advancement
and then SmackDown kind of just picks up the scraps.
So I just find it really a disservice to a
lot of these wrestlers who are very talented that they
can't get the proper airtime. Now, obviously, Apollo Cruz like,
you know, I wish you'd stop smiling. Damn it, you know,

(01:11:54):
like it's kind of the same thing over and over again.
But maybe if he got a somewhat relevant feud, he
could become something. I think on Drowni's one of the
best up and comers they have. But how are they
supposed to take that next step and advance themselves when
all they get is a minute and a half of
backstage airtime and a few that we don't even really
know why it's happening.

Speaker 1 (01:12:15):
You can't. The answer is you can't. You can't succeed
with that little airtime. I know that the old adage
is maximize your minutes. Well, when you don't even get
minutes you get minute, you can't do it. I mean,
it's just not feasible, it's not realistic, and it's not
fair to expect any performers to excel if they're getting
that little airtime. And it's unfortunate because I understand that

(01:12:37):
there are some wrestling fans out there that don't have
the patience to build new stars, and that they just
want to see all the big names all the time,
and they don't care about these people that we don't
know their names. Well, why don't you learn their names?
Because eventually the people that you like to see all
the time and that's all you care about. You want
to see your favorite moves and your biggest stars, they
will be cycled out because Father time wins all the time.

(01:12:59):
You need to constantly have people up and coming. You
need to have that farm system, which is why NXT
is so brilliant. And credit Triple H for his vision
and his execution of it, because that is the breeding
ground for the stars of tomorrow. And so when you
don't have that mentality on the main roster, eventually you're
gonna be so reliant and heavy on the top stars

(01:13:21):
that you are quote top stars of Roman and Seth
and Drew. Whatever. What if they get injured, what if
they decide to leave and their contract expires, they go
to a different promotion. There are so many variables and
factors that I understand. You can't get everybody hot all
the time, but you certainly can add new things to

(01:13:41):
their character. You can progress them in different ways. There
are ways to advance characters and move them along and
give everybody an equal share of the time that is
allotted unsmackedown. I know SmackDown's two hours, which is why
I enjoy the show more. But they need to understand
that while all the big star do indeed draw ratings,

(01:14:03):
you need to also build new stars and you can't
do that if the current stars are sucking up all
the airtimes. So one more thing I want to get
to and then I want to talk about stomping grounds
and get your predictions. What are your thoughts on the
twenty four to seven Championship? Still still fun kind of
corny in between, I.

Speaker 3 (01:14:23):
Think that it's done better than I would have anticipated.
I'll give them that They've come up with some creative
things to like keep me interested, Like you know, the
whole elevator scene is kind of funny. I found the
whole airplane thing going to Jetta funny. How our Truth
covered Jinner Mahal and then everyone chased them through the plane.

(01:14:44):
I think that given my ultra low expectations for it,
it's really succeeded. I think that they've timed it properly,
unlike how when it originally started I think they've kind
of reduced how many times they use it on a
programming show. So yeah, I think even though it started
maybe a bit too much to just get the point across,

(01:15:06):
I think the past month or so they've done a
pretty good job with it.

Speaker 1 (01:15:11):
I'll second that. I mean, I was a lukewarm proponent
of it when Mick Foley introduced it in front of
my hometown crowd that gave it no reaction, So congratulations, Albany.
I was a proponent of it, and it was we
all kind of alluded to it as the PG hardcore
title because it's got the same rules, and we all
kind of we all poo poo on what it looks like,

(01:15:33):
and it looks like awful. I don't need the belt
to look good. I don't really care about that part
of it. I don't care what the belt looks like
so much because it's not a belt that I'm supposed
to take seriously anyway. But in execution, they are certainly
going wild with the creative on this, and the creative
is the upside is there is no limit to what
they could do, the scenarios that could happen, and I

(01:15:54):
think that it adds a little bit to that unpredictability
that Vince McMahon is looking for. But at the same time,
they need to be careful to not undermine their own
product with such a joke of a championship, And there's
that fine line, and right now I think they're teetering
on it. I love Our Truth as champion. I loved
the Drake Maverick interaction because Drake Maverick has been going

(01:16:15):
all in on his character on social media, putting up
wanted signs for Our Truth, just saying you know, I'm
gonna find you. He bumps into him backstage a couple
of weeks ago. They look at each other and Our
Truth takes off. They have a really good chemistry right now,
at very unexpected chemistry with Drake Maverick and Our Truth.
And Our Truth obviously loses this week because Drake Maverick

(01:16:37):
dresses up as Carmela, which was really funny, and Drake
Maverick ends up tweeting out that you guys don't know
how much those fake boobs cost or something like that. Like,
I mean, just the hilarity of it is it does
make me chuckle. It is a nice bit of a
comedy segment to cut through all of the quote serious storylines.

(01:16:59):
I'm I'm fine with it right now. I think that
eventually that it will get boring and we'll all go home.
My god, Okay, what are they doing this week? This
is getting boring, This is stupid, this is totally unbelievable.
I'm sure we'll get there. I mean, this has a
shelf life. This championship does have a shelf life. But
for the moment, I'm enjoying it. I love the the

(01:17:21):
completely impossible scenarios that happen. Do I enjoy that our
Truth is constantly being chased in it by don't know,
the same five, six, seven, eight guys that aren't having
anything going on backstage, and they all just chase them
in a straight line all the time. I mean, it
gets a little bit cartoonish, but I'm enjoying it for
what it is right now, and I'm on board. It'll eventually,

(01:17:44):
you know, wear itself out, and the expiration date will happen.
But I'm fine with it.

Speaker 3 (01:17:48):
One thing about one of the wrestlers that's constantly chasing
our truth, because I think the Our Truth has been
fantastic doing it. I love what Drake Maverick is done.
I really enjoyed that elevation. I found that pretty comedic.
But I don't know about you, Matt, but how lost
does EC three look? In every single segment? He looks

(01:18:12):
like just completely lost. Like in that elevator scene, I
remember when everyone's fighting each other, he was literally being
restrained by the ref but the ref wasn't even looking
at him, Like it's just like it's like he couldn't
get around the five foot five ref and I just
he it's almost distracting that like as soon as the

(01:18:34):
segment comes out, like I automatically focus on him and
he's just just so bad And I don't want to
be mean, but he's just bad. And he's never even
said a word. And like, okay, his segment on Raw
when he got clobbered by Seth but the chair was
purely funny. But aside from that, just like the twenty
four to seven Championship moments, like he's so he stands

(01:18:57):
out in the worst ways and I just cannot understand
how clumsy he is.

Speaker 1 (01:19:03):
Yeah, this is a tough one with EC three. As
you said, with the elevator segment, Yeah, I'm on board
with that. It made no sense that he couldn't get
past the referee. It's just preposterous, I mean ridiculous. And
he when he game to the main roster, I believe
he was in a very very short program with Dean Ambrose.
I think he lost one week and one another week.

(01:19:25):
The crowd didn't react to him in any kind of
significant way, and he's just all over the place in
the twenty four seven Championship trying to be a referee.
They don't know what the hell to do with him.
I mean it's very clear right now. They're going here, there, up, down,
left and right. And what's very interesting, though, beyond this
this disaster that he has so far had in WWE,

(01:19:49):
is that when they were doing all of the promos
for hey, We're bringing up new stars, and Lars Sullivan
was one of the freaks. And obviously he's injured for
the next six to nine months the knee injury, which
is I'm kind of sad about. Honestly. I think that
when you have EC three as one of the stars

(01:20:11):
of that promo, if you remember, it was just craziness.
I mean they were talking about all these new stars
that are gonna come up boom boom boom, and then
it slowed down and was EC three walking into a
room in a suit, and you were like, oh, well,
they're clearly going to focus on him because he seems
to be the focal point of this promo video that
they aired like four hundred times leading up to all
of these this change that they were implementing, and since

(01:20:34):
then they've done absolutely nothing, zero less than zero with
EC three. He doesn't look lost. He looks like he's
in another universe right now. He looks like he's he
doesn't know what to do, where to go, And I
really hope that they know and figure out what to
do with him.

Speaker 3 (01:20:51):
Yeah, I think it hurts his reputation and more that
there was so much hype behind him, and like, okay,
his initial feud with Dean Ambrose was underwhelming, but he
can't just pour cold water on him. I'm not gonna lie.
I'm not the biggest fan of him, and I wasn't
as soon as he debuted it. But like, what are

(01:21:11):
you saying to the other guys coming up from NXT
that you build and hype up this guy so much
and so much and then he's just become such an
utter joke. Like I don't know how he could ever
come back from what happened to him on Raw where
he got obliterated with the chair and then the New
Day mocks him where again like, come on, really like
he's that like they were acting as if he was dead,

(01:21:34):
Like let's be real, like I'm all about comedy, but
after a certain point it just kind of becomes hokey
and unrealistic. But aside from that, like that segment alone
buried him. There's no way that he can ever come
back from this and be a somewhat relevant wrestler or superstars,
they like to say. And I just I can't understand

(01:21:54):
how that early into this guy's career, especially after all
of this high behind him and you thought that they
were gonna give him this big push, especially that he
had that opening feud with Dean Ambrose. Obviously Ambrose was
on his way out, so he wasn't held in as
fire regard, But it's just how could you bury a
guy so so fast and not even give him a

(01:22:16):
chance to Breathe.

Speaker 1 (01:22:18):
Well, they're doing it and it again. I didn't follow
EC three too much before his WWE entrance, to be
honest with you, like I knew a little bit about him,
I didn't follow him beyond or before that too much.
So if you didn't know anything about him before, you
would just think that this guy is here to be

(01:22:39):
used as an enhancement talent. And like you said, he's
basically laying there like a corpse after a few chair shots. Really,
all he did was get hit in the back. You
didn't get hit in the skull. Chair shots of the
skull are gone. I mean, you got knocked out from
being hit in the back, really, I mean, and then
they made a reference to weekend at Bernie's and all
that stuff. I mean, it was clearly just the segment

(01:23:00):
to try to make people laugh or Vince McMahon, you know,
sitting backstage, you know, Nie slapping and chuckling, and a
lot of this humor seems to be Vince McMahon driven,
and any nine times out of ten, Vince McMahon humor
is not the majority of the audience's taste in humor.
So yeah, it's really just a shame that they're doing
with him. Find something for him, do anything anything, I

(01:23:23):
don't care what it is, but find something in stick
with it. And right now they don't have a direction,
So let's get to stomping grounds, and I want to
start right at the top of the card here, not
waste any time. I'm gonna go with the universal championship
of Seth Rollins and Baron Corbin. That floating guest referee
is out there. I think we all know who it's

(01:23:44):
going to be, so I won't steal your thunder. What
are your thoughts on this match? Who's that special guest
referee going to be?

Speaker 3 (01:23:52):
If I were to take a guess, I would have
to guess Elias, But again, I'm not too sure of it.
You seem more sure than me, but I was gonna
guess Elias. I think that no matter who the guest
referee is gonna be, I think Seth Rollins is gonna win,
and I just think that Baron Corbin's have a placeholder

(01:24:13):
challenger right now. I do like what they've done with
Baron Corbin, but just not enough to overtake Seth Rawlins
for the title.

Speaker 1 (01:24:21):
Yes, I agree with the outcome, so I'm gonna second
that that Seth Rollins isn't gonna lose. He's on fire.
Baron Corbin's champion would be a disaster, ratings disaster more
than it is now. Seth has really got a lot
of momentum to use the corporate buzz word. He is
on a tear and he won it WrestleMania. Again, my
argument that WrestleMania Championship wins need to stick and this

(01:24:43):
one will. So my pick though for referee, and I'm
only saying this confidently because I had heard someone suggest
it and go, oh, how is this person not going
to be the special guest referee? And that is one
and only brock Lessner as a special guest referee, because
if Baron Corbin has him as a special guest referee,

(01:25:04):
then it would essentially put doom and gloom to Seth
Rollins as champion. I mean, at least in the story
arc of brock Lesner being the special guest referee, and
if he is and then Baron Corbin, which I think
he's going to lose somehow, Seth Rollins wins the match,
but he'll be beaten down and worn down from the match,

(01:25:25):
which would put brock Lesner in a very advantageous position,
which Brockleser would want to be in if he was
a special guest referee to cash in his money in
the bank contract. Do I think he's going to cash in.
Maybe not, but the scenario just seems to make sense
that brock Lesner would be the special guest referee. What
do you think about that?

Speaker 3 (01:25:44):
I think that would be great. I think it would
be really cool. I didn't even think about brock Lesner.
I was just under the impression that they were gonna
kind of let Brock sit a bit and lurk in
the weeds and aka let him have time off that
we all know he loves. But know, if that's the case,
I think it would be the best case scenario. It
would kind of suck to have him, you know, take

(01:26:07):
the belt away from Seth because one thing I'll say
about Brock is that they can have another failed cash in.
So the only reason why I think they may not
do that is to build up when you said they
want Seth to run with the belt here have a
good long title run, but they can have another failed
cash into the third year in a row or also

(01:26:27):
just diminish the value of the money in the bank.
So I think that's a really cool concept. I'm just
not sure if they would go with that and have
Brock failed cash it in.

Speaker 1 (01:26:37):
Very possible. Yeah, I don't think a failed cash in
by brock Leaser, especially, would I don't. I think that
would be disastrous. As much as nobody really wants to
see Brocklezer's champion anymore, I think the prestige and value
of the money the bank briefcase is worth more at
this point because Seth could come back the next night,
challenge Brock somehow and even win it back the next

(01:26:58):
night unraw. I mean, it's very possible, so that, you know,
brock Leser could cash in, and maybe he does, and
maybe we just say, okay, good, Brock doesn't have a championship,
he doesn't have money in the bank, go away for
a little while, and we keep thinking Brock's just gonna
kind of go away. And every time we think he's
gonna go away and sit on his farm in Minnesota,
he ends up showing up out of nowhere. And I

(01:27:21):
like that to a point because it's not predictable. But
at the same time, brock Lesnar needs something in his
character as well. It's just kind of the same old Brock.
He's brock freaking Lesnar. I mean, think about who he is.
He doesn't need to pick people apart at their weakest moment.
He is the guy that was the UFC champion and
came in and dominated the sport. He's the guy that

(01:27:43):
came in and demolished the WWE stars, the wrestlers. Think
about who he's beaten. He's beaten Goldberg, he's beaten Big Show,
He's beaten the Rock. Like, you don't need to have
Brock Lesnar playing this heel character as this guy that, oh,
I'm only gonna I'm only gonna cash in when you're
at your weakest. Brock doesn't need to be that. And

(01:28:04):
I know he's a heel, but that's not Brock. I
need Brock to be Brock. And Brock hasn't felt like
himself for quite some time now.

Speaker 3 (01:28:12):
Yeah, and and that's why, like, I found it kind
of weird that he like planned his cash in after
the Super Showdown, which I know how you felt about
that show because I listened to your random about it.
But yeah, I think that a scenario of Brock being
the ref and then cashing in on vulnerable sent rawlins,
I don't think that would be too good for his character.

(01:28:33):
I think, as you mentioned, they should get brought back
on the whole train of doing everything face to face,
beating the hell out the guy's face to face. He
doesn't need any advantages. That's why I did find it
a bit weird that they put the money in the
bank on him so quickly. But look look at the
braun Stroman how he did it last year. Obviously it
was a failed cash in, but in a similar aspect,

(01:28:55):
he wanted to face Roman face to face. So I
think Brock will eventually do that, but I'm highly expecting
something more down the line towards SummerSlam a bit because
as of right now, I think people are still like
on their heels for Brock to come back, because we
had what three four weeks of Brock consistently being on
television for a bit. So I think now they want

(01:29:17):
to let people kind of forget about Brock a little
bit and then finally come in and actually surprise people
when he does show up.

Speaker 1 (01:29:25):
Very possible. I mean, that was just a logical choice
that I was like, oh, because I didn't think of
it either, And I'm like, how did I not think
of that? But it would make sense for him to
commit as a special guest referee. I'm fine with the
long periods of time without seeing Brock Lesner, at least
in his current incantation. I want to see a different
brock Lesner, maybe one that even if he cuts his

(01:29:45):
own promos or whatever, they're just short, sweet, to the point,
because that's where brock Lesner lives and thrives. He's never
been a good long promo guy. That's why Paul Haym
is with him and is a perfect mouthpiece for him. Yeah,
but I would also like to see somebody get an
advantage on brock Lessner, or face him face to face
and get an advantage without having to kick him in

(01:30:05):
the nuts. Like the only way that seth Rollins has
been able to get an advantage is by kicking him
between the legs. That has been the only way. And
as a babyface, I'm just like, come on, even the
Undertaker didn't when he faced brock Lesner a couple of
years ago. I don't want that. I want to see
a baby face be able to go on, like you know,

(01:30:26):
Manda Man, toe to toe and be able to find
a way to get an advantage on brock without having
to resort to that. And it's just it diminishes the
babyface's credibility every time I see it.

Speaker 3 (01:30:37):
Yeah, And I think that's just it shows just how
much Stock convinces put into Brock Lesner and that he
wants to build Brock as like this bigger than life
character that even the best of the best wrestlers need
to cheat to beat him. But you're right, it takes
away from the whole baby face because yes, Seth climb
that mountain and finally beat Brock on the grandest stage

(01:30:59):
of them all, but like, at what cost did he
have to do that? So yeah, I would like to
see someone be brought clean. Well, obviously we know Triple
H did it and Goldberg did it, but like it
doesn't always have to be the select few that Vince chooses,
and as we brought up before, like he always relies
on like the established legends, but like, let Seth beat

(01:31:21):
him clean as Roman did, because it always kind of
leaves that Asterix beside him or that that stain on him.
And even now you know, like Seth beat the holy
hell out of him a super showdout, but you did
it with a low blow and twenty four times you
hit him with a chair. So again, like it's cool
to see him get the better of Brock because it
shows that he's smart and he'll do anything, but it

(01:31:43):
takes to win the title and take Brock down, which
I could kind of get behind, but again, it would
be nice to actually see him be able to be
brought clean and true baby faced fashion.

Speaker 1 (01:31:55):
So I think we're both on board with Seth retains
as long as Brock doesn't cash in.

Speaker 3 (01:32:00):
Yes, all right?

Speaker 1 (01:32:02):
So with that said, moving on to the other big
championship match, Kobe Kingston against Dolf Zigler in a steel cage.
I'm gonna take a breath and a pause. What are
your thoughts?

Speaker 3 (01:32:14):
Uh? I think Kofe's gonna win. I think Kofe's gonna
win clean. Because obviously Xavier got involved in the match
at the Super Showdown, which I liked because it allowed
for the storyline to advance a bit and set up
a rematch. I think it's probably going to be the
match of the night. These two guys inside the steel
cage is gonna be something to be seen. But I

(01:32:35):
think that eventually KOFE will come out on top. He's
gonna win, and then they'll finally close the book on
this storyline and move on to bigger and better things.
But I will add one tidbit that I do think
that when Brock does cash it, it will be on
Kofi and not Seth.

Speaker 1 (01:32:54):
Hmm. I was thinking the same thing, really yeah, And well,
I don't know if it'll happen on Sunday night, but
people keep thinking it's definitely gonna be Seth. It's gonna
be Seth, It's gonna be Seth, and you're not even
thinking about Kofe, And I think it very well could be.
And think about the heat that that would put on
brock Les and to beat Kofee Kingston, that feel good

(01:33:15):
story comes crashing down to a guy that is going
to hold that the WWE Championship, which has a hell
of a lot more prestige in the Universal Championship does
in lineage and hold that championship hostage for months or
maybe even years at a time. I wouldn't put it
pad past Vince McMahon to do that. And it could
very easily happen because we've seen Brock and we've seen

(01:33:36):
Seth a couple of times, and now it's time for
maybe a new opponent, and when the guy we're not
thinking of is Kovie Kingston. But to the match on Sunday,
assuming again Brock doesn't cash in on Kofee is I'm
looking forward to this match. You hit it on the head.
This could easily be, and should be, on paper, the
best match of the night if given enough time. Both
of them are very similar styles, they both sell well.

(01:33:59):
They they do have a lot of parallels which Dolf
alluded to, and they do. They are both very good
in the ring, and if given enough time, this could
be a classic. And so my prediction is KOFE wins
hands down, Dolph goes away, and so let's get that
out of the way. The only thing, the only tidbit
I have and an issue I have, is just the

(01:34:21):
premise of a steel cage match itself. And I went
off a little bit on this last night. I don't
understand that why and how escaping a cage or walking
through a door is a legal way of winning a match. Basically,
whoever can run away from their opponent the fastest or
the best wins the match. And think about this. All

(01:34:41):
you have to do, if you're a super athlete is
you could throw somebody in the other side of the ring,
and if you really wanted to, you could climb over
the cage in the blink of an eye. And think
about I mean, think about all these athletic crazy things
that they do, but they just somehow can't get up
that cage in time and draw it out. I don't
like the fact that you can open a door and
walk out and win. In what world is that a

(01:35:03):
legal way of winning any sports sports situation, whether I
don't care what sport you're talking about in you know,
whether it's a competitive sport, professional wrestling, it just doesn't
make sense. And the fact that we're supposed to believe
that a steel cage always keeps out interference, there's nobody
gonna be able to help you. You're not gonna have
any help, it's just you and me. Well, the last

(01:35:24):
time I checked, a steel cage match is a no
disqualification match, which means the world could come in that match,
the entire locker room could come in that match, and
it would still be legal. So it just every time
I hear that and hear those two arguments, it's it
just hurts my brain. It should be pinfall or submission
only inside of a steel cage.

Speaker 3 (01:35:45):
Yeah, I know, I've always personally hated the walk through
your door and the walk through your doorway to victory
because you're right like anyone, if they try hard enough,
could scratch and claw their way out of there or
weasel their way out. And I don't think I've ever
seen someone actually win by going out of the door.
I don't so much mind the over the top of

(01:36:05):
the cage thing, because at least that proves an obstacle,
like you have to actually climb the damn thing and
go over it before the guy can come up and
stop you. But yeah, the whole like argument of like
oh yeah, like there's gonna be no more interferences side,
like oh come on. You know, one of the most
iconic steel cage matches, well maybe not iconic, but one

(01:36:27):
that sticks out of my mind is the one that
the Rock and Stone Gould had after wrestling its seventeen
when Vincent Triple Ah got in the cage and they
just beat the holy hell out of the Rock and
formed the two man power trip. And I'm just like, Okay, well,
what the hell was applying that they just basically trapped
the Rock inside and destroyed them. But yeah, I've hated

(01:36:48):
that whole narrative and it's gone on for as long
as I could remember about like, oh, well, no one's
gonna get in now it's just you and me. Then
maybe I've just become accustomed to it and I don't really,
you know, react to it the same way anymore. But yeah,
I'm with you there, the whole notion of being able
to walk out of the door and win, or that
we're supposed to believe that no one's going to get

(01:37:09):
inside like and I think what makes it worse is
that we all know that when it's actually a match
where no one's getting inside, it's the hell in the cell.
And I think that makes it a bit more or
less believable for us, because WWE has an exact other
match that does that exact purpose that the steel cage
match pretends to do.

Speaker 1 (01:37:30):
Yep, they do, they do. But as much as I
would love to make the hell in a selly prestigious
match and make it only for extremely deserving heated rivalries,
that you know, you've gone from a standard wrestling match,
maybe into a street fight, then you go to the
steel cage and the blowoff as a hell in a cell.
I mean, it doesn't have to happen like that all

(01:37:52):
the time, but that to me would be how a
natural progression of a heated blood feud would end, and
that Helen Cel would be the blowoff of that feud,
and the Helen of Cel pay per view unfortunately dissolves
all of the mistique of the Helen a Cell because
it's built into the pay per view schedule, so we're,
you know, whatever FEU's happened to be going on at

(01:38:13):
that time, Well, just Sticky in the cell because it's
a cute gimmick and it's killed the hell and a cell.
To me, the hell in a cell is such a
sacred special place that so many amazing matches have happened,
so many amazing moments, from the very first one with
Shawn Michaels an Undertaker, which was the very first program
that I remember watching, and it just that drew me in,
like I MS hooked forever because of that program, all

(01:38:36):
the way obviously mcfoley's fall off the cage to Cactus
Jack retiring at the hands of Triple H and I
believe it was two thousand when he pedigreed him on
top of the cell to the Armageddon pay per view
and Rakishi got choke slammed off of it into like
a bunch of wood chips. I mean, there's so many
things that happened inside the cell that are special that
when you put it into a pay per view schedule,

(01:38:58):
completely kills the mistique of it. But I'm getting way
off track, but you're right. They have a structure that
could do exactly what they're telling us could do. There's
no roof on the set, on the cage, it's just
a it's not even a cage by definition, has a roof.
This is like a a four walled you know, I

(01:39:18):
don't know what you'd call it. It's not a true
a true cage. So yeah, they they are making us
supposed to believe that nobody can interfere. But even in
Hell and a Cell, you've seen people hide under the
ring up until the point when they're supposed to come out.
I mean, you've seen wacky things happen, but less so.
But back to this match, I'm really looking forward to it.
I think they could blow the roof off the place,

(01:39:40):
and I'm expecting a lot of high spots, a ton
of near falls, a zigzag off the top. I'm expecting
some crazy crap because these two are capable of it,
and I expect Kofei to come out on top in
the end. So Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre. I am
just I'm a little bit torn on this. I don't
think this one's as easy as most people think. The
reason is Drew McIntyre has been groomed over the past

(01:40:04):
couple of months to be a top guy. Yet Roman
Reigns is the elder statesman of Vince McMahon being the
top guy. Romans he's the big dog, he's the he's
the gatekeeper to being, you know, the top guy. But
we saw them face at WrestleMania, which we're all supposed
to forget. This time around, I think the program has

(01:40:25):
been built much better, much more properly. I'm much more
invested in this program than it wasn't WrestleMania, which kind
of felt like a last minute We'll throw these two
big guys together and they'll have a match. Roman came
out on top of that match. I wouldn't be so
sure that Roman comes out on top of this match
as revenge. I think since this is the first time
that they're officially meeting. And I say that in air quotes,

(01:40:47):
I say Drew McIntyre wins this, and I say that
because I think Drew needs to win more than Roman does,
what do you think.

Speaker 3 (01:40:55):
I'm with you. I think Drew's gonna win this. I
think that they're fully behind building this stable with Shane
and Drew and the Revival. But I think, like you said,
I think Drew needs to win more. He hasn't really
had a big time pay per view victory in a
while now, and he's and I think they want him

(01:41:15):
to be established as an actual threat, not just a
lackey or just the right hand man of Shane, a man.
They want him to be his own guy and be
able to fight Roman reigns on his own and be
able to take him out. Now in saying that, I
don't think he's gonna win clean. I think there will
be outside of the ring shenanigans from obviously Shane, maybe
the Revival, maybe Elias or what have you. But I

(01:41:37):
think when it all comes, when it all finishes, it
will be Drew McIntyre coming on top and in some way,
shape or fashion. I feel like this is all gonna
culminate at SummerSlam, but you know, Shane gets that win
against Roman at Super Showdown. I think They're gonna make
Roman lose again here due to outside interference and just

(01:41:58):
keep Roman's frustrations building and boiling and culminate down the line.
But as for this match on Sunday, I think Drew
comes out with the win and get some more momentum
behind them.

Speaker 1 (01:42:10):
They have to. It's almost as if Drew has to
win this because of everything that they've put in front
of him and everything he's talked about and said he
has to back up his words. I don't care if
it's a clean win over Roman Reigns. And you know what,
I would actually prefer a clean win. I know he's
a heel, and heels traditionally win by hooker crook low
blows feet on the ropes, refezent looking for an object.

(01:42:32):
I want to see Drew outright beat Roman Rains with
the claymore, which has been established as a killer move,
and it looks like Drew McIntyre is. It looks like
a shotgun going off. I mean, it's sold really well,
nobody's kicked out of it. It's a money finisher, and
I would like to see Drew McIntyre outright beat Roman Reigns.

(01:42:54):
I would that, to me, would be the most beneficial
to Drew. It would establish him as a credible threat,
not just a guy that uses any means necessary. All
heels don't have to do that. You could be a
guy that beats your opponent clean as a heel, but
you're what you stand for is is demonic. It's it's

(01:43:14):
just nasty. Who you are as a person is terrible,
even if you're winning matches clean. And I think Drew
could do this because it would What it'll do is, yes,
it'll get him over as a heel, as a credible heel,
but when he turns babyface, eventually the fans will remember
that that he was this guy that just came out
and kicked ass. And now when he flips, you're gonna

(01:43:36):
remember that. So of course that's down the line. I
wouldn't I wouldn't want him to turn babyface for a
year or two. But I think that Drew needs to win,
and he needs to win clean and decisively.

Speaker 3 (01:43:47):
Yeah, And because like I think what you said about
entering babyface one day is perfect. I think that they
need to give the fans something to kate Drew McIntyre seriously,
because yeah, he's talked of the game and he's been
a lot of wrestlers on side matches, but like there's
yet to be that one big time feud that he's

(01:44:09):
really culminated in with a victory because he didn't beat
Roman at WrestleMania. Sure he had his way with Dean Ambrews,
but we know that Dean Ambrose was just doing the
favors going out the door. But yeah, I think that
for the long term vision of Drew that he really
needs this win. They've done a great job building up
to now. I really like what he's like his partnership

(01:44:32):
with Sean McMahon. But I do kind of fear that, like,
if he doesn't get this win, he'll just be viewed
as an afterthought because it would look kind of straighte like, Okay,
well Shane could beat Roman, but Drew can't, So yeah,
it would hurt his reputation. I think that Roman could
survive it because you know, Roman could just bounce back

(01:44:53):
from anything due to the writing and how w W
has built him, you know, come back drive the loss
to Drew McIntyre. So yeah, I really think it's crucial
man Drew, and he really needs his victory to build
it himhimself in the future.

Speaker 1 (01:45:11):
Roman is elastic. I think that's a good point to
bring up. Roman can survive and he can survive a
big string of losses because Roman has been established for
so long in the minds of fans that he is
a top guy and at any moment, regardless of how
terrible of a losing streak he goes on who he
loses to, he could come back at any moment with
fire in his eyes and just start as wait, let

(01:45:34):
me say the tagline, start kicking ass and taking names.
He could do that. I mean, don't don't even get
me started on that forced nonsensical, corporate corporately forced into
every promo garbage. So that's what I think about that.
It's it's awful. But Roman could do that. Roman could
easily come back regardless of the losing streak, which is
why Drew needs this tenfold over Roman.

Speaker 3 (01:45:57):
Yeah, and that's exactly it. Man. You hit it on
the head there, because Roman just keep getting knocked down
and he will get up and he always will and
like even just like the whole real life battle he
had with leukemia, that he no matter how many times
he gets knocked down, he will be built back up.
But Drew needs it, and I think Drew needs to

(01:46:19):
kind of get the jackpack put on him and blown
away here in the trajectory of you know, succeeding, and
I think they're kind of doing that with intent with
Seay McMahon right now, but he also has to find
some you know, solo success at the same time.

Speaker 1 (01:46:36):
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. So let's move on
to the Raw Women's Championship, the Becky Lynch versus Laly Evans.
We alluded to this a little bit before, so I
honestly don't have a whole lot to add to this
other than I think that this will be a better
match than their first, which I didn't think was a disaster.
But it's their second match. They should get to get

(01:46:57):
a feel for each other more. They probably will get
a little bit more time. I think Becky wins. I
think that's the end of the story. I honestly don't
have a whole lot to add this. I think just
as Dolf will go into the background, I think Lacy
Evans will fade into the background into another program after
Becky Lynch beats her here. So what are your thoughts
on that?

Speaker 3 (01:47:16):
Yeah, you know, as I said before, I'm a big
fan of Lacy Evans, but she's not ready yet to
overtake someone like Becky Lynch. I think Becky's gonna win
clean and kind of close the book on the story
for this particular fear. But yeah, we kind of said
all we had to say before. There's not too much
to add. Becky wins clean and just closes it off.

Speaker 1 (01:47:35):
Yeah, I mean case closed. Really, Yeah, I mean there's
it's very straightforward here, I believe. So all right, what
about the SmackDown Women's Championship Bailey and Alexa a little
more interesting? So you know, you go ahead, What do
you think?

Speaker 3 (01:47:48):
I like this story a lot, so I don't think
it's gonna be as cut and dry. I think that
it's gonna end kind of in a disqualification of sorts.
I think that it's going to I think I would
say I'm not sure who will win. I will say
Alexa wins via disqualification and warns a future title match,

(01:48:08):
because I don't think that Alexa is gonna take the
belt away from Bailey so soon after she won it,
and for the women the next pay per view after
she wont it, because they compete at Super Showdown. But yeah,
I think it's gonna end in disqualification match due to
Nicky Cross getting not a disqualification match, but disqualification finished

(01:48:29):
due to Nicky Cross somehow getting involved, So no clean
finish and just something to result in a future match
down the line to keep this story going. As we
both mentioned, we both really like this story. I don't
think they're quite ready to close it off completely. So
I would say Alexa wins disqualification, but Bailey keeps the title.

Speaker 1 (01:48:50):
Yeah, I feel like I'm just gonna repeat what you said.
It's the only the only thing I would change on
that is I think it easily and probably will be
a disqualification. But Bailey wins via dis qualification after Nicky
you know, unintentionally gets caught by the referee hitting her
in the head or you know, kicking her or pulling
her off the apron or something something will cause a disqualification.

(01:49:14):
I don't care who wins the disqualification because either way,
the championship doesn't change hands. But yes, I think that
is the case. This is the start of the program.
I mean, this is their first match. It can't be
a clean finish either way. I believe that it is
going to be a three maybe longer pay per view match,
or a pay per view long feud. This could actually

(01:49:36):
go all the way to Summer Slam. I really believe
that if this is done correctly and we have no
more Bailey This is Your Life segments, this could be
a program that does culminate at SummerSlam. So yeah, this
is going to be a finish that has nothing clean
about it. There's gonna be a lot of tomfoolery in
this in this finish, and you know, that's just ww logic.
I mean, there's other ways to do it, but just

(01:49:57):
based on how WWE presents their programs, especially at the
beginning of programs, Yeah, I think that's really the only
way that this program can start off as via disqualification
or some kind of some kind of funky ending.

Speaker 3 (01:50:11):
Yeah, exactly. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing,
because if you have a I don't think it'd be
wise to the belt off of Bailey this way. And
if Bailey wins, the story's pretty much done. So I
think that if she wins clean that is, then the
story's pretty much done. So yeah, I think in some
way there's gonna be some nonsense that goes on outside,

(01:50:34):
something to keep the storyline going. And Warrant selects a
bliss to have another match, And I think that's good,
as I just said, because these two clearly do have
chemistry outside the ring, they will have chemistry inside the ring.
They're two very good in ring competitors, and I think
the whole wrinkle of the effect of Nikki Cross has
led to a way more complex story than we've just

(01:50:55):
been presented on the surface.

Speaker 1 (01:50:58):
Yeah, this is we've kind of said it all. I mean,
this is the beginning of a program. So, okay, the
United States Championship, Samoa Joe and Ricochet. I'm gonna toss
it to you first on this.

Speaker 3 (01:51:10):
I think Samojo wins here. I'm hoping, as you brought
up before, that it's a start of a long run.
I think Rikochet won that fatal five way match to
take the first loss to Samoa Jo. I don't think
Rikoshet is gonna beat Samojo at Stobbing Grounds to win
his first title. I just don't think the stars are
aligned for that. I think that it will be a

(01:51:33):
very good match. I'm looking forward to it, but I
just don't see how Rikoshet comes out. I think it's
a good first step to first step rather to get
Rikoschet's feet wet a bit in the title scene and
his first kick at the can of the title, but no,
there's no way that he can come out here with
a victory. I think Joe wins, So.

Speaker 1 (01:51:55):
My brain is telling me, don't pick Rikoshet. This is
a very easy pick. It's a slam dunk. The problem
is everything that we just talked about a little while
ago about Samoa Joe and the way that WWE treats him.
I could see rick Aschet winning this, and I'm going
to pick him for that reason that WWE has not

(01:52:15):
only devalued Samoa Joe to this point, but also they
don't seem to really care about the United States Championship itself,
so by Rikoshet winning it, it's not the most prestigious.
It's not in line with or or at the same
level as even the Intercontinental Championship, even if it's presented
to be. It's not. So for Ricochet to win this,

(01:52:36):
I think would be I think the fans will go nuts.
The fans are behind him because he does really crazy,
wacky moves, even though we haven't heard a word from
him yet. He is exciting, he's fun to watch all
of that, which is true. So I think Samoa Joe
loses here. I'm not going to bet any money on
it at all. Then this is probably a dumb pick,
but I'm gonna go. There's always that one or two,

(01:52:57):
those one or two matches that you think are locks
that Vincenna ends up in going out. No, they think
this is gonna happen. This looks too predictable. We're gonna
We're gonna change it up, and this could be that one.
This could be that one, that is that that sleeping giant.
So I'm gonna go with Ricochet winning the United States
Championship here to shake things up. As Vince McMahon would say,
I'm just trying to get in that man's brain. And

(01:53:19):
I think that Rick Ashet could win this and try
to bring some life back to the United States Championship.
And do I want that to happen?

Speaker 2 (01:53:27):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:53:27):
Do I think that should happen. No, But I could
see a case of Vince McMahon wanting it to happen.

Speaker 3 (01:53:34):
Oh yeah, I mean all the points you just outlined,
it could very well happen. Like I would have never
thought in a million years that being Mysteria would have
beat samo Jo for the US title, and just the
way that Simojo has been treated as all the points
you just brought out is completely realistic. And I have
to keep bringing myself back down to earth about the
US title because you're right, it's not that prestigious anymore.

(01:53:58):
They don't seem to care about it. It is kind
of an afterthought. So even if a were to win,
it's really not a big deal, and that would kind
of stuck for Rikoshet, like his first title win is
supposed to be this big monumental achievement, but it's the
US title who no one really cares about. But no, yeah,
I think that he could go either way. Just based

(01:54:19):
on McMahon wine to swerve US. I don't think that's
a bad pick at all on your part.

Speaker 1 (01:54:23):
And think about the way Simojoe quote won the United
States Championship. He inexplicably had his long time he did
rival just handed to him. So that tells you what
Vince McMahon thinks about the United States Championship. So this
could Now I'm kind of like talking myself into it,
but I really believe Rikoschhet could win this. So that's
my pick. SmackDown Tag Team Championships with Daniel Bryan and

(01:54:48):
Rowan against Heavy Machinery. I think this one is a
pretty darn good lock and I don't think anybody's gonna
be surprised by this that Daniel Brian and Rowan retain,
and my god, they should retain his. I enjoy Heavy Machinery.
I enjoy Otis and Tucker, especially Otis, who is clearly
the star out of the two. They're funny, but they're

(01:55:08):
also serious when they need to be, and they're legitimate,
so they're not just a comedy act only. But they're
not ready, just as Ricochet. It doesn't seem ready this one. Really,
they are really not ready. And Daniel Brian and Rowan
are on a roll as the Tag Team Champion champions
on SmackDown Live, and they're bringing credibility back to the

(01:55:28):
tag team division. They are clearly the top team. There's
just no reason to have Heavy Machinery win this match.
Daniel Brian and Rowan walk away as champions.

Speaker 3 (01:55:38):
Yeah, I'm with you there. I love Heavy Machinery. I'm
gonna just sound like a macoing you here, but yeah,
they're just not ready, especially in a SmackDown world that
the tag team division isn't especially deep. I think Rowan
and Daniel Bryan are single handedly carrying it and making
those titles relevant just because of the star power attached
to Daniel Brian. And give give wrong for addit like

(01:56:01):
you brought up before. He's done a really good job.
But yeah, there's just no logical scenario. Have your machinery
comes out with a win. I think it's gonna be
a good match. I think it's gonna be a entertaining match.
I hope that it's not the last match these two
teams have, but yeah, I think Rowing and Daniel Bryan
come away with a win here.

Speaker 1 (01:56:21):
Yeah, I really have nothing more to add to this.
I mean, I think it'll be an entertaining match. I
think it'll be you know, physical, It'll be just a
very I think smooth logical ends with even if it's
by hook or crook, Daniel Brian just does something underhanded.
I mean, I'm fine with it. I don't care how
Daniel Brian and Rowan retain. They just need to retain.

(01:56:43):
Just end of subject New Day and Kevin new Day
versus Kevin Owens and Sammy Zay. Your thoughts, you.

Speaker 3 (01:56:53):
Know, I wish that it was a harder pick that, honestly,
but as we've seen Kevin Owens and Sammyse being utilized lately,
I'm gonna go with the New Day because just like
how much how buried Zaye and Owens have been. But
I could see Kevin Owens and Samyse play out the

(01:57:14):
swerve here beating the New Day. But I just feel
like the New Day has taken such a bat by
New Day. I mean, obviously Biggie and Co and Xavier Woods,
I feel like they've taken such a back seat to
Kofe's title reign that they've almost been an afterthought and
they they need this win. But then you could also say,

(01:57:35):
on the other hand, that Kevin Owens and Sammuse need
the win. But I think with all of said and done,
that the New Days stout with the win here, just
solely based on how Zaye and Owens have been booked recently.

Speaker 1 (01:57:48):
You're You're right. I just I'm trying to talk myself
into Kevin Owens and Samuse a winning. I'm trying to
come up with a reason and trying to convince myself
to pick them. I just can't. I can't pick them
for the fact that they haven't won a match since
they came back, and yeah, that Vince McMahon could this
could be another one of the swerves that all people

(01:58:10):
think that New Day is just gonna win and Kevin
and Sammy are gonna lose because they've continue to lose.
I don't think this is a swerve because there's no
reason to do the swerve in this case. There's no
championship on the line. Clearly, Vince does not think very
highly of either Kevin or Sammy as long term single
stars in WWE. So I think New Day wins and

(01:58:34):
Xavier and Biggie come out on top. Will I be
absolutely stunned if Kevin and Sammy win. No, I won't
because they honestly need the wins more than anybody on
the roster. But at the same time, look at the
track record they do. Their track record is awful. It's
it's abysmal. So I'm gonna go with the New Day

(01:58:55):
and it's sad, but that's my pick.

Speaker 3 (01:58:58):
Yeah, it feels like we're both kind of getting depressed here.
But yeah, you want it to be more of like
a hard pick. You want to have trouble pick at
this pick. But it also it isn't a hard pick
because you just know that Kevin Owens and Samuzean are
and Tiken seriously in the eyes of Vince McMahon and

(01:59:19):
I just it's really sad to see. But yeah, there's
just no way that I could see them coming out
with a win here.

Speaker 1 (01:59:28):
I can't. I really want to. I'm trying. I'm in
I do I sound depressed because I am, because I
can't believe that I'm not having a hard time with this.
I'm trying to come up with something in my brain,
but it's very depressing. So moving on rad Tag Team
Championship Revival versus the USSOS, I think this one's another one.

(01:59:48):
This card up and down the line looks very predictable,
and it looks like you can make a case of
no championships changing hands at all on the entire card,
and I think in general that will be the case here.
With the exception of the United States Championship. Is don't
go to dount on a limb, But this Raw Tag
Team Championship, I don't see how the Revival lose them
to the USSOS. I just don't. I think the Revival

(02:00:11):
with Shane McMahon behind him and the McMahon power behind
him and the stable that they're in, they don't lose here.
I think that the Revival and the USO's are gonna
have a very good match. This could be a sleeper
of a match that people are overlooking. And again, if
given the time, that's the key. They could have a
very very good match. You know, like three and a

(02:00:32):
half maybe even higher out of five stars. They could
have a hell of a match. I just don't know
if they'll be given the time, and ultimately the Revival
comes out as champions. What do you think?

Speaker 3 (02:00:40):
Yeah, I think Revival again come out on top as well.
I think the USOS could survive the victory as opposed
to the Revival that although they are multi time tag
team champions, it seems like every time they have a
chance to defend the titles, they are unable to, whether
it be against Gable and Rude or Raw Hawkins. I

(02:01:01):
think like a big statement win over arguably the best
tag team in ww REE right now is needed for them.
I think if they are to drop the titles so
soon after winning them, it would almost like I wouldn't
be able to take them seriously. So I think this
is a crucial opportunity for WWE to allow the Revival
to get a big impact win against a team like

(02:01:22):
the Uzos and show that they are on that same
level with them.

Speaker 1 (02:01:27):
So yeah, I.

Speaker 3 (02:01:27):
Really think the REVIVALI come out with the win here,
and they need the win here.

Speaker 1 (02:01:32):
They do. And again, I'm not a hot potato title fan.
I don't like title changes for the sake of title changes,
and oh it's newsworthy. I like long reigning champions regardless
of who's holding the belt. It means so much more
when the belts change hands. So in this case, in
this day and age, long term championship reigns last beyond
a pay per view like unfortunately, that is the scale

(02:01:55):
and definition of what long term now means. But yeah, Revival,
I think you can pretty much take that one to
the bank as well. And finally, the Cruiserweight Championship with
Tony Nice versus Drew Gulak and a Karacterzawa. What do
you think?

Speaker 3 (02:02:11):
I'm basically Tony Nice. I like the way that they've
built him. I think that when he beat Buddy Murphy
at WrestleMania, who is a telltale sign that they were
serious about him. I'm with you, I like the long
title reigns here, so I think they're gonna stick with
Tony Niese here. They've built them well, and I think
they're gonna give him a bit more time before he
drops the belt.

Speaker 1 (02:02:31):
Yeah. I don't have a strong feeling on this, to
be honest, because I don't have a lot of emotional
investment in this, and I don't think most people do.
I mean, however, two or five Live, they've been putting
out some good matches as of late. There was some
controversy in the finish of the number one can Tender
Fadal four way match, so Gulac and Tazau got the opportunity.
I think Tony Nie retains because he seems I think

(02:02:57):
he's got the most established character in the the cruiserweight division.
He's a good champion. As you said, his win at
wrestle Mania was a statement made by WWE to say, hey,
we're changing. This is changing of the guards here. So
we're gonna go with Tony Nice. And I think it's
Tony Nice for probably the next few months. I don't

(02:03:19):
see any reason to take the championship off him and
just put him in matches, because you know he can
have good matches and at the end of the day though,
he's gonna be the champion, and I don't see anything
different happening here.

Speaker 3 (02:03:30):
Yeah, And you know, as you brought up, like it
was a change of the guard and they gave the
reins to Tony nies and just in the fashion that
the two challengers got put into the match, like the
controversial finish at the end of the Number one Contenders match,
I don't think that's the kind of you know, storyline
that would callinate in Tony lose event actually losing the championship.

(02:03:52):
I think it'd be something of way more like an
intense storyline, a one on one storyline for a guy
like Tony needs to drop the belt. We so, yeah,
I think it's gonna be a good match. I think
it's they're gonna all put on a good show. As
you mentioned, they've been playing on a good product there lately.
But I don't think a guy like Tony Niese, after
winning such a big match against Buddy Murphy will lose

(02:04:13):
it in this kind of fashion.

Speaker 1 (02:04:15):
No, I think it's totally right. I honestly don't have
a whole lot more to add to this, and it's
just a shame that they have really defined down the
cruiserweight division. You know, I just they ww can't seem
to find that perfect balance of being able to showcase
this division in a way that feels legitimate and not

(02:04:36):
just kind of the stepchild to well, this is the
main roster and then we have this little, this little
side thing of the cruiserweight division. It just doesn't feel
like it's as important, at least the way they present
it on air, as it should. And that's the problem
that I have.

Speaker 3 (02:04:52):
Yeah, and because again I know I always keep bringing
back up, but I remember how it was in the
Ruthless Aggression era and how they weren't kind of just
segregated into their own TV show, and the cruiserweights could
also be taken seriously, Like look at Raymond Sierra Eastern
as the cruiserweight. I remember the days of Ty Jerry
being a cruiseweight and all these guys who were just

(02:05:15):
taken more seriously because they could sometimes compete with guys
on the main roster. So I have had a bit
of a hard time taking the cruiserweights seriously because even
how they treat the cruiser eights when they jump up
to raw like it's almost like they're graduating to the
big show. So I'm almost like, oh, okay, so is
this like kind of on the par with NXT Because

(02:05:38):
when Cedric Alexander jumped from two to five Live to RAW,
I was at the two O five Live there in
Montreal on his final show, and it was almost like
he was saying goodbye. He was moving on to bigger
and better things. So on that respect, I've always kind
of had a hard time getting emotionally invested into the
new version of the cruiserweight division.

Speaker 1 (02:06:00):
He's just not doing what they should be to get
people to care, because they probably think people don't care.
But the ironic thing is that people don't care because
they are showing us they don't care, So how are
we supposed to care. It's this vicious circle, and I
just they aren't showing the respect that they should be
for these athletes that are putting on matches that are
going overlooked by the majority of fans because WWU is

(02:06:21):
not presenting them as as big of a deal as
they should be, so fans aren't tuning in, and and again,
it's just like this self fulfilling prophecy of c These
people aren't paying attention. They don't care. Well, we don't
care because you're telling us you don't care, So how
are we supposed to. It's just this, this, and I
really believe that that's the psychology going on behind the scenes,
and it's just it's a shame because of the fact

(02:06:42):
of how good some of these guys are so antony.
Anything else that we didn't touch on that you wanted
to discuss.

Speaker 3 (02:06:51):
No, I think we covered everything up the bottom the
We really touched on all bases this week. I fived,
we did.

Speaker 1 (02:06:59):
We did, and it's easy. It's crazy how fast two
hours can go what you're talking wrestling. It's it's amazing.
Like I'm looking at I'm like, oh, it's probably been
an hour, right, No, No, it's been two hours. So
it's just that's what professional wrestling does. And I'm not
complaining because that's that's what we love to talk about.
And it's always great to be able to bring people
on the show that are so much fun to talk to,

(02:07:19):
and it's great to have you here as a co host. So,
but before we let you go, let everyone know where
they can follow you as an official co host now.

Speaker 3 (02:07:27):
And you can follow me at aid to Marcos twenty five.
I'll put out this caution if you're gonna follow me,
I hope you like hockey because I'm all about that.
I'm sure you've seen that, Matt, especially with last month
or so. I'm big into hockey. But yeah, at a
DeMarcus pay five with my handle, And I just want
to say thank you again Matt for choosing me to

(02:07:48):
be one of the permanent co hosts, and thank you
to everyone who wanted me to be one of the
permanent co host I expressed my absolute gratitude and it's
my pleasure and I can't wait to do it again.

Speaker 1 (02:07:59):
In three weeks definitely, I mean it three weeks flies by.
I know it seems like a long time, but it'll
it'll be here sooner than you think. And yeah, if
you like hockey, it is a good follow. I do
say that like I am a casual hockey fan. I mean,
being from the United States, it's not as like rabbit
as it is in Canada. However, you know, once the
playoffs come around in NHL gets into the mix here

(02:08:21):
like I do, kind of pop in. So if you
do like hockey, it's a good follow. You should you
should definitely do that, and Anthony, it's been a pleasure
and always good talking with you, and we will definitely
be in touch and you'll be on the show sooner
than you think.

Speaker 3 (02:08:36):
All right, then, have a good night and can't wait
to do it again in three weeks.

Speaker 1 (02:08:40):
Definitely, take care, take care,

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