Ep 301: The Passing of Hulk Hogan. SummerSlam Preview. AEW World Title Match on Dynamite This Week.

Episode 301:  We look back on Hulk Hogan's impact on professional wrestling. WWE SummerSlam, 2 nights this Saturday and Sunday. AEW World title match on Dynamite this week.  All the latest news. 












Interact with the show...

X (formerly Twitter): @PWAfterHours @RealMikeCarlyle @FranklMika

Email: [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, everybody, Welcome back to Pro Wrestling after Hours. I'm
Michael Carlisle, joined as always by Micah Frankel, Micah or
shaking Man.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
That depends who you asked. Some would say length and depth,
some would say this, some would say impact. I do
know there's a lot shaking in the wrestling world.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
I mean, the state of New Jersey is shaken. You've
got Summer Slam this weekend. All the little Hulkomaniacs are
shaking with the passing of one of the all time greats,
Hulk Hogan this past week.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
I said, a lot shaking man. Yeah, yeah, Hulk.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, the Hulkster. Two nights of Summer Slam this weekend.
We'll get to that in a couple of minutes. I
think we have to start Micah talking about Hulk Hogan
passing away last week at the age of seventy one.
Other people have probably said up more eloquently than we can.

(01:06):
That doesn't mean we won't do it anyway. But first
and foremost, we're not sitting here in twenty twenty five
doing a wrestling podcast if there was no Hulk Hogan.
The interest in pro wrestling today doesn't exist without there
being a Hulk Hogan back in the day. And I'm
not talking about later year Hulk Hogan and impact on

(01:29):
the business. I'm just talking about the heyday of Hulkamania.
Were it not for all that professional wrestling, sports, entertainment,
whatever you want to call it, it looks a whole
lot different and it's not nearly as big, it's not
nearly as grand as it is thanks in large part
to Hulk Hogan.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
There's influential in the explosion expansion pro wrestling into mainstream
pop culture, into the success of WrestleMania, into being in
the eighties a pop icon that could stand shoulder and
shoulder with the Cyndi Laupers, the Muhammad Ali's as a

(02:15):
magnetic personality as an entertainer at that.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Time on because you know, we had Ozzy Osbourne pass
away last week as well, by the way, another WWE
Hall of Famer, Yes, Ozzie's in the celebrity wing. Hulk
Hogan was in his heyday, was as big as any celebrity.

(02:42):
Obviously with with the wrestling side of things and doing
the the rock and wrestling connection which led to WrestleMania
and all that. He has a big presence on MTV.
But whether it's rubbing shoulders with mister t a small
bit roll that people still talk about to this day.
In Rocky three, as Thunderlips at his height, the the movies,

(03:06):
the Saturday Morning Cartoon, there was no bigger star on
this planet than Hulkgin.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Hulk Cogan was massive at that time. Hulkomania ran wild.
We all ate our vitamins, set our prayers because hul
Cogan told this to the red and yellow the action figures. Yeah,
he was. He was hugely popular in that time, and

(03:33):
we can't forget about it. One of the biggest stars
on the planet in the eighties. Heck transitioning taking pro wrestlers,
like you said, to the big screen, him and Roddy Piper,
even to the weekly episodic screen. You know, I'm not
talking about wrestling, talking about Thunder and Paradise. We're talking

(03:54):
about trying to match Ozzy Osbourne. Yes, so he us
across the board, a spokesperstman, a man of entertainment. He
he went to the depths of creativity looking at different
products to endorse. Because we've seen energy drinks, to beers,

(04:14):
to vodkas. So I can't tell you how many other
weird random things Jimmy Hard or Eric Bischoff have been
associated with that whole Cogan has been a part of.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Uh, the one that got away. You got a George
Forman grill in your Yeah, yeah, that was pitched to
Hogan before it was pitched to George Foreman. Uh, maybe
you should have took that one, Halkster.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
But look, do you see that that actually became a
controversy because Hulk Cogan shared incorrect details of that story.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
I'm not surprised at that, But no, I didn't see that.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
It was actually on there's a Pablo Tory. I'm just
curious episode where they find out Holko Hogan had went
around telling people, well, he didn't get the call from
his agent because he was picking his kids up from
school and they went to get lunch and then went home,

(05:11):
so he missed it. On the answer machine called the
agent and the agent said, well, I was going to
give you first choice between a grill and a blender,
but you didn't answer, George. Answer, George took took the grill,
you get the blender. The real story that we're being
told is that Hulk took the blender. Hulk did get

(05:31):
both bitches. He chose the blender and George went with
the grill because he did get the second choice. So
there's a little bit of a difference in that one.
But we were really all close to having redd and
yellow grills in our cabinets.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
You know. I don't know if that's true or not,
but I could see Hogan choosing blender over grill to
you know, say your prayers, eat your vitamins thing, drink
your smoothies things. I could actually, whether it's true or.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Not, out on no shape.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, yeah, but but it makes for a good story.
As popular Micah as Hogan was, then he does the
unthinkable in WCW and turns dastardly heel. And for as
popular as he was in the heyday of Holkamania the
early years of the nWo, he was equally as hated.

(06:22):
So you know, he managed to flip the script, if
you will, and go from being incredibly beloved and could
do no wrong to being hated and dastardly.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Everything Bobby Heaton said about him all those years was true,
and one night he proved the brain right. He always
knew it. Hok, Hogan was a heel. He turned Hollywood
the one Hoke Hogan into all I had as a child.
I spray painted nw all all over it and threw
it in the garbage.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
You went to the trouble of spray painting it and
then threw it away.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
It was it was some years later that I threw
it away. But yeah, okay, okay, I left it there
in the corner spray painter for a while. But yeah,
he turned heel. He turned on everything he told us
to believe in. He was the most disappointing thing to
a young kid. Actually that didn't understand the industry at
that point. Was how little it felt like Hollywood O.
Cogan wrestled at that time.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Well, he didn't have to exactly.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
He was hated it. He was there. He did it
to a little kid that didn't know the industry. It
just felt like, why is this guy always here in
ever fighting? Okay whatever.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
By the way, that that yeah, that's the story of
his entire career. By the way, you didn't see a
lot of Hulk Hogan matches on WWE Superstars or WWE
Wrestling Challenge. You saw angles being built for the next
Saturday Night's main event or the next pay per view,
But Hogan WW. I think used him perfectly, and with

(07:55):
with the nWo and w CW, he was used as
well as he could be used there as well.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
We're one of the biggest personas a great storyteller, a
master of connecting with the audience.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, there was a lot of bright spots about the
Hulk Cogan experience as an entertainer and as a pro wrestler.
I'm not sure where you want to take it from there.
Do we do we bring up the interesting run in TNA?
Do we do we bring up anything else? Do we
do we bring up him you know, kind of also
being accused of being out for himself and sandbagging many

(08:35):
other talents for his own greatness.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Uh, the TNA thing definitely didn't work the way anybody
had hoped it would. I don't know that that was
Hulk's fault. I mean, there's plenty of blame to go around.
First and foremost, Hulk Hogan wasn't wasn't in at that
point in his life, wasn't able to wud and wrestle,
So you were you weren't going to get that. As

(09:00):
far as the other stuff, I'm not going to sit
here and make excuses for anybody. I would tell you
most everybody in wrestling is out for themselves and it's
a cutthroat business. Was Hogan better at it than others?
Quite possibly? If we really wanted to, we could get
into the outside of wrestling stuff as well. I think

(09:22):
all that's been talked about quite a bit, and I'm
not dismissing it or anything like that. But the overall
point here is as we talk about the life at
times of Hul Cogan, whatever you think about him, that's fine,
that is your prerogative. No one can deny the impact
he had on the business or the sport, whatever you
want to call it. If pro wrestling and how none

(09:45):
of us are here now talking about wrestling were it
not for Hulk Cochin, Because the business never develops the
way it did. If Vince McMahon Junior does not choose
Hulk Hogan to be his guy, there was no one
else there that could have taken the ball and run
with it the way Hogan did.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Fair to say ho Cogan is the apex from where
sports entertainment, or from where wrestling turned into sports entertainment.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, yeah, I think you're probably right on that. Here's
one thing, and We can wrap this up if you want.
If you want to keep talking about him, we can
hul Cogan the knock on him. He wasn't a good wrestler.
While it's fair, very fair, he was never going to

(10:35):
be a great chain wrestler. He certainly wasn't a lucha door.
He didn't have the wrestling moves of a Rick Flair.
He was a much better wrestler than most people give
him credit for. There was just never a need for
him to do it. If you've ever seen any of
his matches in Japan, he could hold his own. Now again,

(10:57):
I'm not gonna tell you he was a great chain
wrestler or high flyer or anything like that, but he
was a lot more than a bunch of punches, a
big boot and a leg drop. He just he didn't
need to be more than that. In WWE, so he
or WWF at the time, so he wasn't, and especially
here in the US, that just became what he was.

(11:19):
Even in WCW even a lot of the time, you know,
with the after the turn and the nWo stuff. Now
maybe there's some cheating thrown in, but he didn't have
to display a wide range of wrestling moves and things
like that.

Speaker 2 (11:37):
To be over, I have not seen that stuff, So
I consider ho Cogan's entering skill set to be increminitately
incredibly limited from the thirty four years of actual remembrance
that I have.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
And also early or in his ww career you saw
more as well, especially after WrestleMania three, WrestleMania for somewhere
in there, it did become punch, punch, punch, big boot
to the face, leg drop.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
Uh mean, yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
Look, I'm also not gonna tell you that he was
Ricky Steamboat because he wasn't. But he could do a
lot more than he Look. I bring all that up
because that was smart of Hogan. If you don't have
to do all that stuff, why do it? Give the
fans what they want? And I think that's something especially
in that era of WWF, that Vince McMahon was incredibly

(12:36):
good at give the fans what you want. We're gonna
keep building up monster heels for Hogan to to take on,
and the deck's gonna be stacked against him, and oh
my god, House Hulk going to get out of this one,
and he finds a way to do it and slay
these beasts. Whether it was King Kong Bundy or Kamala
or the Big Boss Man or One Man Gang Slash

(12:58):
a Keem the African dream zeus that that his foil
in the damn Better forgotten movie No Holds Barred, they
bring in and fucking sell a pay per view off
of that. Obviously what we know about his feuds with
with Macho Man and others. But but for so long

(13:19):
it was Monster of the Month and that's how wwe
did it, and it worked incredibly well at the time.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
You're right, I just I love it and I love
the comedy of it all too, because you're like, how's
Ho cokea gonna overcome it this time? But by shaking punch,
punch punch, big boot leg drop. You already told us
at the beginning, that's how we overcame all of them.
It wasn't. That was the funny part of it. How's
Ho Coca gonna overcome it the same way? He overcomes
all of it with the power brother.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
That's right, he would. Look, here's what he was, and
they never said it, they never alluded to it, but
if you followed both, he was basically Popeye the sailor
man in I say, in real life in pro wrestling,
you're down, You're you're getting beat up instead of spinach.
It was the noise of the crowd, that the crowd

(14:12):
fire him up that got him going. He'd go into
his shakes, hit his hulk convulsions, which was the equivalent
of eating a can of spinach if you're Popeye, and
and then you go about kick button and save the day.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Paul Cogan, he did it. He was marketing. He was huge.
She took wrestling to another level. Do you gonna have
Paul Cogan Enric Clair on like your top four? Mount
Rushmore Top five? Do you even consider one of those things?
Like have you thought about it? Because it was the
question I started thinking of the other day and it
kind of hurts my head, and I think I ended

(14:49):
up with ten people up there.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
It's all gonna depend on your era. First of all,
Hogan has to be there. Was Flair a better wrestler. Yeah,
but look again, without whole Hogan, professional wrestling probably stays
in the shadows. There's no way he's not on there. Personally, Yes,

(15:13):
I would have Flair on there as well if you
tutured out to Mount Rushmore. So Mount Rushmore, we're going
to do four Hogan Flair.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
As you're thinking real quick, I was hard pressed while
I'm having the same brain aneurysm as you to not
say Bruno san Martino because of what he meant to
everything in the heyday of WWF or WWWF whatever it was,
and leading up in the Italian market. And then my
brain got to the point, how could I have three
guys before nineteen ninety.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
I'd go Hogan, I'd go Flair, I'd go Stone Cold
Steve Austin. I'd have to think on the worth one. Now,
if you grew up a little earlier, somebody's you know,
you brought up Bruno. Somebody's gonna say, Frank Kanye, you

(16:10):
can make a strong argument for a dust You're right, yeah,
lou Fez. So I mean, look, all those things are subjective,
and so I mean, whoever you want to put on
your forest, find whoever I put is my forest. Fine,
But what you can't deny with Hogan, And again, I
just I don't think this is the least bit disputable.

(16:33):
We're not talking about wrestling on a podcast in twenty
twenty five were it not for Hulk Cogan. We're just
not that the business doesn't grow the way it did.
TBS probably cuts bait with w CW well before they did.
Hell Turner may never buy w CW own Crockett went
out of business. That was the end of that. Bence

(16:55):
McMahon leveraged everything he owned on the first WrestleMania. If
that's not a success with Hogan and mister t in
the main event, WWF probably goes belly up, certainly, even
if they're able to salvage it and regroup, it's not
the juggernaut it is today. So whatever your Mount Rushmore is,

(17:16):
whatever you think of Hogan and all that, and all
that's fair, and all that's fine. We're not talking about
pro wrestling like we do now if it weren't for
hul Cogin not, plain and simple.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
We're not having two nights of SummerSlam this weekend if
not for Hull Cogan.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
We not only that, we may not be having one
night of Summer Slam. Were it not for hul Cogan.
We do have SummerSlam. Mica. Nice transition by you in
New Jersey this weekend, two nights. Look, I get it, Spectacle.
If you can sell the tickets, why wouldn't you do
the two nights as of right now, you got twelve

(17:55):
matches listed. I'd lop off two matches and do one night.
But if I can sell the same, if I can
sell thirty five thousand tickets for one night, or I
can sell thirty five thousand tickets for two nights, I'm
going to do the two nights as well. So I'd
rather see it as one night. It's hard to argue
with WWE's logic and doing two nights here.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
From an economic standpoint, from a financial standpoint, from the
w day WWE standpoint, Congratulations to them, you are a juggernaut.
Congratulations to everybody that's highly anticipated this, that's looking forward
to it, Congratulations to all the performers that are going
to be involved with it. A huge night. It is
a massive pinnacle for them to have an audience that's

(18:42):
that caring that they are able to generate two nights.
That'll be the last part of fucking enthusiasm. I share
towards SummerSlam though, and.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Look, that's fine, and that's certainly your prerogative, but they
would be foolish not to be doing the two nights
because they can now.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
If I agree with you, I gave them credit for
all that.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Hi. Personally, I gave all the journalistic, all the media,
all the mumbo jumbo talk first, and then I left
my strang opinion. My opinion is it's not great the
first opinion economically for them, for everybody associated with it.
It's everybody that's looking forward to it. Yeah great, it's
a huge windfall for all. That just my personal opinion

(19:25):
right now. Like you said, the card does not have
the strength to demand two nights, So that's why I'm
not looking forward to two nights.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Look, I'm not either. I would say it's not mumbo jumbo.
It's just stating facts. Like I said, if you can
sell thirty and I don't know what the exact attendance is,
I'm just using an icerong number. If you can sell
thirty five thousand tickets for two nights, or you could
do one night and sell thirty five thousand tickets, you're
totally making this a two night event and you're getting

(19:55):
those people to pay their money twice. But look, I agree,
you know, like I said, you could lop off two matches,
do a ten match card. I don't think you're giving
the fans their money's worth paying whatever those ticket prices
are for six matches Saturday night, then turning around paying
that money again for six matches on Sunday. That's why

(20:16):
I kind of chuckle when people complain about aw pay
per views being so long, and look, I get it,
And whether it's being in the arena or watching them
on TV, I've kind of felt that a little bit
at times as well. But they go so far above
and beyond giving you more bang for your buck. But look,

(20:37):
at the same time, if Tony Kah, if they could
have done two days of all in and sold thirty
thousand tickets both night both days, something tells me they'd
have done two days of all in, because why wouldn't you?
I get it. Sometimes this hard to say I was today.
Sometimes what's best financially may not be best over. It's

(21:00):
really hard to argue or fight against what's best financially.
It's a tough. And look, you've also opened yourself up now.
You can't go back to one night in a year
or two, because then all of a sudden it looks
less than I get why they do it. I don't
disagree with you, by the way, I would much rather
see one night. It's easy to see why they're doing

(21:22):
two nights, and it's easy to see why. It's probably
not going away. Hopefully the matches deliver. I guess that's
the best I can say about that.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Gonna be two nights. When you set twelve matches on
the card, my face dropped because I didn't realize it
was that little, not counting the pre shows, the stuff
that will just have people at the panel, will the
arena's filling up? But actual moment of wrestling. Do you
think two nights will have more wrestling than all end?

(21:58):
It will there be more no pay per view wrestling time. No,
I understand the unial financial genius that is WWE. Congratulations
to you guys. Do lass over two days and make
more money. It is all brilliant and that's a fact. Now.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
My guess is both nights will be somewhere around three hours,
give or take. But yeah, look I it's it's the
difference in how the two companies do business. And by
the way, again, I stand by what I said earlier.
I believe if AW could do this, they would because

(22:40):
in a lot of ways, you'd be foolish not to. Instead,
they do one day and they load that damn day up.
I get it. I also, even if it's not necessarily
my cup of tea, WWE at this point would be
foolish not to do two nights of Mania that they're
doing the two nights of SummerSlam, now that that's going
to be here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

(23:04):
If you can convince people to buy tickets for both nights,
you're doing both nights, and they're able to do that,
plain and simple. SummerSlam New Jersey this Saturday and Sunday,
alive on Peacock Night one as we record six matches announced.

(23:29):
Whether or not this is the final order, I don't know.
We'll just take him in this order. Sammy's Ain Carrie
and Cross. This has been a fun little feud for
me because I like Carry and Cross. I think he's
been terribly misused by WWE. Even when it looked like
they were going to use him better. I really didn't
believe it, and ultimately maybe they don't. But he did

(23:52):
get a win over Sammy'sz a couple of weeks ago
on TV. This feud continues. I'm assuming though it's time
for Samity against some revenge here.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
I'm assuming so I think Sammy Zaying picks up the
win here, comes back after having been sidelined and gets
triumphant moment.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
Tiffany Stratton defends the WWE Women's Championship against Jade Cargill.
I could see them going either way here. I'd probably
keep the belt on Tiffany, but I would not be
shocked if Jade Cargill does not win the title.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
They've invested a lot in Jade at every time, At
every turn, I thought her inexperience of lack of wrestling
ability was going to keep her from winning a match,
and it hasn't happened so far. So she gets the
world title.

Speaker 1 (24:41):
Who cares tag team match for the WWE Women's Championship
ra Khil Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez defending against Charlotte Flair and
Alexa Bliss. I think the Judgment Day ladies have to
keep the belt here, but how Charlotte gonna be walking
around without a belt of some sort?

Speaker 2 (25:06):
The two best friends that aren't friends, the time has
already ran out on them. The judgment A is gonna win,
and then we get to the real shit where Charlotte
and her tag team partner go out for each other.
I can't remember who she's tagging.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
With, whoever the little Alexa Blizz.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, thank you, so said a little blonde girl, one
of the little blonde girls.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
A wws, you'd have to be more specific than the
little blonde girl.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yes, that's why I can't remember her name, because she's
just a diamond dozen in their closet of the same characters.
But yeah, they lose because it'll be more fun when
they're fighting each other.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
Roman reigns and Jay usso versus bron Breaker and Bronson Reid.
I suspect there's going to be a lot of stuff
going on in this one. You've got to figure you're
out of way to keep Breaker and Reid looking really strong.

(26:04):
I'm not one hundred percent sure though, how you do
that without them coming out victorious. Does that mean Jay's
gonna turn on Roman? Roman's gonna turn on Jay?

Speaker 2 (26:14):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Does seth rollins, limp down and interfere? Does Do we
see a new member of that faction? I'm not sure
how it goes, but I feel like Breaker and Red
almost have to win, but I don't think they do.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
They should win for us to keep caring about them,
because they'll really quickly become solo Socoa and the B team.
But WWE is really happy with those guys. And even
when they said they were down poopy and no one
cared about them, they just let the US title on
them to make us care about them. So Roman didn't
come back just to lose to bron Breaker after bron

(26:51):
Breaker just dominated them on Monday. That sailed the now
and the coffin that Roman and Jay get the win.
And I guess somehow we just end making Braun look
strong because when it comes out that Seth is going
to have to be gone for over a year, the
money in the bank briefcase will just transfer to broun
Breaker and that install us him with power. But I

(27:12):
do like your idea that we should add a new
member to the group make them look more powerful. But
you have any clue who that should be, it will.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Not be Jay Uso. And I think that was the
first thing I said, is Jay turn on Roman as
long as people are going to continue to yeat for
him when he comes out, and you have that, say
what you want about it, but that's spectacular entrance. You're
not effing with that. I don't see Roman turning here either,

(27:42):
so you probably are looking at someone joining that group.
I don't know, man, I threw out a couple of
weeks ago, and you're not going to do it because
you won't see him before Sunday. But I would put
Cody Rhodes in that group, but you're not doing that here.
Somehow or another, I agree with you. Roman ain't losing here,

(28:03):
so somehow or another, Roman and Jay us Or are
going to get the win the match you're most looking
forward to, Micah. Maybe if Drew McIntyre can get back
into the US, he and Logan Paul take on Randy
Orton and jelly Roll. Blaine, Please, you haven't seen this

(28:26):
stuff about Drew McIntyre. He's stuck in England because he
didn't have his US passport. He only had his English passport,
so they wouldn't let him fly back over So now
they're trying to get back over here.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
Yeah yeah, yeah, oh okay, Now damn what will happen
if Drew mcin doesn't matter what happens if Drew McIntyre
doesn't make it back, Jelly Roll and Randy Orton are
winning whatever match they're in because Jelly Roll is the
celebrity book to be at Wrestle.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
May or at Summer Slim celebrities.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
W Yeah, at one thousand matters. Because you've got a
match with a celebrity, this has been I would assume
well planned out. Because you have someone in there who's
not like the others. To have to substitute someone else
last minute, you really run the risk of this match

(29:18):
falling flat on its face, which I guess is always
a concern anyway when you have a celebrity involved in
a match. But whatever, you've worked out up until now
and all that, so everybody can get their spots, everybody
can look good. The celebrity doesn't look like a putts
when now one of his opponents is gone, So it

(29:38):
does matter. I agree with you. I don't see Randy
Orton and Jelly Roll losing, whether it's McIntyre and Logan
Paul or Logan Paul and someone else. Randy Orton and
Jelly Roll are getting the win here.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
Now out to Lucas Joyner. I finally heard a Jelly
Roll song. I like, I can't tell you what Jelly
Roll do on the track, but uh yeah, shout out
to Lucas Joiner.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
Uh Gunther takes on CM Punk WWE World Heavyweight championship
on the line. I've talked to Look the last couple
of PLS and Raw the other week. I think CM
Punk has looked dumb. He's looked goofy, he's looked gullible,
which means it's time to put the belt on him.

(30:25):
That being said, if I'm WWE, whoever's taking the belt
off Gunther, it ain't see him Punk. I'm doing something
else there, but I can't. But how WW likes the
book You've got?

Speaker 2 (30:41):
Punk?

Speaker 1 (30:42):
Oh please, John, let's hug and then boom nutshot Roman,
help me up, buddy, Fuck you, CM Punk, I ain't
helping your dumb ass up. You look like a Putts.
So that means it's time for him to win the title.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
That would just be the culmination the cherry. On top
of this being the least cared about two time world
title run for anyone, I could hope that Gunther gets
the win because his win over Goldberg was more about
Goldberg losing his match with jay Usso was on Raw

(31:19):
when he reclaimed the title, just so that he could
set up Goldberg's retirement. Jay Uso has mattered more, Goldberg
has mattered more, and just by name recognition, CM Punk
matters more. If WWE wants to keep telling me that
Gunther matters, which apparently they do because he's a two

(31:40):
time champion, they need to show me he matters. But
let's keep it going. He doesn't matter, and seam Punk
wins the title because we're not going to care about
Gunther because he's not a real player in this, because
he was just a nice place holder.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Twice two on Sunday, you get the Wyatt Six versus
Androde and Ray Poix versus DIY, versus Praxium versus MotorCity
Machine Guns versus the Street Profits. Basically, we need to

(32:17):
get a lot of people on the card, so let's
do a six pack TLC match for the tag team titles.
I think it's a mistake, not because I think they're good,
but to keep changing the titles. I would have the
Wyatt's retain here. I can't help but feel like somebody
not name the Wyatt six is walking out with these belts.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
Though I believe that on TRODDI and Ray Phoenix will
win it, because everybody has to win the titles to
feel like they're legitimized for that two weeks that they
have the titles. Phraxium. You know, we got to walk
through the flowers from motor shutting machine guns. Then it
was Phraxium, then it was someone before the Wyat six. Uh,

(33:00):
you know even got on Chompa got it back real quick. Yeah,
the Hot Potato tag team titles will continue to hop.
Ray Phoenix gets his uh you know, another world title run.
I mean not his first ever because you know, brand
new things from in WW but just another world title run.
And uh, this match will make little sense because my
very first thought is, well, all five members of the

(33:23):
Why six come down there, start wrecking shop and just
kind of shove Uncle Howdy up the the ladder. Because
if there's not muckery in this match, there needs to
be more people involved in this match than in the
Roman Brawn Breaker tag match, which I fear there won't be.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
They'll be They'll be muckery for sure, for sure. Dominic
Mystereo puts the Intercontinental title on the line against AJ Styles.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
I don't know. I'm assuming Dominic wins here. I think
think logically speaking, AJ Styles should win, but again, we're
talking about pro wrestling. Logic doesn't always matter. I'm just
gonna assume Dominic Mysterio wins.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
Solo Sokola versus Jacob Fatu inside the steel cage for
the United States Championship. This one not quite as much
of a hot potato as the tag team titles are.
I'm gonna assume Solo wins here, but I know one thing.
There's no chance in hell in real life. I want
to be locked in a cage with Jacob Fatu.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Jakova two should win here. I don't understand how you're
gonna make him look strong again, but it's WWE. He's
gonna lose to the MFTs like five six times in
a row. Win one match and they'll say he won
the war. I just can't imagine with all the henchmen,
and I'm expecting a return of Tomatonga that Solosikowa doesn't

(35:03):
get it done.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
Becky Lynch defends the Women's Intercontinental title match against Larra
Valkaira Valkira. If Becky wins, Valkira can no longer challenge
for the title as long as Lynch is the champion.
Uh Valkira wins here.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
Yeah, yeah, with the stipulation with the fire at her heels,
I believe that it's our time to get that belt.
Only caveat could be maybe we get a full heel
turn from Bailey. Does Bailey align with Becky and maybe
screwing over Valkyria is more desirable, But I just don't
know how that benefits Valkyria. I guess she could go

(35:46):
straight into a deeper few with Becky that they hope
will elevate her then to world title status, or with Bailey,
excuse me, and then Becky moves on to defending the
title in another direction.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
Triple threat for the Women's World Championship. I'd be very
surprised if they go back to back with the women here,
but that's how it's listed for now, so we'll go
with it. Naomi defends against Rhea, Ripley and Eosky. They
really should keep the belt on Naomi here.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
I think they do. They should. I think that I'm
liking what I'm seeing so far, out of her energy,
out of her promos as the champion, Bianca isn't back
in the spotlight, and that will be a huge player
to be a foil for her, So I like Naomi
retaining here.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
Street fight for the undisputed WWE Championship the champion. John
Cena defends against Cody Rhodes. I think everybody expects this
to be where Cody gets the win back, reclaims the title,
and we start the transformation of John Cena back into
the you can't see me luscle, hustle, loyalty, and respect

(36:59):
John Cena that we want to see him go out
as which is why John Cena is winning here, He's
keeping the belt.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
Well, I'm disappointed. In the lead up to this, it's
felt like a sad continuation of WrestleMania. Cody Rhodes wants
the real John Cena. Stand up. He's looking for the
real slim shady even though they're in New Jersey. That's
not Detroit, not the right place, not even searching for
Waldo in the right neighborhood. You want the real John Cena.

(37:29):
You want hustle, loyalty, and respect. You're tired of these shenanigans,
these low blows, this guy bringing in weapons. Let's make
it a street fight so all your cheating is legal,
and then I expect you to be the man you
always bit and John Cena wins because I can't stand

(37:49):
Cody or any of that nonsense.

Speaker 1 (37:51):
And that's why Cody Rhodes is a warn the character,
not the guy. John Cena did what he did hook
to win the title. Now he's doing what he's got
to do to keep the title. Why would you deviate
from that? It's a flawed lo I look, I hear
what Cody's saying along the lines of saying your prayers,

(38:12):
eating your vitamins and all that shit. Or we want
to see the real John Cena real life. That doesn't
make a lot of sense. By the way, didn't Our
Truth want to want to see the real John Cena
as well?

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, creative's not great on this one. And I don't
understand how setting the no rules premise means we're gonna
we're gonna see the royal Johnsena. Now that he has
all the free ability to cheat, he'll really choose if
he wants to, because those other five times in the
last couple of weeks that we've seen him, that hasn't
been his choice. Who do we I don't get any
of the logic.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
Who do we see interfering here?

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Our truth? I haven't seen him a couple weeks logan Paul,
possibly too.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Maybe maybe. Well, there's your Summer Slam two nights this
Saturday and Sunday here in the US live on Peacock
elsewhere wherever the hell you usually watch WWE premium live events.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
I guess yes, sir, you didn't have a quick question
for you with Peacock coming up, and because of Jelly Roll,
it did inspire me to ask you who has been
your favorite celebrity crossover into WWE of all time?

Speaker 1 (39:31):
Of all time?

Speaker 2 (39:33):
Yeah, I wanted to give you some some ability to
pull on this one. Like I mean, and in my mind,
I'm like, you know, watching Pete Rose get shake slammed
or set on fire by Kane, But I'm like, that's
not really a match. I'm trying to think who who
was bad Money?

Speaker 1 (39:50):
Bad Money has done an incredible job when he's been used.
But the ANSWER's got to be mister T. He headlined
the first WrestleMania with Hogan against Piper and Orton. Was
it Orndorf for Worton and the other one was on

(40:11):
the outside Orndorf? I think WrestleMania too. He boxed Roddy Piper.
We when we were talking about Hogan earlier that first WrestleMania.
The second WrestleMania so much on the line and mister
T was to start, it was the outside guy, the

(40:31):
celebrity you chose to lean on. I think that delivered
if you were thinking I was gonna say, Travis Scott,
You're you're sorely mistaken. Bad Bunny may have been the
best actually in the ring, but it's the the The
answer to your question probably has to be mister t

(40:53):
at least for me.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
Okay, I was just wondering because in my mind I
can't even remember all of them who were involved in
the matches. Somewhere in my head I just have shuddering
fears of Boyd Mayweather and Lawrence Taylor, and all I
can remember out of Lawrence Taylor is the moment that
I stopped believing in the celebrity crossovers with that weird

(41:16):
clothesline against Bam Bam Bigelow off the middle rope.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
I see, I don't get why you keep painting on
Lawrence Taylor. He and Bigelow had a phenomenal for what
it was. And now again it wasn't Flarence Steamboat, but
for what it was, that was a phenomenal match.

Speaker 2 (41:37):
No, it was just a moment of learning the business
for a kid that thought the business was real and
realizing Oh, the celebrity is just gonna gonna win all
the time. Like I said, it was just a learning moment,
a different perspective from from a young wrestling fan.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
I'm with you on that. Well, so, so who's your
best celebrity then that WWE is utilized?

Speaker 2 (41:59):
Don't think I have one? Is where I was getting
at in my own conversation. That's why I just kind
of wanted to ask you what you had the fond
memory of because my first wrestle Mania I'm thinking back
to and I only really remember the main event is
Hogan Ultimate Warrior, and I was trying to think after that,
what match really captivated me that had a celebrity, And

(42:24):
like I said, there there's Arrow, There's Lawrence Taylor, there's
Floyd Mayweather. I don't got like memories that I cherished.
That's why I wanted your opinion on the topic, because
you were able to bring up some fun nostalgia for
mister t and I knew where this was going to
go when I started talking to Arrow.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Yeah, if you're talking and you probably don't see this
one coming either. Celebrity who didn't actually have a match
same era, but Cindy Lauper again when you were doing
the rock and wrestling connection, the war to Settle to
Score on MTV that led into the first Mania and

(43:04):
Opera with Wendy Richter and all that. Cindy Lauper may
have actually gotten WWF at the time more mainstream publicity
than mister T did. It was certainly neck and neck.
Mister T actually got into the ring and then came
back for WrestleMania too, But Cindy Lauper, in terms of
anytime you're using a celebrity, the goal is to get

(43:25):
more eyeballs on your product. Cindy Lauper did that almost
as much as mister T did, maybe even more.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
I mean, I guess I could have said Snoop dogg
Rob Gronkowski, but.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
Gronk was pre show right when he helped I don't
remember the dude's name. Now he's not there anymore. In
the Battle Royal or whatever, and he jumps over Ojo Raley,
Mojo Raley, thank you you know hell. That was on
the pre show. By and large, I think WWE does
a pretty good job of utilizing the celebrities and not

(44:00):
putting them in bad situation. I mean, they haven't strapped
the world title on any of them, like, you know, hey,
we got to promote this movie. Let's put the belt
on David Arquette. You know that was a WCW misstep.
WWE or F at the time hasn't gone that far. Well, yeah, hey,
I did. To answer your question, i'd say, mister t

(44:21):
or Sydney Lauper.

Speaker 2 (44:23):
It truly is unfortunate because they were going to try
to recreate a WCW moment this Summer Slam. If you
guys don't know, the Achilles injury suffered by Tyrese Halliburton
squashed the plans for the Tyrese Halliburton Jalen Brunson. They
were going to be involved in a tag team at
I think this kind of works out to the benefit

(44:44):
of Jelly Roll, But that was gonna be a continuation
of an on court rivalry. Because my favorite celebrity crossover
would probably be the Harl Malone Dennis Robin match, because yeah,
it was bad, but I didn't feel that bad because
they were doing it to each other, so it lowered
the expectations quite a bit rather than just if it

(45:07):
would have been straight up Dennis Rodman versus DDP or
Carl Malone versus Hokogan. I bet I would have had
a lot different perspective on it.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
Here's the problem with using the quote unquote real athletes.
They always look so damn small, like Rodman and menacing
on the court. In the ring, he looked tiny. Carl Malone,
same thing, as much as a WCW guy I was
during that time. I look, I got it. I understand

(45:37):
why they did it. I did not enjoy those matches
at all. And then you come back and add Jay
Leno into the equation. J fucking Leno had a match
on a WCW pay per view. What the actual eff
are we talking about here?

Speaker 2 (45:54):
I think that was one of the months where I
chose WWF that month when I saw Jay Leno. I
don't think I actually watch that one, because that might
have even been in me the talk show host.

Speaker 1 (46:03):
All right, all right, that the old talk show hosts,
the old unathletic and the look. I'm not exactly you know,
a peak physical specimen either. So I'm not ripping on
Leno for that. But I'm supposed to buy that that
he can hold his own in a wrestling match against Yes,

(46:23):
there's some celebrity athletes in there, but they're real wrestlers
in there also, No, no, not at all. So yes,
the the celebrity use in wrestling has been hit or miss. Look,
it's worked well many times. Andy Kaufman in Memphis worked
incredibly well for for for that area. But I enjoyed

(46:45):
Kevin Green. I looked at WCW has done good things
with or did good things with celebrity that Kevin Green
I thought was very believable.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
I was just gonna ask if there was anyone else
you said, mister t we brought up bad Bunny. Did
you think there was anybody else that we were glaring
over the shots to get mentioned in that conversation. I
threw too much. You said too much saying that Lawrence Taylor.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah. I again, Look, it's all opinions, so nobody's wrong,
nobody's right. I thought lt held himself pretty well along
those lines. I didn't enjoy Floyd Mayweather a because match
up against the Big Show showed the size discrepancy. But
b as great as Floyd Mayweather looks in the world

(47:30):
of pro wrestling, You know how we sometimes joke about
Jungle Boys, Physique and Darby Allen and all that, That's
what Floyd Mayweather looked like not the damn baddist boxer
on the planet. You know.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Yes, size really does matter and physique in that echelon.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
Mike Tyson, by the way, is another one we should
probably mention them bringing Tyson in turned around the Monday
Night Wars. Maybe wrestling looks a lot different in twenty
twenty five. And yes there's still pro red wre on
TBS and TNT, but it's under the banner of WCW
who won the war and not AW the startup, because

(48:09):
without that, WCW probably continues their dominance and WWE might
not have survived.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
Mike Tyson was stone cold with Shawn Michaels a triple H.
That was a huge game change or a huge pull
for the general audience. They love some celebrities for sure.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
Anything else wwis michaeh now over on the AEW side
of things, Micah first and foremost, because I don't want
to forget. The greatest line ever uttered on a pro
wrestling television show happened this past Wednesday, and it was

(48:48):
by Don Kallis. They were making fun of his Spanish.
He was sitting at the announced table on the opposite
side of Taz and went total gimmick infringement on Has
and referred to himself as bilingual Jones. Simple line. You
might have even missed it if you weren't paying attention.

(49:10):
I laughed so fucking hard for that. I'm not even joking, Micah.
I rewound it three times and listened to him drop
it again. It was that fucking funny. There are times, yeah,
there are times to me when Callous comes off as
like a poor man's Paul Hayman. That was fucking gold.
I laughed, so I ain't gonna lie, man. I laughed

(49:31):
so damn hard at that. That was absolutely hilarious. I
didn't want to gloss over that later on when we
got to that match, which by and large is kind
of forgettable for being honest, but that line tickled the
ever loving shit out of me.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
Don Callas has been putting in some work. You had
messaged me about it. I saw it. I thought it
was hilarious. Gotta commend Don Callas Tony Kahan for trying
to make Hetchake Sarah feels special. The introduction and the
little extras from Don Callous. I don't know what they're
gonna do with him, but but they're trying to make

(50:08):
it feel like he's something special compared to the other luchadors.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
Yes, and look, when you got a family as big
as a Don Callis family, you got to try to
make everybody stand out. I guess. Look, and I like that.
By the way, there's some of those people. Look, there
are a couple of those guys that if you wanted
to lop out of the family, I'd be fine with.

(50:33):
But Atchie Zero, I think this could be really good
for him and making him stand out. So yeah, well
we'll see how that goes.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
I'd agree with you on that. I wondered why did
we end up with Shane Taylor Promotions. I know we
don't want to get the right way, but Shane Taylor
Promotions alongside the Kallis family, I'm like, I, weirdly enough,
woul rather see Rocky Romero and Trent Burretta in this position,
just because we know there's already enough guys to feel
the basketball team on the Kallis family. Why are we outsourcing?

(51:06):
But then Callous told us why we're outsourcing when he
said it's a four hundred thousand dollars match, And you know,
I'm only gonna pay that twenty five thousand dollars if
we win, then it made sense, like wwe math, it
made sense financial lead out well.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
At least they explained it. I agree with you. When
you got damn fourteen eleven hundred people in the don
Kallis family, there's no reason to have to outsource. Yeah,
I don't like that at all. At least they had
an explanation for it. You don't have to buy the explanation.
That doesn't have to make it okay, But at least

(51:42):
they told you why it was happening, and it made
it a little easier to swallow. I like Shane Taylor
a lot if he managed other people and never stepped
in the ring himself. But that's just me.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Dane Taylor and Lands are arguing on the outside. That
shit had me cracking up. This is why you guys
are messing up. You need a hold there, Ran. That
was some good back and forth. The additive that Lance
Archer is even to that Headchase zero introduction when don
Kallis was done introducing, Hey, looks at that at Archer

(52:21):
and Art just like, did you hurt your throat? I
think I almost did. That little back and forth was great,
and they don't use Lance Archer as well as they
could in the ring, but at least they're giving him
a window to show more personality. It's intriguing.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
So let me get this straight. Micah will Osprey has
multiple herniated discs. I forget, I forget exactly what I'm said,
but all the way down pushing into his spinal cord.
Blah blah blah. But I'll be fine in a month, fucking.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
Really good, some good relax awesome cryo arapy, maybe a
little bit of acupuncture, get those uh those like those
weird cup things you know that leave the marks. You've
seen them on the m M A. And we go to
those weird heat cups on the next A little bit
of that, he'll be fine. It sounded like this man
was retiring and talking about next surgery.

Speaker 1 (53:18):
But I'll be finding him. Yeah, But instead it turned
I'll be fining a month for forbidden door. What what
they could have They should have just kept him off TV.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
They could have set the ship's brain. He has a
little bit of an injury. He's uh, he's off TV
right now. From the pile driver, I guess, I guess. Oh, man,
is it funny? That we've taken him off of TV,
will his uh significant other is now a focal point
on TV.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
I thought the whole point of taking him off TV
was so he could face some time at home with
his family, which I assume is how they got him
to dynamite this past week. Well, we're booking your wife,
you may as well come over as well. Uh yeah,
didn't make a lot of sense. I don't know what's
going on there. As long as it works for them,
I guess that's all that.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
Matters for those that don't know. Alex Windsor is the
partner of will Oscray. Obviously it looks like she will
be teaming with Tony Storm to take on Billy Starks
and Athena in this rivalry that's leading towards Athena versus
Tony Storm. But just awkward timing, right, Go take some

(54:27):
time off to be with the family, but we're gonna
put your family to work.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
Yeah, Hangman Page beats the shit out of a wheeler dah,
which is the way that should have gone.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
I guess I liked it. I liked the psychology of
what Hangman was. I was a little sad that he
pulled up. I'm gonna hang you. Well, you already hung
John Moxley, and I stopped hanging you. Why because no
one was gonna save you. Huh Okay. I don't think

(54:55):
that actually stopped Wheeler da from going back to the
death Riders. I I think it's just still left one
more pawn on the board that hang Man Page will
have to deal with this coming Wednesday.

Speaker 1 (55:07):
The Hurt Syndicate aligned with Adam Copeland maybe a line strong,
as they said, is business. We're in the business of
hurting people. I actually liked it. I can't believe how
quickly they seemingly kicked MJF out of the group for
questioning in it, questioning it, which leads me to believe
that's all a bit of a ruse as well.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
I don't think they fully kicked him out of the group.
I think this was probation, This was putting him in
his place. I think this was starting to build some
friction because as we saw, MJF went very quickly from
I'm happy to be here to let me jump in
front of everybody and we're talking about my world title.

(55:50):
I think that from lash League's perspective, that was kind
of a way of reminding MJF. You're not the only
one that matters here. What matters here is business, So
your business isn't necessarily our business. All that being said,
there was a lot to love from that FDR Jet
speed match. I really did like it. I appreciate, in

(56:13):
a comedical sense, the way that Stokely Hathaway forgets he's
injured every other minute and then has to regroup himself. Yes,
I mean those sudden burst of adrenaline are art, are incredible.
I mean, whoo if you're him. And I also like
the way that Adam Copeland keeps attacking Stokely and and

(56:34):
I kind of got amused to about Stokely complaining about
Adam Copeland attacking him, Like why are you showing up
without backup? Why are you leaving the security guards when
you know you pissed off this very large man.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
I like it as well. What I don't like and
this is starting to become a recurring thing for the show.
It will continue. Let's stop have of these goddamn two
hundred thousand dollars matches, four hundred thousand dollars matches, eighty
eleven hundred million payso matches. It's you know what, fuck
it just bringing back to goddamn casino Gauntland every week.

(57:12):
I'd rather have that.

Speaker 2 (57:17):
We shouldn't have complained about them when we had them
bring back title eliminators. We didn't know how good we
had it. We didn't know how good it was till
it's gone.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
Well, the title Eliminators didn't go away. We'll get to
that in a second. Continue. I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
That was my biggest thought up. Match was fun. I
liked the Adam Copeland use. I mean, and when did
you not also notice the escalation because it was Copeland
the week before Stokely said you're not allowed to interfere
in our matches. That's why you attacked them after the match,
And then it became Copeland, you're not allowed to touch

(57:54):
FTR at all, that's why again he attacked Stokely. So
as much as I love aew, you not like that adjustment.
I thought he was hiring the Hurt Syndicate just because,
but to see that it was because Copeland's not allowed
to touch them felt a bit flimsy. If we do

(58:14):
get a Hurt send to get FTR match out of
all of this, that'd be great.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
Though, But they did that two weeks ago that that's
why Copeland attacked Stokely then, so that actually made sense
that he hired FTR to attack or hired the hurt
send to get to attack FTR again. Uh, you mentioned
title eliminators, yet they didn't go away. Tony Storm versus

(58:39):
Billy Starks again, that's not a championship eliminator. That's two
contenders fighting and one is less of a contender after
they lose, and the other one is next in line.
The champions shouldn't be wrestling people in championship eliminators. That's goofy.
But we got it with Titland, Tony Storm and Billy Starks.

(58:59):
And by by the way, it was a good match.
And I'm not going to complain about Tony Storm being
on my TV because I think she's the best thing
going in AEW maybe all of wrestling, so I won't
complain too much about that. But did it have to
be a championship eliminator?

Speaker 2 (59:16):
I'm gonna be honest with you, I didn't notice it
was because I just noticed that they said they were wrestling,
And then we went to the promo with Athena giving
her marching orders to Billy Starks and it was to
not win the match. It was to hurt Tony Storm.
So somewhere in that promo I think I had lost track.

Speaker 1 (59:36):
All that being said, though, Micah, the match itself Starks
and Storm was really good and you get the continuation
of Tony Storm's feud with Athena, So I mean it
all worked out. I just I don't the championship eliminators
with the champion fighting someone at a non title match
is goofy to me. Obviously, others like it though.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
I like the marching orders. Heck, I love the promo.
Come I believe it was collision where you get to
talk to length and depth and excitement. Tony Storm is incredible,
Athena is amazing. She had a match this week we
finally got to see Athena in the ring also get
a win with the O face. So it's coming all
around the greatness of this of both of these women.

(01:00:24):
And then I like the story so far where there's
a different obsession with the title and trying to beat
Tony down. There's a different tenure, at least so far
to me from this story than there was the Mercedes
or the Mariah story where there felt like where there
was some overlaying consistencies.

Speaker 1 (01:00:44):
Yeah, I'm with you on that. I'm with you on that.
A couple of other things from Dynamite, all right, yeah, okay,
you had risco versus Claudio. Of course you had the
MJF interaction beforehand. I like Mark briscoe ate a lot.

(01:01:04):
I was glad to see him get the win. He
needed one and you know, been a little while. It
seems like since he had gotten a win. Yeah, fun
match to in Dynamite.

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
Mark brisco still getting in the way of MJAF is
a nice way to deter MJF. Well, he has the
world title from actually going after Hangman Page, So I
like where this is leading us. I like that that
was a heck of a physical match between Brisco and Claudio.
Also wanted to real quick. We had a little bit

(01:01:40):
of Nick Wayne and Kip promo there on Dynamite. I'm
starting to see something coming together there. I was happy
to see how it took the next step on Collision.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
The matriarchy.

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
The matriarchy, Yes.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
Nick Wayne has star oozing all over him. That sounded
way more disgusting than I intended it to. But look,
I'm not saying you push him to the moon and
push him to the moon right now. But that kid,
if things don't get derailed, he's going to be something special.
So yes, I like that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
You had the right mentor now. Also, I think that
the breast pants with the vest the dress vessels are
starting to grow on me from Ga and Ricochet. I
had to bring that up. Nope, you don't like the look.

Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
Nope, terrible, Nope, nope, nope. Ricochet is killing the gates
of agony, which is saying something because they were mired
and mediocrity.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
I thought they could only go up from the mediocrity
they were in. He got that money, they won a
four hundred thousand dollars feet or four way, and then
he got them some new threads. And look at the
size of those two guys. They don't meet sleeves. Everything
about Rickyochet is ridiculous and over the top, and it
felt like it fit to me. I understand if you
don't like.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
It, though, Yeah, it was not my cup of tea.
The main event, though, Claudio and Mark Brisco not only
a good match Brisco gets to win, you also get
the interference, which gets us to this week's Dynamite main event,
which will be Hangman and Moxley a little surprise are

(01:03:28):
doing it this soon, But that's fine. Everybody barred from
ringside for the aw title.

Speaker 2 (01:03:37):
The way hang Man just kind of walk down stares
at Moxln cuts the promo, it's a little bit weird
at this point. Do they respect each other? Where there's
this monoymano. I was halfway waiting for the rest of
the death writers just try to swarm at Hangman page
at that moment. It's definitely interesting, the uh connection between

(01:04:01):
Hangman and Moxley at this point. And like you, I'm
surprised this quick, this big of a blowout. Are we
getting two street fights this week?

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
I don't know, because what did you say? Was it
Hangman and Moxley? And then don't we also get one
between Kyle Fletcher and Dustin.

Speaker 1 (01:04:25):
Hangman and Moxley isn't a street fight, it's just everybody's
barred from ringside.

Speaker 2 (01:04:30):
Oh, just everybody's barred from ringside. Sorry. I just expect
with those two that it's going to be an extreme
match at this point.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
Well, I mean, I'm sure it will be, but yeah,
it's not built as a street fight, not yet, okay,
And it'll just break down that way when they bump
into the ref, I get it, probably yeah, or the
ref turned the other way or something. I don't know. Yeah,
a couple of other things collision this week. I am

(01:04:56):
so so so so happy the Jew's Robinson his back.
I am so so so disappointed with his look. He
just looks goofy. I want the old Jews Robinson back.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
I don't know why gaining the muscle, why he shaved face,
the shaving of the face, and the last acting Zaney.
This juice isn't working for me and for I swear
way too long. I was wondering why he had those
bottoms on until I realized they matched Austin Gunn and

(01:05:34):
he was trying to be Colton gun But there's just
something where it feels like all the calmedy, A lot
of the pizzazz, pizzaz, that's the word. I was looking for.
Pizzazz that was in juice Robinson, that made him eccentric
has been sucked away when he shaved his face.

Speaker 1 (01:05:52):
Yeah, I mean he looks like he's thirteen now, so
I mean there's that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
I know when he storm is but likes them young.
I mean she's from thirties, right.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
I mean, I guess, I guess I don't. Yeah, look,
maybe it will grow on me over time. That means
said the Bang Bang Gang and Big Bill Brian Keith.
It was a fine match for what it was. Bang
Bang Bang that that back, good lord, Let's try that again.
Bang Bang Gang gets the.

Speaker 2 (01:06:23):
Win with just me or did Austin Gunn hurt his
left knee at the end of the match. He was
holding that pretty pretty heavily well. Jus was trying to
celebrate the victory where they were both laying there on
the ramp, and I I am scared that the guns
are very, very injury prone. I it's just a fear.

(01:06:46):
I'm not sure. Hopefully we don't even have to address
that one. But the pride of pro wrestling is turning
and Max Castor is getting teered down from the fans.
How much do you hate what the has done? I
thought this was going to get a whole different direction,
But when they start cheering for Max, I couldn't stop laughing.

(01:07:08):
And when Anthony bows is freaking Gota said, I don't
know if I like this, but this is better than nothing.
This is better than when we.

Speaker 1 (01:07:14):
Were terrible Micah. It was absolutely terrible. There was nothing
redeeming about this segment at all. Look other than it
makes sense because for whatever reason, the fans are into it,
Max Casters should be getting cheers. The way Bullen's's character
has been going, he should be a heel, but they

(01:07:34):
should be a team. Damn it one way or the other.
I just I don't care for it. Look personal preference.
I don't care for any of this, none whatsoever.

Speaker 2 (01:07:45):
How did subtracting Adam Cole from the equation bring back
Roddy's voice and Kyle O'Reilly's personality. I don't mean this
as discouraging to Adam Cole, but he sucks away all
the wind in the air from Kyle O'Reilly and rogerck Strong.
I don't know if I like the congomeration that promo

(01:08:05):
fault weird, but at least it was them again that
we enjoyed.

Speaker 1 (01:08:15):
I wish Adam Cole's speedy recovery. We'll just leave it
at that. No, No, look, I agree with you. I
like conglomeration Kyle O'Reilly much better because you do get
the goofy personality. I personally I miss Roddy's strong stream
screaming all over the place. So I missed that personality

(01:08:36):
as well. That did go. I don't think that was
Adam Cole's fault that that doesn't shine as much there,
but it it doesn't. So maybe one of the bright
spots of Adam Cole being out is you get more
personality from from O'Reilly from and from Roddy Strong.

Speaker 2 (01:08:55):
I thought they were gonna be called thin and instead Skyl,
Julia Hart and Tecla are triangle of madness.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
Whatever, which is my way of saying, yeah, which is
my way of saying I don't like it, but that's fine.

Speaker 2 (01:09:18):
I was just gonna move past once you made your statement.
I was gonna say, Tony Shavani, I love you. You're a legend.
His name is a Helico, not Angelico. Not Angelico. Anyone
in production could have, you know, let that one into
his ear at any point on Helico, at least as
long as I've ever seen him competing.

Speaker 1 (01:09:39):
Do you think that Angelico is the only name that
gets mispronounced on a weekly basis in aw Now.

Speaker 2 (01:09:46):
It was just the one that that I caught this week,
and I was gonna help with the pronunciation. Pronunciation of
the week for the guys that I work for the
company to the guys that do.

Speaker 1 (01:09:54):
Anti zero wrestled twice this week. His name was pronounced
nine different times or nine different ways.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
At Chase Sarah, At Chase Sarah. What do you think
they were? What was one of the best mess ups
that you heard?

Speaker 1 (01:10:07):
It doesn't matter, you know what if you don't want
your name mispronounced, make it Smith or Jones, all right,
it happens. But yeah, worried about it? An, Yeah, they
were butchering a little bit. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10:26):
Christatlander appears to be obsessed with Willow Nightingale and uh,
i'll fletcher best sunglasses, worst sunglasses ever with all the
dangles coming down. I like him from a pro wrestling thing,
but then again, I don't like him.

Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
I don't like his look, but that's me, so I
would hate it. Yeah, I would say, worst thing ever.

Speaker 2 (01:10:52):
I absolutely hate it. And no man should own that
much light pink.

Speaker 1 (01:10:59):
I don't know if it's what they're going for, but
he reminds me of some German and I know he's
not German, but German or European hipster follow me here, hipster, skinhead, racist, metrosexual,

(01:11:21):
all those things. Kind of rolled into one. Yeah, it doesn't.

Speaker 2 (01:11:25):
Work for me.

Speaker 1 (01:11:27):
I honestly, I liked the best when he looked like
will Osprey, but the shaving of the head promo was
was very epic. Yeah, I'm not a fan of Fletcher's.

Speaker 2 (01:11:39):
Look, as long as it works for sky Blue. I
guess the rest of us can't judge, but yeah, it's
a it's a little uh, a little different to me,
especially how each week it seems like he walks out
in his own clothes. That's the unnerving part is if
I saw Kyle Fletcher walking down the street and that
much like Pink every day, Like I understand in the

(01:12:02):
ring having an outfit, but I don't know, just me,
there's something something about it. But I guess we'll be
calling him TNT Champions soon. You think that title change
is gonna happen, you know what.

Speaker 1 (01:12:16):
The longer it goes, I'm not sure. I'm not saying
Dustin should hold the belt for an incredibly long time.
I don't know if Fletcher's the guy. I mean, maybe
he is.

Speaker 2 (01:12:30):
Did Dustin be doing the Mercedes and coming out with
all three belts? He's got his Trios title, his tag title,
I think last week. He only came out with the
TNT title. If you got it flaunted, that's what they say, right, I.

Speaker 1 (01:12:42):
Would be flaunting the hell out.

Speaker 2 (01:12:44):
Of it easily. Just the tatch of two titles in front,
have like three on one belt, be very easy to do.

Speaker 1 (01:12:52):
Yeah, i'd maybe I didn't like that he defended the
title against Lee Moriarty only because your Ring of Honor
Pure Champion, the TNT Championship and AW title. And I
realize I'm nitpicking here. We have interchanging of the two
brands all the time. I would have rather seen him
defend against someone else, someone on the AW roster, and

(01:13:14):
not the longest reigning Ring of Honor Pure Champion.

Speaker 2 (01:13:19):
Right, it hurts that pure champion, it hurts that special
this How good is he? Well, he's only good at
pure matches. There was another Kallous family members somewhere in
the back that could wrestle Dustin.

Speaker 1 (01:13:31):
Yeah, or you know, Kallous could have outsourced for the
night or something. I guess again, do.

Speaker 2 (01:13:38):
You think the outsourcing with the young bucks we didn't
see them this past week. I think that was a
one and done. Or think the uh don Kallus influence
on them will.

Speaker 1 (01:13:46):
Can I think it probably continues. That would be my guess.
And hell, that's actually kind of a good pairing. But
when you have eighty eleven hundred other Kallous family members,
maybe there's not TV time for them all. Every weekend.
The Young Bucks drew the short end of the stick.
Remember they're not EVPs anymore, Micah, So they got no stroke.

(01:14:07):
They're just like everybody else, just like Angelico.

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
Something I'm gonna be looking for this week, does Cat.
Let's try to get another hug of his books deeper
into the Young Bucks. Tell me what you guys are
looking forward to this weekend over on x It's at
Frankle Micah, And I'll tell you right now, I do
have the most. I am looking forward to a match.
The match I'm looking forward to the most, I should
say it's Naomi rear ripley Etosky. I really feel like

(01:14:37):
that one. Well, I'm lean leaning Naomi is most up
in the air for any way it could go, and
I think it'll least have the least extra curriculars from
the people we're expecting.

Speaker 1 (01:14:49):
You are on the edge of your seat for Randy
Orton and Jelly Roll versus McIntyre presumably and logan Paul
just admit it, Micah, It's okay. It's okay to root
for Jelly Roll. He's a very likable guy. He's overcome
the odds, uh in life. You know it's so Look,
it's okay. Embrace your inner Jelly role.

Speaker 2 (01:15:14):
What we call that match is break time. It'd be
nice to get a snack the bathroom. Heck, I'll even
make your plate of nachos for you because I won't
be busy.

Speaker 1 (01:15:23):
Well, hell, that seems like a pretty good deal. Get
the show on exit. PW After Hours you can find
me at Real Mike Carlisle enjoy Summer Slam both nights
and everything else going on. We'll talk to you next
week for another episode of Pro Wrestling After Hours. You're
on the After Hours podcast network.