Ep 303: WWE PLE's Are Going to ESPN. AEW is Playing Catch Up. Where's Brock?

Episode 303:  WWE signs a new deal for bring their PLE's to ESPN. If the PPV model is dead, does AEW need to change? Where's Brock Lesnar? Latest news. 











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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
What's up everybody. Welcome back to Pro Wrestling After Hours.
I'm Michael Carlile, joined as always by Micah Francomiicah was shaken.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Man, WWE U haul once again, And no, I'm not
talking about from Connecticut to Vegas. We're talking about dropping
the cock and heading on over to ESPN.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Don't know within the first twenty seconds of the show,
I would have dropped the phrase no pun intended dropping
the cock. But yes, the big news this past week
for the World of Wrestling WWE premium live events anyway,
leaving Peacock in twenty twenty six, they will be going

(00:47):
to ESPN five years. It's an average of three hundred
and twenty five million per year for the rights to
the WWE premium live events, Fluting WrestleMania, Royal Rumble somewhere.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
You know the deal.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Big day, Big week for WWE.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
What did you not like my reference? I could have
said the cock is no longer surviving, the cock is
no longer rumbling, the cock is no longer clashing, the
cock is no No.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
I was not look shit. I love a good cock reference, Micah.
It was just sometimes you want to ease into it
and not like hit people over the head with it,
no pun intended. Twenty seconds in, that's all like, let
everybody sit down reference Maybe let everybody sit down, you know,

(01:42):
take a breath, get a sip of coffee, get in
their car, and get going. However, they're listening to the
show and then you hit them over the head with
the cock.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Want our number one fan the crash, Well, he's reversing
out of his parking space at work. Okay, as soon
as he hits play on this to start laughing that hard?
I mean, this is something interesting direct to consumer, WWE
almost replacing UFC in the ESPN Premium Live event hierarchy.

(02:15):
I got to say that as the week unfolded and
we saw where this led the UFC, I was a
little surprised because I thought this announcement was the gateway
to saying tko Sen Energy was going to be fully
involved with ESPN Plus. So I'm a little surprised about
this announcement and how it played out with the rest

(02:35):
of the week. What was your initial reaction just to
the joining of WWE and ESPN.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
All Right, I don't hate it at all. I actually
like it, but I am surprised that the worldwide leader
in sports? Was that willing to jump into bed with
a quote unquote fake sport predetermined? Now now, look, obviously,
as wrestling fans we think of it is more than ooh,

(03:03):
the fake sport, but for a lot of people there's
still that stigma. I am a little surprised ESPN was
willing to overlook that, but I think it goes towards
how important it is to have content on your streaming platforms.
And ESPN, like you mentioned, is about to roll out

(03:23):
there direct to consumer product for a mere thirty bucks
a month, and it is important to have proven I'll
say ratings winners. Obviously in the streaming world, ratings are
much different than we think of when we talk about
TV ratings, but content that will consistently draw fans in

(03:44):
and certainly WWE, you go back to the network, you
go back to where they're currently at with Peacock, people
will tune in for WWE. That's why Netflix is willing
to pay so much for right. That's why USA paid
what they paid to get the rights to smack down ESPN.

(04:06):
They're no dummies. They know if you want to get
subscribers for your new platform, you got to offer people
something that is going to make it worthwhile to them,
and they obviously felt like WWE was one of those products.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
It's a little surprising, like you said, to see ESPN
going this direction. They were more into the live competitive sports.
We know that they had ventured into the scripted drama
area before. This is a company that at a point
I remember shows like Sports Nation did have brocked. There's

(04:43):
been a kind of feeling out process that felt like
for well over a decade now between WWE superstars kind
of making the round doing all the shows that were
there in studio shows, doing that little kind of carousel
throughout the year's been now to see them go fully
and into business with this product a little bit different

(05:07):
and unlike what we're expecting from the UFC as it
goes to Paramount that it will stay the same. Triple
H is already kind of intbated that this partnership will
take WrestleMania to a bigger level. So, uh, do you

(05:28):
think we're gonna like actually have like a spaceship hovering
above a stadium one time? Like? How can Triple H
make the stage any bigger than the NFL stadiums? They
already throw these massive plis in.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Well, if you thought Travis Scott took his sweet ass
time ambling to the ring at WrestleMania this year in
the middle of a match, my guess is it's going
to be even longer.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
I don't know, H. Well, just I think and I
don't want to try to get in H's head on this,
but I think just the fact that you're now associated
with ESPN again, the worldwide leader, right, and you know
these selections, it's not just for the direct to consumer
streaming platform. Select events including WrestleMania are going to be

(06:15):
simulcast on ESPN and their family of networks. Theoretically, were
they so inclined that you could open that up to
your own whatever WWE version is of a Manning cast
and maybe, all right, you're simulcasting WrestleMania on ESPN, but
on ESPN two you can get it with McAfee and

(06:38):
somebody sitting in a garage doing commentary or whomever or whatever.
I think it does open up a lot of possibility. Look,
it's a win that there's no denying this, certainly for
for WWE, but this is a huge win again that
there is prestige being associated with ESPN and and you know,

(07:01):
you see the other moves ESPN made the past week
buying NFL Network. They sell a stak of ESPN to
the NFL everybody, And we talked on our MMA podcast
MMA After Overs if you want to check that out.
Paramounts reasonings for getting into the negotiations with UFC and

(07:23):
making that deal happen. It's a streaming world now and
everybody's out to get proven commodities. And you know, you
can have all the greatest scripted programming you want, but
nothing drives an immediate sense of urgency to tune into
something than live sports, and yes, pro wrestling falls into

(07:47):
that category. And whether it's a PARAMOUNT that is more
about the scripted series realizing, hey, we got to get
into live sports, or whether it's an ESPN that's already
doing the live sports, but we've got to have more
and more, and we've got to have stuff the fans want,
not just stuff for the for the sake of having it.
I think it was an important move for ESPN to

(08:07):
get this deal done with WWE, so it works out
well for them.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Also, thirty dollar thirty ninety nine a month the new
ESPN direct to consumer streaming service, and I'm seeing I
have not had this personally confirmed, but I'm seeing that
if you have Cock Spectrum, Direct TV, DirecTV Streaming, Dish, Hulu, Optimum, Sling,
YouTube TV, It's Spinning, or Verizon TV, this will come

(08:34):
to you for free. If you already have a ESPN subscription,
somehow this new direct to consumer platform with all these
ples will be included. So here's a huge windfall for you.
You see that thirty dollars price tag, it doesn't exist
if you already have access. So much like we said,

(08:57):
it's a huge win for the fans of the US.
See the deal that was made with Paramount. This is
a huge win for WWE fans. There's so many ways
to access this product now in a more than consumer
friendly price.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
There are some questions coming out of this that I
suppose we can speculate on. We're not going to have
the answers just yet, but this deal is for the
premium live events, no mention anywhere of the library, which
is currently housed on Peacock, much like the premium live events.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
Do you think.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
For what passes for WWE network now? And I say
that just because it's not a standalone thing like it
was at one time that they, you know, Peacock's been
hosting that. You think that just goes away. They've been
uploading a lot more stuff to their YouTube channels lately.
I can't help but wonder if despite what some of
us would like to think, that they've just realized, Hey,

(10:00):
there's not a market for the older stuff enough to
continue to make it worthwhile. We can still throw stuff
up on YouTube and whatnot, but the market's not there
to continue to have a WWE network that houses old
pay per views, old rawls, old ECW shows, old WCW shows.

(10:21):
Or do you think maybe that's still out there and
they're gonna let people bet on that, whether it's Peacocker
or somebody else. What do you think happens to the
quote unquote WWE network.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
I think that goes away. I think you're right on
that one. I don't know if Peacock would be so
indulsed to just hang around to keep the network. And
here's a good one that I didn't see mentioned. I'm
not sure if it's included in the PLS. What happens
to Saturday Night's main event that they had just brought back.
Is that still going to be an NBC one off. Well,

(10:54):
they don't have access to really much else of the
content besides having smack Down here in the States.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
That's a good question. I would assume that Saturday Night's
main event is either a separate deal or it's included
in the NBC Universal deal for SmackDown on USA, But
I don't actually know that for sure, right.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
That could be a huge question. Is that something with
just NBC Universal Does that include the network? So I
think there's a couple more elements that could shake out
from here, but I hope we're not going to talk
about it too much this week. With Triple Mania, I
believe that's on the WWE YouTube channel, and we've seen
a focus on boastering up that YouTube channel. I wouldn't

(11:48):
be surprised if a lot of that old content ends up,
like you said, just on YouTube.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
Well, yes, but the Triple A stuff, that's a completely
different ana and there's a completely different reason why they
are putting that on the YouTube channel. You want to
take a guess as to why.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
Try to get the expansion, get more eyes on it
because it'll be triprie.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
No, they haven't actually bought Triple A. That deal is
not done, So you can't go out and try to
sell TV rights to something that you don't own yet,
and fuck, maybe you never do own I'm assuming they
didn't just announce the deal with no intention of doing it.

(12:33):
My guess is it gets done, but that deal hasn't
gotten done yet, so they don't technically own Triple A yet.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Oh that that's a few months removed from I thought
this deal would have been done by now, and makes
less sense why Triple Mania is basically like n X
Team Mania Light.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah. Again, I do expect that to get done at
some point, but yeah, you can't go out, Yeah, you know,
because honestly, the easy thing to do would have been
to slap it on Peacock right where you've c But
you don't actually own it, so.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
You couldn't.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
But you can slap it up for free on your YouTube.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Yeah, but I
still think there's a good possibility just if the network
doesn't get bought up, But if it doesn't stay on Peacock,
I think YouTube is the most likely destination. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
Now, I could see a scenario where Peacock for the
right price, and that price definitely goes down without the
premium live events attached to it, but just to have
the content, I could see that scenario. The problem is
the older content that you have to do so much
too to bring it up to the present. Like from

(13:53):
a quality standpoint, from a technical standpoint, it really takes
a lot of man hours and a lot of effort,
and then when you're not seeing a return on views
on the older product, you really have to start to question,
you know, how much of it is it really worth
to keep around and to keep doing but for the

(14:16):
right price. Again, WWE is still a partner with NBC
Universal with SmackDown on USA, I could see a scenario
where the tape library, the WWE network, if you will,
sticks around. But my guess would be it's probably it's
just going to go away.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
I just got a feeling that TKO looks at content.
And even if you say the network's going away from
Peacock because another party doesn't find it valuable, I could
still see them slapping it on YouTube just to get
the monetization out there, because it's content, and at some
point views will produce even if it's a few here

(14:58):
and there, And I don't how it hurts them. I
don't think they'll keep updating it once we get past
ten eighty picture. I don't think you'll see some of
this older content in four K, but I could see
it getting slapped up there to just make use. Hey
have one intern sit there and your job is to
just upload video.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well yeah, because again what they're doing with the YouTube
and maybe there's a little more thought into it than this,
but it's basically random stuff that they post up there,
whereas with the network you're trying to do entire tape libraries,
and again with stuff in the last five years, not
nearly as big of a deal. But when you're talking

(15:37):
about nineteen eighties World Class or wcwpro or whatever, and
even old ww content, there's quite a bit of effort
that has to go in to cleaning that up and
technologically speaking bringing that up to current standards. And for them,

(16:00):
you do have to wonder, since there's so few people
actually watching it, if it's worth it to continue to
do it. But yeah, I from the YouTube channel standpoint, yeah,
I think what they're doing with that totally makes sense.
And maybe you lean into that a little bit harder.
But if you're talking about all right, I want to
be able to go back and watch all the old
Monday Night tros from the Monday Night Wars era, and

(16:23):
I want to watch all the raws from that era
as well. That might not be quite as readily available
as it currently is now in the future.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
See that coming. Things are always constantly changing with WWE,
and you never know what move it's gonna be, the
next move they'll make. I mean they've made a couple
of surprise thing once in the last few weeks.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Let me ask you this thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And look,
we'll get right back to WWE. But but this is
all tied in together. So you had the UFC announcement
going to paramount, plus the pay per view system is dead,
although maybe not quite but the numbered USC events will
be part of your Paramount subscription starting in twenty twenty six,

(17:09):
so you're not paying for those pay per views anymore.
WWE here in the US hasn't been doing the pay
per views in a while now, and that's going to
continue with ESPN. Most of your big boxing is on
Netflix or something else now, not that there's not traditional
pay per view for some of that, but for all

(17:31):
intents and purposes, what we think of when we think
of pay per view is basically dead unless you're AW.
At what point in time does AW and Max get
together and say, all right, we need to get AW
pay per views on here included with your Max subscription

(17:52):
or greatly discounted with your Max subscription, and move further
and further away from the old antiquated pay per view model.
Because you know, if you're AEW, you're number two trying
to catch up already to continue to service an antiquated model.
And as the days go by, more and more combat

(18:14):
sports fans, in this case, where wrestling fans are out
of that world of shelling out money for traditional pay
per views, you're being left in the dust here. If
you're an AW, aren't you.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yes? And if the conversation has not happened between Warner
Brothers and Tony Kahan now that the AE, now that
the WWE and UFC deals have shaken out, I think
you have to react accordingly, as both Warner Brothers and
as AE W if you're not on the phone with

(18:49):
each other discussing how we can make this a full
fledged just your pay per views are no longer pay
per views. They are premium live events that come along
with If your HBO Mac subscription. I don't know what
we're doing here, or maybe there's just a couple dollars
minimal paywall, but you have to react to this, and

(19:11):
you cannot do pay per view for much longer if
you're AEW and expect to see a return on that investment.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
If you're getting WrestleMania included in your well as you
have for a while with your Peacock or your WWE
network before that, and it's going to be included going
forward with your ESPN direct to consumer platform, and you're
getting all these pay per views at no added charge.
I don't care how long AW pay per views are.

(19:45):
I don't care if you're into the work rate, how
superior you think they are to other wrestling pay per views.
At some point in time, the thought of dropping fifty
bucks for them, when you can watch WWE pay per
views for no added costs, you're not going to keep
dropping the money. So I do think whether it's rolled
into the Mac subscription or a couple bucks more with

(20:09):
your Mac subscription or whatever, I think AW is doing
itself a disservice if they're not working on trying to fix.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
That, not to be fixing it immediately. The whole game
has changed and you have to keep paced.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
To be fair to AAW, you've got to have a
willing partner. I would assume if they believe it's going
to add subscriptions, Warner would be totally on board with this.
But yeah, at some point in time AAW is not
going to be able to maximize the premium live world
doing it the antiquated way.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
Perner already lost out on the NBA, now more heavily
invested in NHL in college football. I think that there
was probably a thought process with Warner to get involved
with the UFC, and I think that now that they've
seen how the UFC deal shakes out, because you are

(21:10):
already along with AW where you weren't going to get
into the WWE business, I think that UFC deal will
really push forward Warner focusing on AW and catching up
with the new system that we're seeing put in place.
And like you said, I wouldn't be surprised if by
the beginning of the year we're seeing some kind of

(21:31):
announcement of the pay per views from AAW being on
the HBO Max streaming service. YEP.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
Other news from the world of wrestling Micah, And let's
just go ahead and do this. You buying for a
second that Carry and Slash Killer, Cross and Scarlet are
no longer part of the WWE.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
No, not at all.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
Their contracts expired last week. Here, all right, this of
course coming off the heels of the whole seth Rollins thing,
that the fake real injury to enhance the surprise cash
in at Summer Slam and all that. Here's why I
don't buy this. Say what you want about WWE, and

(22:21):
that's probably all fair. They're usually pretty good at business.
And you're not featuring a Carrion Cross on your product,
on your You're not putting him on Summer Slam against
Sammy's ain. You're not promoting his book that WWE doesn't
have a part of on your on your television shows,

(22:45):
knowing he's gonna leave in two weeks. You're just not
doing that. I can't help but feel like similar bit
different to the Rollin situation. This is an effort to
to drum up interest in and carri and Cross, and
when he eventually makes his return, it's all the bigger,
it's all the more special, it's all the more shocking.

(23:08):
But you can open up all the Pro wrestling t's
accounts you want. You can formulate all the hotmail accounts
you want for your independent booking inquiries. I ain't buying
for a second that Carrion Cross has done with WWE.
I'm just not look and that's fine. I'm curious to

(23:28):
see where the story goes. But yeah, I don't buy
for a second that he and WWE have parted ways
and you're going to see Cross on AW or something
in a few weeks. You might see him in other places,
but I don't think he's going to stray very far
from WWE.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
It's a non story to me. I feel like WWE
is trying to recreate things that were authentic and organic,
and they like to throw the those words around will
trying to manipulate every function of that story carrying. Cross

(24:09):
is still a WWE employee, just like Olmas, just like
Titus O'Neill, Just like a bunch of guys ou there
around the world that don't wrestle do wrestle. WW uses them,
they don't use them. He's still an employee either way.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
He has nothing like almost and who'd you say, Titus O'Neil.
But yeah, I do get your overall sentiment, Yes, at
the very least they have an agreement. Maybe Penn hasn't
been put to paper yet, but WWE would never ever
put him on TV feature him in a meaningful way.

(24:45):
And I know Samy's Ain beat him at SummerSlam, but
still you're not featuring him in a meaningful way if
you know he's walking out the door, or that there's
a chance he could walk out the door. That's just
not how they do business. So it might make for
a really interesting storyline as this continues to develop, but

(25:05):
I don't buy for a second that Cross in WWE are.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Done promoting him on TV. Promoting his books is more
than they've done with him in years. And I'm to
the point where I'm fatigued and I can't care about
him anymore because outside of the dearly departed Bray Wyatt,
this would make every rehire in twenty twenty two now

(25:32):
from the Triple H rehire when we thought that many
people were unfairly released, well all those people have been
released again and they did nothing with them over the
last three years. So I kind of don't feel like
I can artistically care about the Carrion Cross character in WWE.
Because it's been so long with them doing nothing with him.

Speaker 1 (25:56):
And I would argue that, assuming this is all part
of an elaborate story line, this is their effort to
make you care about him. I would also be remiss
if I didn't point out, isn't that what the fuck
they did with our truth? They released him, there was
the fan uproars did they bring him back? And after
a week that was all over. And I don't think

(26:20):
he matters either, So I totally get what you're saying that,
you know, even if this is an effort to make
you care about Carry and Cross, how far are they
really going to go with it once he shows back up?

Speaker 2 (26:33):
How serious can we take it as a fan base?
What is our reason to believe that they'll actually go
through a fit? And I'm kind of exhausted. I've been
exhausted for months for trying to support Carry and Cross
and I can't even be a part of that. We
want Cross chance because I don't think WWE wants Cross,
But as far as our truth goes, that was the
funny shit this week, my man. That was fricking hilarious.

(26:55):
This confrontation which on seen and not saying they've done
anything with him because you're exactly right. But this moment
was hilarious. Best they've done with our Truth in weeks.

Speaker 1 (27:06):
But see that, but that's the problem. Hilarious. You brought
him back with it's a new r truth, the whole truth,
whatever the fricky said and all that. No, it's basically
the same our truth here.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
They dropped that. Two weeks later, I think they dropped
carrying Cross apologizing to Sammy zan forever, calling him evil,
which we've seen Sammy be evil before. Just like John
Cen this field start, they just drop things.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
Stop me if you've heard this before, Micah. Six weeks
two months from now, Cross shows back up and he's
not alone, Paul Ellering aop. Oh my god, they're all
back together. And then six weeks later, Ellering and the
AOP are gone and crosses around but not doing anything,

(27:54):
you know, kind of like the last two times.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Well at least it been a way have benefited the
Wyat six. Look at them and their magnanimous, glorious tag
team title run that incorporates the I can't even go there.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
I mean it has been like three or four weeks,
so I mean that they are riding high. I guess, Micah,
here's what that is. Go ahead.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
That is a long title run for a SmackDown tag
team title. That's what I was gonna say, it is
it is.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
Here's what I do know, Micah. I think I know,
but I don't know about the carrying cross situation. I
do know that aw R aw WWE Premium Live events
deal with ESPN is a good thing. Here's what I know.
Also with certainty, there are a few things in life

(28:45):
that I want for at this point. Look, we all
want more money and all that, but oh life's pretty good.
What I must have hanging behind me on the wall
is a beautiful hand painted portrait by one Don Kallus
of myself and him together and some sort of mildly

(29:08):
homo erotic pose, with Callous being all buff and whatnot,
and of course me being buff as well. But I
won't me one of them there, hand painted Don Kallas
oil paintings like Kyle Fletcher got and all the other
Callous family members have gotten at various points in time.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
Oh my, the the artism of Don Callous. It's very titanic.
S He reminds me of that kind of artist. He'll
he'll paint you after he uses you. I don't know
about that one. I do feel like though the maturation
of Kyle Fletcher, the love affair with Don Callous, it

(29:49):
is the right amount of sickening. I feel like the
U Paul Hayman light references for Don kallus get less
and less us each week, where Callous is his own weirdo. Now, well, look.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
He's always been his own weirdo when he wants to be.
And that said affectionately, not in a bad way, but yeah,
I would. I would intentionally stay away from anything that
could be construed is trying to be like Paul Hayman,
and I think Callous is much more effective when he
does that. Again, I'm not even joking. If aw ever

(30:28):
puts those you know, posters of those paintings on sale,
or they give you an opportunity where you could send
a picture of yourself and they'll they'll put it on
one of those posts, you can get it customized and
all that, there is no amount of money that I
would not pay for that. I'm being dead ass honest.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
You're being dead ass honest. And I've just got to
ask you seriously, between Fletcher tequshta Okada, do you think
we're gonna hit an influx. Is it gonna be a
point where I'm guessing it's gonna be Fletcher, But Don
Kallas has to choose because the one thing that also
stuck out for me, well, that moment was surreal and

(31:06):
it was beautiful, and Kyle Fletcher takes the mic and
puts himself out there is the greatest in front of
the group. I feel like there could be an ego
collision at a point, not to mention, we know Josh
Alexander has never been good with being second fiddle anywhere

(31:27):
he's performed. Oh and also, do you have any problem
with the word performer, because between both shows that we watch,
I'll talk about both brands. I almost missed the day
of high Flyer, Shooter, technician, wrestler, brawler. Performer is an

(31:47):
overused word.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
I hated that I didn't notice it on Dynamite, but
it stuck out like a sore thumb on Collision because
Paul Walter Hauser kept saying it, or where the fuck
is his name is? And by the way, you could
just get the damn Costco dudes there at commentary, it
would have been better. Oh exactly, yes, to answer your question.

(32:12):
I'll stay on point here. Yeah, I just call him wrestlers,
that's yeah, performers. Sounds so dumb.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
Oh god, I heard it in both different brands this week,
and I can't I think it was Wade Barrett said it,
and then I hear it from Tony Shafani and I'm
just like, no, no, no, I don't believe that many
words would be forbidden in pro wrestling, but boo booey
constrict that one.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
I would agree now to your to your first point.
At what point do we get dissension in the don
Kallis family. Yeah, I can see that look. And I
don't give a fuck about Josh Alexander being second fiddle
and not doing that at other places. He's second fiddle
in the Callous family.

Speaker 2 (32:52):
He just is.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
But that's fine. He's a high second fiddle takeshka okada.
I could see them getting ruffled at some point. I
think for the time being, they're all everybody's focused on
their other things, so it doesn't matter. But at some
point it could. And if I'm aw I play into that.

(33:15):
And then I also, well, Callous has got to make
tough decisions, what with all these tariffs and the whole
damn family is nothing but international stars. He can't afford
to keep them all around because they're too expensive. I'd
let that play into it as well, and they can
fight it out for his affections or whatever. I think
there are things you could do with that if at

(33:36):
some point, if that's what you wanted to do. Obviously,
Okata right now busy with Swirl Swerve, Strickland Takeshka doing
whatever the fuck he's doing. Kyle Fletcher his beautiful painting
that I shudder to think what he did while looking
at it Wednesday night after the show. But yeah, at
some point in time, I could see that coming into play.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
But I'll hold back pread joke that I have inside
about that one, and uh, not to take the spotlight
away from the Kallis family, but just expend the thought process.
Do you have any inkling of who you think New
Japan is gonna send over here for forbidendor to take

(34:19):
on Kyle Fletcher?

Speaker 1 (34:23):
No, because everybody in New Japan that aw's wanted they've
got so not. Off the top of my head.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
H Hamasuji I think is his name. I could see him.
He's the one with the long hair and the red
leather pants. Maybe Hiroshi got quite possibly, and I hope
we think ton of Hashi's done wrestling, but I kind
of fear it could be the Ace of pro wrestling,

(34:57):
just like I was a little disappointed this week to
hear the announcement that Forbidden Door Zach Saber Junior will
either get Nigel McGuinness, Lee Moriarty, Daniel Garcia, or head
Jay Sarah. I'm hoping it's that Jay Zero, but I
don't think we're gonna be that lucky. I'm kind of

(35:18):
scared it's gonna be Daniel Garcia when it should be
Nigel McGinnis.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
It'll be Nigel maginnis. It's in London, man, they're putting
Nigel Maginnis on that card somewhere. I never thought for
a second like you did, that he would be the
one taking on Hangman for the world title. I was hopeful,
but I was hoping for some there may not. I

(35:43):
shudder to say this, but I'm gonna say it anyway.
I have never looked less forward to a four man
match with a title shot on the line than I
am for this one. I'm just not. I mean, look,
I love Nigel McGinnis and I would have just assumed
they had just announced that match Zach Saber Junior and

(36:04):
Nigel McGuinness. But despite the accolades, we never see him
unless you actually pay for Ring of Honor. Uh but
Lee moy already uh heitchy zero, Okay, I just yeah,
I don't. I don't like this. I don't like this
match at all. It's like Zach Saber Junior is a

(36:26):
big deal, but not a big enough deal for us
to actually put forth effort to give him a really
good opponent.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
Made sense. Him and Nigel mcguinnis with that same style
style will put together a wonderful match. I do understand
the styles of the technicos all match up here, but
like you said, it's it's a bit disappointing. But I
I feel like there should be a more grandio so
bunch again for the new Japan heavyweight champ. Not so

(37:01):
much mad about Nigel McGinnis, but I feel like we
should have had more than middle tier names for the
other three in this fatal four way.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
Well. Look, obviously Zach Zaber Junior is winning, so maybe
you didn't want one of your bigger stars losing to him.
Although I don't think there's any shame in that. But
I think that's also why it makes sense for Nigel
McGinnis to win this four way, because if that it

(37:31):
becomes all about the entrance and all that and having
a good match. When he loses, not that big of
a deal.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
It doesn't hurt too bad. You finally give one over
to the other side. I can get that whole theory.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah, and Tana Hashi almost certainly will be taking on
Kyle Fletcher.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
And so I was hoping it be someone else, just
just hoping.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
But if he doesn't, sorry, if he doesn't, hey, I
guarantee you he's on the card somewhere else.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
Not surprising if that one happens.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
Yeah, that card. By the way, I didn't really want
to get down into it, but it's really starting to
take shape. You got the Zach Saber Junior match. We
just talked about Fletcher and somebody Mercedes Monet, Alex Windsor
versus someone from CMLL versus someone from Stardom in a
four way for the TBS title. You got Tony Storm

(38:28):
Athena for the women's title, Ocata Swer of Strickland for
the ae W Unified Championship. It sure looks like we're
gonna get Hangman and MJF. So that card's starting to
come together very nicely.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
I'm not happy with it. I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
The tag titles what we'll be on the line, Hurt
Syndicate versus somebody.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Brodido or FTR. I think we all know or feel
like we know which way that that's gonna go. But
I wouldn't be surprised to see a swerve in that mix.
Swerve ocod is gonna be absolutely freaking phenomenal. I think
it's gonna be a really nice show.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
I did too, Uh, I don't know that it's gonna
be FTR. You did go to the trouble of printing
up those Brodido shirts which basically told me there was
no way they were losing to the Young Bucks this
past week. But does that mean they go they beat
FTR and go on to forbidden To or to take
on Hurt Syndicate Because I think you got more story

(39:36):
with FTR, and then you might also get into uh
MJF a little bit, so I think there are more
meat on the bones with FTR. But for that international flare,
Brodido versus Hurt syndicate. I could see that happening.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
I can see it happening Brody as a physical comparison
to Bobby lash Lean's stature. So I'm not gonna get
away from that one. I think. I like where you're going.
I liked where that all played into for the Young Bucks,
for their still demise, the disrespect that they've been getting
throughout the week from people in the back. The door's

(40:17):
not opening and having a crawl under it, the pitiful
I row, and who are Max and Jeremy, here's the
only generation?

Speaker 1 (40:28):
I go, Yes, that's what me said. Let's see what
I did there. The only thing I don't like about
that is, for some reason, it chaps my ass when
Renee laughs at him. Like the bigger stars, I can get,
and even if it's a janitor or something I could get.
But like the wimpy pyro, the stupid screen stuff, the

(40:54):
terrible introduction. I love all that. I don't need every
single damn person laughing at them, though, but that should
Again that's just me. I like it. I like that
the Young Bucks are putting themselves in this position because
it would be really easy not to if they were

(41:15):
so inclined. But I like it. But yeah, every single
person back there doesn't have to laugh at them.

Speaker 2 (41:23):
I was intrigued that Brody Lee basically flips Bandido for
their finisher the same way Hetcha Zero.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
You said, Brody Lee, Yeah, yeah, sorry.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
Rody King flips up Bandido in the same way that
Hetcha Zero flipped up ar Fox into that rear naked show.
It's definitely something different.

Speaker 1 (41:47):
Ar Fox couldn't weasel his way into that four way
for the shot at Zach Saber Jr. I mean that
that seems a lot more natural.

Speaker 2 (41:56):
How much of a high flyer versus all these technicos
as you're trying to take on the technical wizard that
is Zach Saber. Then JF bullet out of the Hurt
Syndicate and basically MVP gave him the godfather talk. We're
not breaking your legs because I like you kid. That's

(42:19):
gonna come back to on MVP. He should have broke
his legs.

Speaker 1 (42:22):
I think we're gonna see a reunion from a faction
in the early days of AW and we talked about
that a couple of weeks ago, some sort of Pinnacle
esque reunion.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
I might to take that to the top of a
Mountain Dope does the dirty work. He's the man making
the pinfall. He gets the three count primed and ready.
I mean, let's be honest. This is the kind of
injury mockery we appreciate him pro wrestling, the surge of
a gentleman that takes over Big Stoke when he's about

(42:59):
to perform. And then how the knee injury, the first
knee injury I've ever seen cause from a spear. I
think those are normally rib injuries, so debilitating. But he
has the fight to get through the trios match. Big
Stoke a star of collision.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
How can you not get hose? There are hoes for
crying out loud Stoke, Come on, that's his big speech
on Wednesday. I'm short, I'm bored. I can't get no hose.
I've been fighting all my life. Whatever he said, come
their hoes for crying out, loud man. Anybody can get
a hoe with a little effort.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
Don't don't pay no strange.

Speaker 1 (43:36):
I mean, I guess, but I mean whatever.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
I like snowk Leathlay. I've always liked him. I'm glad
that they finally found something for him that actually works
and gives him a purpose. You've tried a lot of things,
from being a Ring of Honor figurehead, the whole Chris
Statlander debacle. That there have been many, many things they've tried.

(44:08):
It's just as it worked. Finally something that works for him.
So I am happy for that.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
I like the Chris Statlander part. I didn't think that
one was so bad, But no happy for Stokely. We
know that FTR is not gonna let Stoke go in
there on his own against Adam Copeland this week. Do
you think we get a new representative from Stokely halfaway?
Does he get a new henchman? Do you think FTR

(44:34):
just finds some way to get involved. I'm interested to
see how this story progresses this week because from the
Nick Wayne Kip Sabian which hey, they cut a Hall
of a promo this week, I don't know if Christian
returns right away to Copeland's side, or does Christian come

(44:57):
back to deal with Nick and Kimp first. There's so
many factors in this copa verse right now that I'm
not sure how all of them play out together.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
Just me, but you're keeping Cope and Christian apart as
long as possible. I think you're headed into a hurt
syndicate Cope versus FTR JF feud before you get to Christian.
And meanwhile, while Christian's trying to deal with his fucking
snot nosed, ungrateful little bastards, maybe some snot nosed ungrateful

(45:33):
bastards from the past show up to help him. A
certain dinosaur and a certain boy from the jungle if
you smell while I'm cooking.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
Yes, so, but he really only needs one of them
to return to take out the gruesome tuwsom.

Speaker 1 (45:49):
Well, if it doesn't work with one and the kind
of a package. And I'm not saying Jack Perry has
to come back into the loincloth and be jungle boy again.
But Jack Perry wouldn't be the man he is today
without his father figure, Christian, So he's got to come
to his aid, and hell, maybe they would wind up

(46:12):
turning on him too, and they join up with the
Christian bastard stable and then you Christian comes crawling to
Copeland and YadA, YadA, YadA. But yeah, I don't to
your point, I don't think we're getting Cope and Christian
together or whatever anytime soon.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
A lot of deep deceit to make that one come
back together. That's gonna be a rolling And by.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
The way, this might be the best way to get
people to react to Jack Perry in a way you
want them to react, like I think there's a large
segment of the fan base that doesn't like, I say,
the new Jack Perry, but the last Jack Perry we
saw the whole stinch of the punk stuff and all that.

(46:58):
Bringing it back again, not necessarily in a loincloth as
jungle Boy with the sweet eighties song and all that,
but a little bit more that way, even if he
turns on Christian at some point, that might not be
bad for Jack Perry.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
I think we could see a little bit of a change,
Like you said, that could be an enhancement, a different
feel to a Jack Perry that hasn't been around for
a long time. And you gotta figure we'll see him
back at some point. I think that WWE and ae
W have an opposite booking problem, and I'd like to

(47:37):
get your thoughts on this. Carlisle, It's to me like
Bain Awesome Tony Kahn. For some reason, even Jade back
when she was with aw he gets the concept of
booking monster heel females where WWE gets the concept of

(47:59):
booking monster heal males, but neither one of that can
translate the concept to the opposite sex under their own umbrella.
Tony Kahan cannot enhance a male monster in WWE fails
at enhancing female monsters.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
I hadn't thought of that before, but I think you're
actually one hundred percent right on that. You look at
Jade and AW versus Jaden WWE. You brought up Megan
Bain and what Tony Kin's done with her. Not a
monster per se, but the little blonde girl that left AW.
I forget what name she's using in NXT now, yeah, yeah,

(48:42):
that sounds right, the former and I just lost her
name now when you said Blair Monroe, the former Riah May.
That hasn't worked out either. On the WWE side, I
think that might just go more to show overall how
little they actually care about the women. And I know
they just did it all women's pay per view and
all that eh lip service. On the AAW side, though,

(49:07):
I think that's more of a legit. You're one hundred
percent right Tony Kanda know what to do with with
with monster dudes, whether that's a ward low when he's
been there, whether that's a Lance Archer a Brian Cage.
While I like the Gates of Agony this past week,
even early on with the aligning with Ricochet, they look

(49:29):
less than Yeah, he's had issues Lucasaurus, he's had issues
with with with big men for sure, Big strong, muscular monsters.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
Just struck me one day watching and I'm like, Jade
Naya jacked. They don't feel as fearsome as I think
they should. And you say it from Big Bill to
Lance Archer, not as fearsome. But then you go on
the other side, I'm like, you've been really good, Triple
H with making monsters feel monster esque on the male side,

(50:02):
when you guys put the emphasis on bronze Stroman, when
you put the emphasis on solo Jacob Fatu. There were
moments even it looked like now that they got some
smaller guys around Tala, his choke sound looks more impressive
with a more lighter guy, and he's able to look
more menacing, where I guess they just don't care about
doing that for a rock cal Rodriguez who look menacing

(50:25):
in NXT but just doesn't feel the same way on
the main roster. Even though she's supposed to be the
heavy for Roxanne. So it's just something that struck me
throughout this week, like why are you not like this
person on the show? Like why does Archer not feel
like Bain? As you said.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
On the WWE side, it's a couple things. I think
their view on the women is look pretty first and
then everything else second. On the men's side, outside of yes,
I know, and this would have been right in your heyday,
you had the Brett Hart Shawn Michaels run. WWE has

(51:07):
traditionally always been a big man territory and then when
the territories went away, a big man organization, whether it
be Hogan, Undertaker, you could even throw in Rock and
Stone Cold and all that lessener. Of course, on the
AW side, Tony Kahn's fandom ECW which maybe not technical

(51:32):
but blood, guts, gore. But then the New Japan, the
Mexico stuff, the grappling, the high flying, the smaller guys.
So I think that would explain why he doesn't get
the big guys and you not able to utilize them
through their strengths. But that comes easy to WWE, but

(51:53):
it still doesn't explain why he's able to do that
with the women that I don't have an answer for.
But on the WWE side, I think it explains why
when they want to push your bron or whomever or Shamus,
they're able to do that. Of course, you've all you know,
you've always had your brocks and people like that. But
on though specifically on the women's side, maybe it's not
so much they don't care about the women, but maybe

(52:15):
that was a bit harsh earlier, but how they view
women's wrestling again, I think it's more about the looks first,
the eye candy and then everything else second, whereas Tony
Kahan looks at it more as no, you tune into
the men for whatever reason it is, whether it's work rate,
whether it's physique, whatever, whatever, We're going to do the
same with the women. So I think that's probably why

(52:37):
that comes a little easier for him with that, but
and at the same time why it's harder for him
to book the musclemen. On the subject Micah of WWE
and Big Men SummerSlam, you had the huge air quote
surprise return, a rock lessener attacking John Cena after his

(52:58):
match with Cody Rhodes. So how do we play off
of that on SmackDown this week, no brock Lessner, and
all of a sudden, John Cena is going to take
on Logan Paul in France. What the fuck happened to
brock Lesner?

Speaker 2 (53:10):
I have that is a good clue, but we don't
need brock Lesner. We have a global sensation in front
of the peacemaker. Now we have Logan Paul. Come on,
it's gonna be an appalling match. It'll be whatever the
Paul nation calls it. I'm sure it'll be huge at

(53:30):
the class in the Castle. There's not one of the
big tent pole events coming up, so you had to
figure a John Cena brock Lesser match a little bit
further down the road. I was a little surprised not
to see brock back that quick. I don't know if
I was more surprised to see that or to see

(53:52):
the first person that ryan to John Cena's aid on
SmackDown was the person he kicked in the most, in
the nuts the most. Well, he was bad. Johnny Cody
Roach just right there to be Captain America.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
Don't get me started on that. Look, I don't have
a problem with Seena and Logan Paul, per se but
you wanted to have this spectacle, this big oh shit
moment by bringing Brock back. I don't understand why you
suddenly putting that on the back burner. To me, that
doesn't make any sense whatsoever. So I find that a

(54:32):
little head scratching.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
What if I hadn't already in the episode and told
you about the three storylines they dropped in like the
last two days that have already confused me. It just
seems like it's the WWE thing to do. We're blurring
reality and fantasy. We're zigging and we're zagging, and we're
inconsistent storytelling. Those seem to be the consistent trademarks of

(54:57):
WWE right now.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
It's that one's a head scratcher. To me, I don't
get that at all.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
But whatever, I think the secret herdis was hilarious and
that was a great way to lose to Charlotte in
an Alexa. But is it me or is the the
Charlotte Alexa promos are they built to feel rough? Or

(55:28):
is it just me that it feels rough trying to
do the whole frenemy act that we've seen done several
times in wrestling history.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
I think it's a combination of both. It is supposed
to be a little awkward or rough because they're frenemies,
but yeah, it feels a.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
Little extra, a little extra rough, a little too high
a grade of sandpaper there.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
Yeah, I guess.

Speaker 2 (55:58):
You like that when sand paper grades A new way
to get you guys thinking Sammy and Solo. Yeah, yeah,
that's a thing now. I was wondering on SmackDown if
it was going to become a thing, and then the
MFTs invade raw because it is gonna become a thing.

(56:21):
I think this will be good for Solo Soca. I
don't think it's gonna be good for Samy's Ain. We
continually have the narrative of will Sammy pushed towards the
bell and the bass brass ring, and I just feel
like this is gonna be Sammy failing to capture the
United States title, and this is gonna be a way
to enhance Solo, which from the thought process of a

(56:43):
really incredible, solid veteran worker in Samu z Ain helping
Solo Soca a younger, maturing talent. I can understand that
thought process. I just don't think this helps a Samy
Zain who the crowd wants to have that Kofi Kingston moment.

Speaker 1 (56:59):
For help me out here, Micah. Over the last couple
of months, what has Sammy Zaine been adamant about.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
That he wants the world title?

Speaker 1 (57:13):
Then? Where the fuck is he getting involved with solo
Soca in the US title.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
Because he expected to lose in his one off in
Toronto in front of his hometown crowd when he just
happened to take on a champion where if you win,
you probably become the automatic number one contender. But it
was in Toronto, so we must do it or excuthe
me Montreal, my bad Montreal. I guess I don't know

(57:43):
why we did it either. I know why Alista Black
does things though, because he's not an eye for an eye,
he's an eye for cutting off your head. That promo
was really good and I finally I finally feel something
towards the Alistair Black character again got a little got

(58:04):
a little murmur in there, got a little feeler in
there in the ticker.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
Yeah, I wish they would do a little more. I'm
not saying they got to push him to the moon,
but I wish they would do more with him, I
really do.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
I was wondering after Drew McIntyre lost Damien Priest look
like a chump, and then gets in this weird, weird
battle with Randy Yorton and Jelly Roll. How were we
gonna say him? Oh, don't worry, Drew's just gonna attack
Cody and he is the number one contender once again

(58:41):
for the WWE Heavyweight Championship or WWE World Title. Actually,
I think as Cody's I don't get the threat. And
Drew McIntyre, who couldn't beat Damian Priest, who's losing to
Alistair Black.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
Yeah, yeah, I see. Now my head's gonna start hurting.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
Yeah, you know what, what mayan head hurts from all
the theory, but overall I thought wrong. SmackDown, We're pretty
good this week.

Speaker 1 (59:15):
My biggest complaint with Rawl had nothing to do with
any of the action, so that's probably a good thing.
It was those damn ignorant ask Canadian fans, why on
earth are you chanting Ludwig Kaiser at El Grande Americano.
That makes no sense to me, Micah, two completely different people.

(59:39):
I mean, do you want to see El Grande Americano
take on lukewid Kaiser? I'm sure he would. El Grande
Americano's never back down from a challenge before. He's the
greatest Luca Door of all time. Surely he could take
out Lugwood Kaiser. But those damn ignorant ask Canadian fans
chanting Ludwig Kaiser during Dirty Dom and Grande Americano versus

(59:59):
Dragon ly in AJ styles. I'm like, come on, guys,
you're better than this.

Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
What is poor seth Rawlins gonna do in a triple
threat or a fatal four way? Okay, three guys that
obviously don't like each other when he only has two
henchmen and there's no disqualifications in such a match.

Speaker 3 (01:00:20):
How with such odds stucked against Seth Rawlins and Paul Hayman,
will they ever come up with a plan to survive
a match without disqualifications when they have Bronson, Reid and
brown Breaker at their disposal.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
The same way everybody else does it. There's like ten
minutes of interference in near the end of the match,
and then Seth Penzim plus the other three wind up
fighting with each other and Seth can just sit back
nothing all day. Nothing on the ignorant ask Canadian fans

(01:00:53):
channing Ludwig Kaiser at Elgrandi Americano.

Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
Raguns are gonna cheer with fans want to cheer. You
can be yelling Bella is great during a Charlotte Flair match,
and I'm sure it would, you know, piss her off.
But I don't think I'm gonna understand the French anymore
now than I did before, and especially not the Canadian French.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
We we we.

Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
I guess I had asked you something I thought before that, Oh,
I'm about the Fatal four way? Yeah? I uh, oh, well,
am I over reactionary to say that I'm not looking
forward to this phase of the seth rawlins character because

(01:01:37):
we know what the next eight months of main event
matches are. Can I guess at this point I owe
Roman reigns and apology because I thought these were Roman
Reigns matches and now it appears these are just WWE
main events. We're just gonna have eight hundred run ins.
The heel will have a full army of guys to
run in, and we're just gonna go this way. I

(01:01:58):
apologize Roman for having criticized you for the last three years.
It's the creative team that is uncreative.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
When you find something that works, you stick with it.
The pieces may change, but the execution is the same.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
I'm gonna really miss the Seth Rawlins that was burning
stuff down at a point. I'm gonna miss that guy.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
You shouldn't be that surprised, you know who. I won't
miss La Night in prominent positions.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
I'm in a fatal in the mean of it, man,
he's staring at jay Uso and see him punk. He's
a man.

Speaker 1 (01:02:39):
One of those four is not like the other. And
it's La Night now not totally his fault. WWE dropped
the ball when he was hotter than all get out.
But like you were talking about earlier, when we were
talking about carry and Cross, I've stopped caring about l A.
Knight and I don't think there's anything that they can

(01:03:00):
do with him to change my opinion on that because
of the poor way they've used him. Put him in
all the fatal four ways you want in title matches,
let him rub elbows, would see him punk with jay Uso,
with with with with Seth and all that. I just
I see him as less stand and that's WWE's fault,
not his fault.

Speaker 2 (01:03:22):
I hear you, And I was kind of surprised the
image you sent me earlier in the week, did not
include La Knight because you sent me an image and
it included Chad Gable, Damian priest Jacob bought I bron
Breaker Dominic Mysterio. I'm surprised La Knight is not on there.

(01:03:44):
His WWE, much like cors Miller and Bud, have a
light version of every character well in stock. Now there
was something in that message, though, you said, and you said,
and here's the problem. I don't know if that was
an auto generated text or not. Because just like those

(01:04:05):
Roman Reign's main events that we said, if it ain't broke,
don't fix it, the WWE audience cannot wait to just
gobble up regenerated half versions of characters from Yesteryear. It's
basically the WWE version of doing live live versions of

(01:04:28):
old Disney cartoons. It's like I don't need to rewatch
Aladdin with Will Smith after I already saw Robin Williams
play the Genie, but the WWE audience loves it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
Yeah, no, that was my comment. And yeah, the picture
you're talking about for those who don't know who I
didn't send it to, which is most all love you. Yeah,
So I had like Kurt Angle and then Chad Gable
Kurt Angle, Kurt Angle, Light, Undertaker, Damian Priest, Undertaker Undertaker, Light, Goldberg,
Bron Brekler, Breaker Goldberg, Goldber Light, Eddie, and Dom Guerrero

(01:05:00):
Guerrero Light. You get the point. That's a w w
L A night that certainly could have been added there.
WWE is Look, take this back to the Monday Night Wars.
Remember when Hall and nashgo to WCW and they bring
in the fake Diesel and the fake Raiser Ramone. They

(01:05:21):
weren't originally fake Diesel and fake Razor ramone. They were
going to legit pass them off as Diesel and Raiser
ramone under the guise of we own the intellectual property.
Anybody can play it. The fans shit all over it,
so you had to quickly turn it into something hokey
and it's fake Diesel, fake rais Or YadA YadA yadah.

(01:05:43):
And ww not the only company to ever do this,
but the Sinkara, multiple Sinkarras. There were multiple people playing
Doink the clown. Now, I get it. Those are masked
people or face painted people a little bit different, but
basically what became fake Diesel, fake Razor would have been

(01:06:06):
Razor and Diesel Light had the fans not shit all
over it. So it's actually not even anything new. At
least now they're doing it with people who aren't with
us anymore or are retired instead of doing it for
people who just left the company somehow.

Speaker 2 (01:06:27):
Again, it mystifies me on what the mainstream wrestling audience
indulges in.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
It's a little weird.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
It's a little weird because it's a little weird. I
know I'm too hardcoreing this for my own good sometimes,
but what y'all love kind of mystifies me sometimes.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
And apparently people think they're multiple folks playing El Grande
Americano now, So I mean, I know you just rolled
your eyes because I brought it back around to Elgrande Americano.
But you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
Tributes are great, Tributes are beautiful. Tributes do not need
to be overdone. Like shout out this past weekend to
Matt Cardona and Nick Namath. Did you see what Matt
Cardona did. There was the big boot, there was the
shirt pulling, and there was the leg drop for the Hulkster.
You don't have to mimic every moment of your career,

(01:07:26):
after someone that was already successful or someone that has
passed away. It's cool to just give an homage once
in a while, shout out to them for what I
thought was what should have been a WWE done fucking tribute.
The easiest way for some performer to have acknowledged Hakogan
in the WWE is to have had somebody do that spot.

(01:07:48):
I don't know if it needed to be Cody Sina,
Damian Priest, but I'm glad somebody finally do it. Did
it even though it was Matt Cardona.

Speaker 1 (01:07:57):
I don't know that anybody in WWE wanted to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:08:02):
If you're all gonna stand out there and make eight
million gestures towards a tribute of Hokogan, I think you
could have done one in Ring.

Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
I don't know that they had a choice but to
stand out, and I don't I'm not I'm not saying
anything one way or the other, but that might not
have been an optional thing. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:08:22):
I'm pretty sure that we could have made the other
thing not optional also.

Speaker 1 (01:08:26):
Probably so probably so uh anything else.

Speaker 2 (01:08:30):
It was a fun week of pro wrestling, hopeful of
be another one. If you want to chat with me
about it or argue. Hit me up on X It's
at Frankle Micah, the last name done.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
The first get the show on X At PW After Hours,
you can get me at Real Mike Carlisle. We will
talk to you next week for another episode of Pro
Wrestling After Hours here on the After Hours Podcast Network